Follow up to Comic Artist meeting

Lexi Toledo

Hi All,

I wanted to send out a follow up to our meeting tonight. We learned all about comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels. In order to earn their badge the girls will need to complete a comic of their own by coming up with characters, develop a story, and illustrate it. Below is a pdf of comic strip templates in a 4, 5, and 9 panel format. The girls can use as many panels as they like to tell a complete story with a minimum of 4 panels required.

comic book panelsDownload

The other part of the project is for them to pick out a comic strip to share with the group. They can find any they like from newspapers, magazines, or online. The link below will let the girls read some of the classic comics that we grew up with such as Calvin and Hobbs, Peanuts, Little Lulu and many others.

https://www.gocomics.com/comics/kids.htm

The last thing I wanted to share was the materials that we went through during our discussion tonight in case the girls wanted a refresher on anything. The first is a Youtube video on how to make a comic strip and the second is just a worksheet that we used to discuss the different types of comics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufOXBuGhVWg

Comic Strip – Book – Graphic NovelDownload

I look forward to seeing what creative comics the girls come up with. Have a great couple week everyone!

Zoom meeting reminder

Lexi Toledo

Hello everyone,

I just wanted to remind everyone of our Cadette meeting tomorrow 10/28 at 5:00 PM. Given the the rising Covid numbers the Girl Scout council is decided that going forward all meetings should now be conducted virtually. So tomorrow’s meeting will now be a Zoom meeting. Please see the meeting invite below for details. We will be concluding our Outdoor artist apprentice badge. Hopefully everyone will have completed their leaf project and will be ready to showcase their work. Also there are still a few girls that need to present their art work from the first meeting as well.

If the link doesnt work you can copy and paste to your browser.

Alexandra Toledo is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: Cadette Meeting
Time: Oct 28, 2020 05:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3230289834?pwd=NXExMGYrU1BrSFhyR1RBMWs1bHdtQT09

Meeting ID: 323 028 9834
Passcode: 840855

Please let me know if anyone is unable to attend the Zoom meeting.

Have a great week everyone and stay strong. We will get through these difficult times together!

Meeting Reminder 10/14

Lexi Toledo

Hello All,

I just wanted to send a quick reminder that we will be meeting tomorrow night at 5:00 PM. As of now the weather still looks good to meet in person at Wells Park. If anything changes I will send out an email no later than 2:00 tomorrow to advise that we have switched to Zoom.

We will continue working on our Outdoor Art apprentice badge. At the last meeting the girls were sent home with some supplies to create their own works of art based on nature. They had the option to use different elements found in nature to create something unique. Whether they chose to create natural paints to use on their poster board, draw things they found in nature, or make a collage of the photos they took, they do need to turn in something at tomorrow’s meeting but no later than the following one to earn their badge.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone’s creativity. If for any reason your daughter can’t make tomorrow’s meeting please let me know.

Hope to see you all tomorrow!

Fall Product

Lexi Toledo

Hello All,

I just wanted to send a quick email to touch base on Fall Product. All registered Girl Scouts will be getting an email on Oct. 1st about Fall Product. Fall product is an optional fundraiser that can generate some funds for the troop as well as giving the girls an opportunity to earn patches and prizes. I understand that for various reasons you may not be interested in participating in the sale and that is no problem at all. For those of you that would like to participate there will be an online ordering system as well as paper order forms available.

This year because of the pandemic Girl Scouts is emphasizing online sales over paper order forms. If you would prefer to have a physical order form however, just let me know and I will get one for you. The email you will be receiving will have log in information for the website as well as other important sales information. Sales will run from Oct 1st thru Oct 21st and product delivery will be between November 5th thru the 8th. As with cookie sales the customers will have the option to have products shipped directly to them or delivered to them through the girls.

If the girls do choose to participate they can go into their online sales portal and they will have the opportunity to create a personalized avatar like one I created for myself below as well as create a custom patch they could earn. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

Year end video,Registration for next year, cookie prizes and badges earned…

Lexi Toledo

 

Hi All,

I hope you are all enjoying the beginning of summer and getting back to some semblance of normalcy.  With all the recent unrest while still dealing with the corona virus, I know that stress and anxiety levels can be really high for both kids and adults.

Please enjoy and share the attached video with the girls.  I enjoyed making it and remembering all the fun we were able to have while we were together.  I am looking forward to next year when we can hopefully make more lasting memories together.  If anyone has trouble opening the link please let me know.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/embed.animoto.com/play.html?w=swf/production/vp1&e=1592669846&f=pzi0WLwUhLmH0GuWwGlUxg&d=0&m=a&r=360p&volume=100&start_res=undefined&i=m&asset_domain=s3-p.animoto.com&animoto_domain=animoto.com&options=“>Year End Video

Registration for next year:

As mentioned in last month’s email, since we were not able to complete the year’s planed activities we have a surplus in our Girl Scout Account and I wanted to use that to cover the registration costs for all the girls planning to renew their membership for the 2020-2021 year.  I have heard back from some of you confirming the girls will be coming back and have gone ahead and renewed those memberships.  for those that confirmed, you should have gotten renewal confirmations.  If you didn’t get the email or have not let me know of your intention to return you still can.  Please let me know as soon as possible and I will get your daughter registered for next year.

Cookie prizes and badges

I was able to pick up the cookie prizes this week so I will be making individual arrangements with those that earned them to drop them off to you at a mutually convenient time in the near future.  as for badges earned, I will mail those out to the address on file so if anyone has moved please let me know of your new address.

Special Thank You:

As a last note for the year I just wanted to send out a special thank you to Elizabeth Ortega for being a wonderful co-leader and great big help throughout the year.

Thank you parents for entrusting your girls to me and to the Girl Scouts.  Hopefully the girls got as much enjoyment and education out of it as I did.  I consider it a great privilege to be part of their growth and development for whatever time they are with me.  These girls have continuously enriched my life and I will carry them with me always.

Enjoy the rest of your summer and I am very much looking forward to the coming Girl Scout year with great enthusiasm and hope for a fun filled year.

May check in and announcements

Lexi Toledo

 

Hi Everyone,

I hope everyone is doing well and finding ways to stay busy and thrive during this time of quarantine.  Hopefully every day brings us more opportunities to grow closer to each other and expand our horizons one way or another.

It saddens me to know that as we come near to the end of our regular scout season, we will not be able to celebrate our milestones and bridging in our usual fashion.  It’s one of the things I normally look forward to the most in my personal scouting experience and I’m sure you will miss it as well.

For any girl wanting to earn badges from home or participate in one of the many virtual gatherings the girl Scouts are hosting they can click on the link below and they will be directed to the page with all the information available.

Girl Scouts From Home

In the next few weeks I will be still be creating a year end video to share with you.  It will be highlights from the meetings we were able to participate in this year and I know you will all enjoy watching it as much as I’ve enjoyed creating it.

Next year’s registration fees to be paid by troop

I wanted to touch base about next year’s registration which is currently going on.  I hope that this time away from each other has not discouraged the girls from wanting to continue in their Girl Scout journey.  I would love for as many girls as possible to return next year and would like to make things a little easier for that to happen.

Since we were not able to do all the activities that I had planned for the year our troop account has a surplus of funds that I want to use in a positive way.  I would like to pay the registration fee for any of the girls that would like to renew their membership for next year.  Again this would come out of our troop  bank account form the funds the girls worked hard to earn  so please don’t feel bad or awkward in accepting it.  This is also to say thank you for the hard work and effort that the girls put forth this year.  If anyone has already paid the registration fee just let me know and I will be happy to reimburse it for you.

Please let me know by June 20th if your girls plan to continue with Girl Scouts next year so I can get them registered.

Cookie prizes and badges earned

We should be getting our cookie rewards sometime in the middle of June.  Once those come in I will be either mailing them out or making arrangements to drop them off to you along with the badges the girls have earned this year.

Check in & Great Home Activities

Lexi Toledo

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to check in with everyone and see how everyone is doing during these uncertain times.  Hopefully everyone is getting on fairly well and staying safe.  I’m sure some of you are going a bit stir crazy being home so much but that you are also taking this time to strengthen bonds and appreciate each other.

I wanted to touch base with everyone regarding the rest of the scouting year.  As everyone knows since the in person school year has been canceled we still do not have access to a meeting place.  Also with the shelter in place order expected to extend through May we have no options to meet in person.  That doesn’t mean that the Girl Scout experience needs to end though.  Our Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago website has been updated with different options to work on badges at home as well as planned virtual gatherings for camp fire sing a longs and other activities.  Check out the link below if you are interested in any of them.

At home badge work and virtual gatherings

Also if the girls to work on any of the suggested badges at home, please let me know and send me a few pictures if possible.  I would be happy to purchase and mail any of the badges the girls earn so they can apply them to their uniforms.

The last thing I wanted to touch base with everyone about was the idea of possibly a few having virtual troop meetings through Zoom.  I am still trying to figure out how that would work but was curious to see if there was even an interest for it.  Please let me know if there is and I will get working on it right away.  It would still need to take place in the evenings as I am working at the station during the day but it would not necessarily have to be on a Wednesday if the group thinks another evening would be more convenient.

Lets continue to support one another through this mess and lets look forward to seeing each other in the fall.

Lexi Toledo

Greetings All,

I hope everyone is holding up well & keeping their sanity during this uncertain time.  As you know we are currently not able to get together for our scheduled meetings so I’ve decided to post an optional badge opportunity that the girls can work on at home with your help.  This will give them something to do to help alleviate their boredom and give them an opportunity to continue to earn badges.

Again this is optional and I ask that if they choose to work on this badge that you email me a couple of pictures of them working through the activities of the badge.  I’ve chosen the Financing my Dreams badge which, with your help, should be easy to do.  Attached is the “lesson plan” that is easy to follow and allows you to act in the role of the troop leader for your daughter.  It is broken up into two sessions but you can knock it out in one day if you like.  There is no specific time frame in which they need to get it done as long as its done by the end of May to earn the badge.

Please don’t hesitate to ask for clarification if its needed.  The activities are geared to group work but can easily be done individually.

Financing My Dreams Badge

Dream-Budget-Worksheet

Financing-My-Dreams-Activity-Choice-Descriptions

Camp Juniper Knoll

Currently there are no plans to cancel the spring camping trip scheduled for the weekend of May 8th. That of course may change if the shelter in place order becomes extended or due to lack of interest.

We are asking everyone to let us know IF camp does not get cancelled will you still be willing to let your daughter attend?  If people don’t feel comfortable allowing their daughter to attend then we may need to cancel out of lack of interest, which is completely understandable.

If everyone can take a moment to let me know whether you feel that we should continue with the camping trip as originally planned or if we should cancel for next year, I would greatly appreciate it.  Please leave a comment or feel free to email me directly.

 

Thank you,

Stay Safe everyone and hope to see you all soon!