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We are the largest girl-led leadership development organization for girls in the world and a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, a sisterhood of nearly 10 million girls and adults in 150 countries. With programs from coast to coast and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl the chance to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success.
Chartered by Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan (GSSEM) brings the excitement and adventure of Girl Scouting to our region.
In Girl Scouting, girls come together to discover fun, friendship, strength, knowledge, and dependence. They find out who they are and what they're passionate about through a multitude of experiences that spark their imaginations, build their confidence, and celebrate every accomplishment.
Caring adult volunteers support and mentor girls as well as foster an environment where girls feel a sense of belonging, are willing to try new things, overcome fears, and—most of all—have fun.
Council Structure
GSSEM is comprised of nine counties in southeastern Michigan. It's geographically divided into 12 communities, which are subdivided into 32 service units.
GSSEM Counties
Communities are made up of two to four service units and strongly emphasize local programs, events, and volunteer support.
Certain areas only; not the entire county.
Our council has six service centers and two camps.
42800 Garfield Rd
Clinton Twp, MI 48038
Store
hours | Directions »
1333 Brewery Park Blvd, Ste 500
Detroit, MI 48207
Directions »
Plaza One Building, 111 E Court St, Suite D
Flint, MI
48502
Directions »
Birchwood Mall
4350 24th Ave, Space 518
Fort Gratiot, MI
48059
Curbside
pickup | Directions »
1 Heritage Place, Ste 130
Southgate, MI 48195
Directions »
8545 Highland Rd
White Lake, MI 48386
Directions »
1046 Mayer Rd
Columbus, MI 48063
Directions »
3135 Lakeshore Rd
Lexington, MI 48450
Directions »
Formerly the Port Huron Service Center.
GSSEM offers many ways to support our volunteers.
At www.gssem.org, you can access information about upcoming Girl Scout events, essential forms, and other Council information. Log into MyGS from our website to manage your Girl Scout account and access helpful resources like the Volunteer Toolkit (VTK) and gsLearn.
Follow Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan (@GSSEM) on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We also recommend joining a Facebook group for your service unit and/or community social media to connect and share with volunteers near you. To identify your service unit and/or community number, please use the tool on the "What's My Service Unit?" slide at www.gssem.org/mysu.
GSSEM staff are here to support you. If you're not sure whom to contact, please call 800-482-6734 and our receptionist will connect you with the right person.
These departments may assist with many common volunteer inquiries:
Administrative volunteers are local, behind-the-scenes volunteers who support troops and troop leaders.
In your area, you may have:
A service unit volunteer who supports recruitment efforts within a school district.
Girl Scout volunteers are a dynamic and diverse group. Whether you're a recent college graduate, parent, retiree, or someone with a sense of curiosity and adventure (of any gender, who is 18 years or older and has passed GSSEM's screening process), your unique skills and experiences have the power to change girls' lives. With you as their mentor, girls will grow and thrive.
Girl Scout members and volunteers are united by the values in the Girl Scout Promise and Law and their shared commitment to embrace leadership in all forms.
Each member also agrees to follow safety guidelines and pay the annual membership dues of $25. Volunteers and adults have the option to purchase a lifetime membership.
Girls can join the fun at any point from kindergarten through twelfth grade.
Girl Scouts' six grade levels are:
At Girl Scouts, everything centers around the girl: Activities are girl-led, which gives girls the opportunity to take on leadership roles and learn by doing in a cooperative learning environment. It's what makes Girl Scouts truly unique—our program is designed by, with, and for girls.
Although girls may start building their leadership skills in school and on sports teams, research shows that the courage, confidence, and character they develop as Girl Scouts stay with them throughout their lives.
What girls do in Girl Scouting all fits within three keys: discover, connect, and take action.
As for how they do it? The GSLE draws on three unique processes that help girls unlock the leader within.
As a volunteer, you'll draw on these Girl Scout processes as you lead girls of any age. Girl-led at the Daisy level will look very different from the Ambassador level, of course. What's most important is that girls make decisions about the activities to do together and that they also make choices within that activity. As they learn from their successes and failures—and gain a major confidence boost in the process—their girl-led process will give them the opportunity to lead within their peer group. By the time girls are Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors, they'll be using the leadership skills they've developed in order to mentor younger girls.
One last tip about using the processes: Girls' time in Girl Scouting isn't a to-do list, so please don't ever feel that checking activities off a list is more important than tuning in to what interests girls and sparks their imaginations. Projects don't have to come out perfectly—in fact, it's a valuable learning experience when they don't—and girls don't have to fill their vests and sashes with badges. Because what matters most is the fun and learning that happens as girls make experiences their own, don't be afraid to step back and let your girls take the lead.
Was a badge-earning activity a resounding success? Or was it derailed by something your troop hadn't factored in? No matter the activity's outcome, you can amplify its impact by encouraging your girls to reflect on their latest endeavors.
Reflection is the necessary debrief that reinforces what girls learned. As your Girl Scouts explore the what's and why's, they'll make meaningful connections between the activity at hand and future challenges that come their way. In other words, reflection gives girls the confidence boost they need to pick themselves up, try again, and succeed.
Keep in mind that reflection does not need to be a formal process, but you can kick-start the conversation with three simple questions: What? So what? and Now what?
What? Go over the "what" of the activity. For example, ask:
So, what? Next, move to the "so, what." You might ask:
Last, review the now, what. Say something like:
This form of reflection, or whatever style of reflection you choose to use with your girls, is a powerful component of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience that helps girls carry these lessons with them for the rest of their lives.
Although program elements—like outdoor expeditions or entrepreneurial ventures—align across all grade levels, Girl Scout Brownies and Juniors won't be doing the same activities as Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors. But with your support, they will get there!
Girl Scout programming is designed to be progressive and it's what makes Girl Scouting fun and effective! By building on the knowledge and skills they gain year after year, your girls' confidence will grow exponentially, and they'll be eager to try new things and take on new challenges. As a volunteer, you will cultivate a supportive, nonjudgmental space where your Girl Scouts can test their skills and be unafraid to fail.
Keep in mind that progression drives success for your troop. In the following links, we've outlined some suggestions that will help you determine when your girls are ready for their next outdoor challenge, their next troop trip, or their next cookie-selling challenge.
Girl Scouts has a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion, and we welcome and embrace girls of all abilities and backgrounds into our wonderful sisterhood.
Inclusion is at the core of who we are; it’s about being a sister to every Girl Scout and celebrating our unique strengths. Part of the important work you will do includes modeling friendship and kindness for your girls and showing them what it means to practice empathy. Through equal treatment, you can nurture an inclusive troop environment.
When scheduling, planning, and carrying out activities, carefully consider the needs of all girls involved, including school schedules, family needs, financial constraints, religious holidays, and the accessibility of appropriate transportation and meeting places.
Girl Scouts' four Program Pillars—STEM, Life Skills, Outdoors, and Entrepreneurship—form the foundation of the Girl Scout program and work together to build girls' curiosity, kindness, and can-do spirit. In fact, every aspect of our program, and every Girl Scout adventure, can be traced back to one of our four program pillars.
Journeys and badges are designed to give girls different leadership-building experiences, all while having fun.
Journeys are multi-session leadership experiences through which girls explore topics such as bullying, media literacy, or environmental stewardship. They'll do hands-on activities, connect with experts, and take the reins on age-appropriate Take Action projects. Because of their leadership focus, Journeys are also a prerequisite for Girl Scouts' highest awards, the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards.
Badges are about skill building. When a Girl Scout earns a badge, it shows that she's learned a new skill, such as how to make a healthy snack, build and test a toy race car, or take great digital photos. Badges may even spark an interest at school or plant the seed for a future career.
If they choose, your Girl Scouts can pursue badges and Journey awards in the same year. If they do choose to take this approach, encourage them to find the connections between the two to magnify their Girl Scout experience. While you're having fun, keep in mind that the quality of a girl's experience and the skills and pride she gains from earning Journey awards and skill-building badges far outweigh the number of badges she earns.
As a volunteer, you don't have to be the expert in any badge or Journey topic. In fact, when you show that you're not afraid to fail and are willing to try something new, you are modeling what it is to be a Girl Scout. Our badge and Journey requirements are structured so your girls can learn new skills without you having to be an expert in all the assorted topics, including STEM.
As your Girl Scouts look for meaningful ways to give back to their community, you can help sharpen their problem-solving skills and expand their definition of doing good by discussing community service and Take Action projects. Both projects serve essential needs but at different levels.
When a Girl Scout performs community service, she is responding to an immediate need in a one-off, "doing for" capacity. In other words, she is making an impact right now.
Through Take Action/service learning, girls explore the root causes of a community need and address it in a lasting way; they truly make the world—or their part of it—a better place.
If your troop members want to pursue their Bronze, Silver, or Gold Award, they'll develop a Take Action project on an issue that's close to their hearts. To make Take Action projects even more impactful for your Girl Scouts, set time aside for them to reflect on their projects.
When they take time to internalize the lessons they've learned, they're more likely to find success in their future projects—or anything else they put their minds to.
For more information on Take Action projects, check out the Take Action Short & Snappy on gsLearn.
Time-honored traditions and ceremonies unite Girl Scout sisters, and the millions of Girl Scout alums who came before them—around the country and around the globe—and remind girls how far their fellow trailblazers have come and just how far they'll go.
A few of those extra special days, when you will want to turn up the celebrations, include:
So, whether they're working on a new badge, making new friends, or closing meetings with a friendship circle, your troop won't want to miss out on Girl Scouts' treasured traditions, ceremonies, and special Girl Scout days.
The Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards honor girls who become forces for good and create a lasting impact in their communities, nationally and around the world.
As your Girl Scouts discover the power of their voices, they'll want to take on an issue that is close to their hearts and meaningful to them. Encourage them to turn their ideas into reality by pursuing Girl Scouts' highest awards.
Did you know that a Gold Award Girl Scout is entitled to enlist at a higher pay grade when she joins the U.S. military? A Gold Award Girl Scout's achievements also prime her for the fast track when it comes to college admissions and make her an outstanding candidate for academic scholarships and other financial awards.
Girl Scouts are eligible to earn any recognition at the grade level in which they are registered. Any Girl Scout is eligible to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award even if she joined Girl Scouts for the first time in high school.
Ask your council about Girl Scout Gold Award Girl Scouts in your community and how they're doing their part to make the world a better place. For inspiration, consider inviting a local Gold Award Girl Scout to speak to your troop about how she took the lead and made a difference. You'll be inspired when you see and hear what girls can accomplish when they take the lead—and by the confidence, grit, problem-solving, time and project management, and team-building expertise they gain while doing so.
Please reach out to GSSEM's Council Programs and Partnerships team about Girl Scout Gold Award Girl Scouts in your community and how they're doing their part to make the world a better place.
For inspiration, consider inviting a local Gold Award Girl Scout to speak to your troop about how she took the lead and made a difference. You'll be inspired when you see and hear what girls can accomplish when they take the lead—and, by the confidence, grit, problem-solving, time and project management, and team-building expertise they gain while doing so.
Training is available for adults working with girls as they earn their Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards on gsLearn.
Girl Scouts encourages girls to try new things and see the world with fresh eyes, both inside and outside of their usual troop meetings. As COVID-19-related travel restrictions are lifted across the globe and you and your troop feel safe doing so, you may be excited to travel and explore the world as a troop.
Traveling as a Girl Scout is a more engaging experience than traveling with family, school, or other groups because girls take the lead. They'll make important decisions about where to go and what to do—and take increasing responsibility for the planning of their trips. During this process, they will also build their organizational and management skills—skills that will benefit them throughout their lives.
Girl Scout travel is built on a progression of activities, so girls are set up for success. Daisies and Brownies start with field trips and progress to day trips, overnights, and weekend trips. Juniors can take their adventures farther with longer regional trips. Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors can travel the United States and then the world. There are even opportunities for older girls to travel independently by joining trips their council organizes or participating in GSUSA's travel program, Destinations.
Please email travel@gssem.org as soon as you start thinking about planning a trip to learn about our approval process for overnight and extended travel.
Our website offers information on planning local, national, and international troop travel as well as Girl Scout Destinations. Also, check out our event list for upcoming Troop Travel training dates.
Prior to scheduling troop travel, please review the following GSSEM guidelines to ensure your troop is ready for your travel experience:
If you're planning any kind of trip—from a short field trip to an overseas expedition—the "Trip and Travel" section of Safety Activity Checkpoints is your go-to resource for safety. For troop travel and activity approval, please email travel@gssem.org.
Be sure to follow all the basic safety guidelines, like the buddy system and first aid requirements, in addition to the specific guidelines for travel. You'll also want to refer to the COVID-19 guidelines in Safety Activity Checkpoints as well as any COVID-19 guidelines for your destination. You will learn more about how to use and follow Girl Scouts' Safety Activity Checkpoints in the next section.
Note: Extended travel (more than three nights) is not covered under the basic Girl Scout insurance plan and will require additional coverage.
Be sure to follow all the basic safety guidelines, like the buddy system and first aid requirements, in addition to the specific guidelines for travel. You'll also want to refer to the COVID-19 guidelines in Safety Activity Checkpoints as well as any COVID-19 guidelines for your destination. You will learn more about how to use and follow Girl Scouts' Safety Activity Checkpoints in the next section.
Note: Extended travel (more than three nights) is not covered under the basic Girl Scout insurance plan and will require additional coverage.
Travel and Girl Scout Program Connections
It's easy to connect eye-opening travel opportunities to the leadership training and skill-building your girls are doing in Girl Scouts! When it's safe to travel together, girls can use their creativity to connect any leadership Journey theme into an idea for travel. For example, girls learn where their food comes from in the Sow What? Journey. That would connect well with a trip focusing on sustainable agriculture and sampling tasty foods!
There are abundant opportunities to build real skills through earning badges too. The most obvious example is the Senior Traveler badge, but there are plenty more, such as Eco Camper, New Cuisines, Coding for Good, and, of course, all the financial badges that help girls budget and earn money for their trips.
Check out the Girl Scout Guide to U.S. Travel. This resource is designed for Juniors and older Girl Scouts who want to take extended trips—that is, longer than a weekend—but also features tips and tools for budding explorers who are just getting started with field trips and overnights.
Once girls have mastered planning and embarking upon trips in the United States, they might be ready for a global travel adventure! Global trips usually take a few years to plan, and the Girl Scout Global Travel Toolkit can walk you through the entire process.
Look no further than the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace in Savannah, Georgia! Your girls also have the chance to deepen their connections to Girl Scouts around the world by visiting one of the WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts) World Centers, which offer low-cost accommodations and special programs in five locations around the world.
Reach out to our Camp team at camp@gssem.org to learn about camping opportunities at Camp Hawthorn Hollow and Camp Playfair. If you plan to camp at one of our properties, at least one volunteer per troop is responsible for taking the Outdoor 1 and Outdoor 2 training courses on gsLearn. Any troops planning to cook outside or tent camp must take Outdoor 3 as well.
As your Girl Scouts excitedly plan their next trip, remember to limit your facilitation during the girls' brainstorming and planning, never doing the work for them. Share your ideas and insights, ask tough questions when you have to, and support all their decisions with enthusiasm and encouragement.
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