by Karla W.
I wanted to write an article in my own words about how a Girl Guide unit works – a little birdie told me it might interest some of you who have never been in a unit or haven’t been in Girl Guides for some time.
To register youth in a unit, there needs to be a unit open. In order to have a unit open:
- There always needs to be at least two female supervisors. One could be a Girl Guide leader, and one could be a (PRC-cleared) parent volunteer.
- Even though Girl Guides of Canada used to have a basic minimum number of youth members in a unit, a unit can vary from two youth members (ex. the older units like Rangers), to over 30. Most units tend to have between ten and 20 members.
- There are “branches”. Sparks: ages 5 to 6 years, Embers: ages 7 to 8 years, Guides: ages 9 to 12 years, Pathfinders: ages 13 to 15 years, and Rangers ages 16 to 18 years.
- Planning meetings – even at the youngest age level, units aim to make the program girl-driven. Whether it be through dot-mocracy, or brainstorming their favourite activities for example, leaders try really hard to plan activities that the girls want to try doing.
- The program is also based on badges. There are a total of 32 badges that can be earned, but it is harder (i.e. takes more time and effort) for say a Ranger to earn a badge, versus a little Spark.
The Girl Guide program has morphed over the years, but generally speaking, Girl Guides aim to make their members confident young people who contribute meaningfully to their community and have fun doing it. This can be through volunteering in the community with service projects, gaining outdoor skills while camping, or learning new non-traditional skills like fixing cars or building structures.
If you would like more information about Girl Guides, please email any-[email protected].
