Patch: Terrific Troop

Purpose: To help a troop plan and carry out a well-rounded Girl Scout program.

Introduction: This patch may be earned by a troop at any time. Anticipated time for completion is one year. However, it may be started one year and be completed the following year. Requirements from Brownie Try-Its or Junior badges may be counted as activities where appropriate. As the troop completes a requirement, the leader should date it and fill in the required information. When the troop has completed the necessary patch requirements, the leader may purchase the patches. Patches may be worn on the back of the badge sash or vest. If a troop wishes to do the patch a second time by doing different activities for the requirements, a segment may be purchased to add to the patch indicating that it has been earned again.

Patch Requirements: Brownie troops do the four starred (*) requirements plus four more for a total of eight. Junior troops do the four starred (*) requirements plus six more for a total of ten. If a girl is absent the day an activity is done, the leader and the girl may decide how the requirements will be completed. As the troop completes a requirement, the leader should date it and fill in the required information on the Terrific Troop Patch Form and Calendar.

1. ***Hold an investiture and/or rededication ceremony within a month after the troop has registered and held three meetings.
    
2. ***Carry out activities which include the goals of the Girl Scout Program.
    
   
   1. Do an activity to help girls develop their full individual potential, i.e. encourage feelings of self-acceptance and self-esteem, promote accepting responsibility.
       
      EXAMPLE: See the Feeling Good About Yourself in Girls Are Great for Brownie Girl Scouts or Who Am I Now? In the Junior Handbook. Activities from the Contemporary Issues booklets Girls are Great – Growing Up Female and Reaching Out – Preventing Youth Suicide are especially appropriate.
       
   2. Do an activity which helps girls relate to others with increased understanding, i.e. developing sensitivity and appreciation of friends and family and of individual, cultural, religious, and racial differences.
       
      EXAMPLE: See chapters Family, and Friends and People Near & Far in the Brownie Handbook and Fight Prejudice and Discrimination in the Junior Handbook.
       
   3. Do an activity to help girls develop values and practice sound decision making, i.e. making decision based on her own values and respect for others.
       
      EXAMPLE: See Decision-Making and Follow that Leader in the Brownie Handbook and Making Decisions in the Junior Handbook. Some activities from the Contemporary Issues booklet Tune In to Well-Being – Say No to Drugs also apply.
       
   4. Do an activity that contributes to improving the community and helps girls learn concern about their surroundings and the quality of life within it.
       
      EXAMPLE: See Sharing and Caring in the Brownie Handbook and the Being An Active Citizen in the Junior Handbook. Service projects are appropriate activities.
       
3. ***With troop members, plan a one-year calendar and budget. (Appropriate for the age level of the troop.) You may use the Terrific Troop Patch Calendar and write in each block the activities planned and cost, also include projected income from dues, product sales, etc. Remember this is only your preliminary  calendar, you may add or subtract activities as the year progresses.
    
4. Discuss the diverse population of your local area. Plan and/or participate in an event or program activity emphasizing awareness of diversity.
    
   EXAMPLE: Do the Zink the Zebra program with your troop. See activities in the Mosaic of Life patch program. Activities from the Connections Issues for Girls Scouts. Attend a community awareness program or ethnic festival, put on by an organization in your area.
    
5. Plan and participate in a bridging activity with girls from another program level.
    
6. Brownie Girl Scouts learn three new songs from a Girl Scout resource book or recording. Junior Girl Scouts learn and teach to someone else.
    
7. Participate in community activities (in uniform when appropriate) which will increase public awareness and Girl Scout visibility.
    
   EXAMPLE: Field trips, fair booths, school flag ceremonies, Girl Scout Sabbath/Sunday services, Arbor Day events, parades, etc.
    
8. Participate in both the Fall Product Sale and the Cookie Sale.
    
9. Learn about and contribute to the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund and do an activity related to international friendship.
    
   EXAMPLE: A Thinking Day event, learn about Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting in another country, from the book Trefoil Around the World, participate in Hands Across the Border.
    
10. Do an activity related to career exploration.
     
    EXAMPLE: Attend a career fair, interview someone in a career the troop is interested in.
     
11. Participate in an outdoor activity where girls will learn or increase knowledge of outdoor skills and an appreciation of nature and the environment.
     
    EXAMPLE: An outdoor skills day, learning to build a fire, a cookout, a camping trip.
     
12. Participate in an activity related to physical fitness.
     
    EXAMPLE: Do activities from A Passport to Health and Fitness, attend a council sponsored sports clinic, have a troop sports day.
     
13. Be an Early Bird Troop. Register the troop by the on time Fall Registration date or re-register the troop for the next year by the Spring Early Registration date.
     
14. ***Have the troop evaluate this patch and comment on how the girls and adults feel about the activities, their achievements and/or difficulties.