Adult Training

You're doing something amazing by volunteering with Girl Scouts - introducing girls to new experiences and being a great role model! So whether you're new to Girl Scouts or a seasoned pro, we want to make sure you're prepared for all the great experiences that are ahead.

GSHG provides adult training courses conducted by skilled and enthusiastic facilitators throughout the year. Volunteers are encouraged to take advantage of as many courses as they can to provide the best experiences possible for girls.

*An asterisk designates required training for new troop leaders.

Girl Scouting 101*

45 min.

GS 101 is required for all new volunteers with Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia. This online session provides an overview of Girl Scouting, including our Promise and Law, Girl Scout Mission, history, introduction to the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting and Journey programs.

To complete this learning session, click here.

New Leader Orientation*

2 hrs.

New Leader Orientation is required for all new troop leaders. It provides the nuts and bolts for getting started as a leader and a basic understanding of this volunteer role. Includes:

Understanding your role as a leader
Troop basics and Meeting Planning
Planning and executing a parent meeting
How to set up the troop checking account and other financial policies
GSHG policies and basic safety guidelines
The importance of the Girl Leadership Experience

To complete this learning session, click here, or find a face-to-face course near you by viewing the training calendar.

First Aid & CPR*

4-6 hrs.

This course is required before Girl Scouts leave their meeting place and for participation in various other activities by one adult in the troop or group.

The purpose of this course is to recognize and respond to emergencies including shock, cardiac and breathing emergencies for adults, children and infants, heat and cold emergencies, sudden illnesses and poisonings. Additionally, participants will learn first aid for issues from cuts and scrapes to muscle, bone and joint injuries.

Approved organizations include American Red Cross, Medic First, American Heart Association, and the American Safety Council.

Find a face-to-face course near you by viewing our training calendar.

Troop Travel Guide*

This is required training for taking trips with your troop.

To complete this learning session, view the 2019 Troop Travel Guide here.
After viewing the guide, please complete the Troop Trip Knowledge Check by clicking here.

For more Troop Trip Resources, please click here.

Grade-level Training

3 hrs.

These sessions will help volunteers learn how to use the Journeys and discover through hands-on activities:

how to engage girls at each grade level
determine how to customize a Journey for their group
Develop a deeper understanding of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience
Review the Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting
Find out how to tie Bronze, Silver and Gold awards into Journey work
Look at the difference between “community service” and “TAKE ACTION” projects

It is recommended that volunteers in a troop leadership team role attend within the first 3 months or upon changing grade-levels.

Find a face-to-face course near you by viewing our training calendar.

Event Director Training

2 hrs.

Being a Girl Scout volunteer isn’t a cookie cutter experience. There are many different ways to get involved-- including becoming a Girl Scout Event Director! As an event director you’ll lead by example and showcase important skills like leadership and teamwork. You’ll take responsibility for managing an entire event, which will include a whole lot of delegation between your team of adult volunteers, girls and community partners.

From start to finish, a successful Event Director will see the an activity to fruition by asking Juliette Low’s famous questions of “What do the girls want to do?”. This question will not only help you brainstorm ideas but evaluate the results. Steps to making it happen:

Become an approved, background checked Volunteer
Complete a New Leader Orientation Online OR face-to-face
Reference the Event Director Manual
View the Online Event Director Training
Complete the Event Director Training Quiz

Once you’ve successfully completed the quiz, you will receive an email from your local Program Manager.

Online not your thing? Your local Program Manager is happy to walk you through it. For contact information, please see our staff directory.

Recognizing and Preventing Child Abuse & Neglect

1 hr.

It is recommended that volunteers appointed to a troop leadership team, leadership team of any Pathway group, and/or service team take the online child abuse training within the first 3 months of appointment.

In this FREE one-hour online course, you will learn to better recognize the indicators of abuse and neglect, understand your role in responsible reporting, and identify the groups of children who may be at a higher risk of being abused or neglected.

To complete this learning session:

click here
Choose ‘Georgia’
Enter keywords ‘Critical Links’
Select ‘Mandated Reporters: Critical Links in Protecting Children in Georgia’
Complete the check-out process (no fee will be charged)

Outdoor Program Certifications

Archery

USA Archery Level 1 certification is required to instruct Archery at any GSHG camps. The USA Archery Level 1 Instructor course is a nationally recognized certification that can be used as verification of skills and knowledge for any GSHG Archery activities and is recognized at most camps and archery centers. Certification is good for 3 years from the date of training.

USA Archery Level 2 certification includes the level 1 certification and is required to instruct other adults in the Level 1 Archery Course. The USA Archery Level 2 Instructor course is a nationally recognized certification that can be used as verification of skills and knowledge for any GSHG Archery activities and is recognized at most camps and archery centers. Certification is good for 3 years from the date of training.

Find a face-to-face course near you by viewing our training calendar.

Basic Water Rescue/Small Craft Safety

This course is required to take Girl Scouts canoeing or kayaking. BWR/Small Craft provides the information and skills necessary to prevent, recognize, and respond to small craft and aquatic emergencies using non-swimming rescues specific to the craft and body of water. Ex. Kayaking, canoeing or open water.

Find a face-to-face course near you by viewing our training calendar.

Challenge Course Training

The Challenge Course Certification is required to facilitate the low elements at Camp Low and Camp Tanglewood or the Rockwall & Zipline at Camp Low. This certification course is specific to the GSHG Camp where it is taken and valid for 1 year from the date of training.

Find a face-to-face course near you by viewing our training calendar.

Lifeguard

The American Red Cross Lifeguarding/First Aid/CPR/AED teaches lifeguards the skills and knowledge needed to prevent and respond to emergencies in a public swimming pool or GSHG pool on one of our camp properties. This is a two-year certification, recognized across the United States.

Find a face-to-face course near you by viewing our training calendar.

Outdoor Skills

The purpose of OS101 is to teach additional outdoor skills needed for an outdoor overnight experience. Covers: the eight basic outdoor skills, use campfires to do basic outdoor cooking, how to cook foil meals, one pot meals, and use propane stove, use knives safely, tie knots, how to implement girl/adult planning and progression in outdoor activities, health, safety, and security controls to ensure the well-being of girls and adults, and to experience living in the out-of-doors. This class is available as a facilitator led course. This class is required to take Girl Scouts on experiences where there will be outdoor cooking ( i.e., campfire or propane stove), campfires (songs and s’mores) or sleeping in an outdoor setting (bathroom facilities in separate structure, i.e., platform tents, cabins, pitched tents).

Course Prerequisite: Beyond The Meeting Place

Find a face-to-face course near you by viewing our training calendar.

OS102 is in its pilot/testing phase! This course will teach you how to cook in a box oven and Dutch oven, cook using a vagabond stove and buddy burner, grate cooking, pie iron cooking and on a stick. We’ll cover the proper use, care and safety for these methods and useful tips for cooking with your girls. You will leave with great recipes to use on your next camping adventure! Other sections to come include compass & orienteering, camping in the back country, and hiking & backpacking.

Course Prerequisite: Outdoor Skills 101

If you are an Experienced or Master Outdoor Facilitator with GSHG you are welcome to attend to learn how to facilitate these courses. If interested please contact Keli Berkman, Assistant Director of Outdoor Program, 478-254-9942.

Find a face-to-face course near you by viewing our training calendar.

ServSafe: Food Handler

2 hrs.

If your group is planning to use a kitchen at any one of the GSHG camps, you are required to have a certified food handler’s certification by the state of Georgia. After completion of this course you will receive a food handler’s certificate valid for 3 years.

Click here to take the online course for $15.00 per person.

Volunteer Learning Weekends

LEAP (Leadership Experience for Adult Pathways) Presents: Girl Scouts Around the World

This adult volunteer event includes a variety of training classes - from core training like New Leader Orientation, Grade Level, and Outdoor Skills 101 to fun, enrichment workshops all in one convenient training event. Volunteers will have the opportunity to take several workshop sessions of their choosing over the course of this event and meet leaders and volunteers from across their region and the council. Register Today!

Save the Date! October 18-20, 2019 at Camp Low, Savannah, GA

Volunter Technological Enrichment Conference

Join us for an exceptional day of networking, new program content, and other enrichment opportunities as we take a deeper dive into the tech resources available to you! Lunch will be provided. Contact Jade Hill to register!

Save the Date! October 5, 2019 at Lizella Service Center, Lizella, GA

Facilitating Adult Learning

6 hrs.

Whether you are looking to join the volunteer facilitator team in your region or are looking to become a better facilitator overall, Facilitating Adult Learning will help you learn how to effectively deliver a learning session with a focus on group dynamics, adult learning styles and group processing techniques. This course is the first step in becoming an Adult Learning Facilitator with Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia.

Find a face-to-face course near you by viewing our training calendar.

MyGS/VTK

As a Girl Scout volunteer, you already know that your girls love Girl Scouts for the friends, the fun, and all the new things they get to try.

What if there was a way to run your troop or group that saves you time and helps you plan so that you can spend more time with the girls? Meet the Volunteer Toolkit, the new online tool that makes it easy for you to get the most out of every troop or group meeting.

And here’s the best part—with the Volunteer Toolkit, you can say goodbye to digging through big stacks of books and piles of resources. It is accessible from your computer, tablet, or mobile device—placing everything you need in one easy-to-access place that’s accessible on the go.

With the Volunteer Toolkit, Troop Leaders can...

Access a whole year of Girl Scout fun by grade-level. Year plans come with pre-populated sets of meetings that give you plenty of ideas for activities and all the resources you need at your fingertips. Here are the year plans for Daisy, Brownie and Junior.
Don’t see an activity your troop loves in one of the pre-filled meetings? Well go ahead and add that camping trip or visit to the science museum. Your year plan is fully customizable. You can even change the order of meetings by just dragging and dropping.
Track your troops earned badge and journey awards throughout the year so it is easier to acknowledge each girls’ unique achievements and attendance at troop meetings.
You'll also be able to see the GSUSA's new Journeys and Badges. Check it out!
Access the girl and family rosters to make communication easier. One click email allows you to correspond directly with your troop’s parents.
Manage troop finances all in one place.