Frequently Asked Questions about Options for Girls Who Have Completed 6th Grade and Beyond
Special Note: In the fall of 2011, GSUSA released the new Girls Guides to Girl Scouting. Many of the awards changed and others have been discontinued, such as the Program Aide pin and patch. We are still looking through the Girls Guides to see what changes we can make to the Camp Crossroads program to benefit our 7th through 12th graders. Our initial change is to change "Aide-in-Training" to "Teen Staff-in-Training", but you'll probably see AIT all over our forms and web site for some time. Your patience is appreciated while we learn along with you.
 | Which forms do I use for which program? If you are applying
for the Caerphilly Catapults Unit or the Crossroads Teen Staff-in-Training
(AIT) program you use
GSCNC's application form on their Personify site. If you are applying to be a
full fledged Teen Staff
member, we need a Camp Crossroads Teen Staff on-line application. |
| I'm a Girl Scout Cadette who just completed 6th grade. Why can't
I be an Teen Staff-in-Training (AIT) at Camp Crossroads? Experience has shown us that girls
who have just completed 6th grade are at a disadvantage when serving as Teen
Staff.
They do not yet have the experience needed to serve in a leadership and
disciplinary role over large groups of girls who are often the same age.
After many years of experimentation, we determined that it was unfair to push
a girl into this type of leadership role too early. If you've just completed 6th
grade, please come to Camp Crossroads as a Caerphilly Catapult and enjoy
yourself for one more year of fun! |
| I'm interested in the Teen Staff-in-Training/Aide-in-Training (AIT) unit, but if I don't get
in can I automatically be considered for the Caerphilly Catapults Unit? Unless you apply for (and pay in advance for) both programs, the GSCNC camp
application system does not permit first and second choices. |
| I want to be a Teen Staff member, but I can't attend any of the
training or planning sessions. Is that a problem? Well, yes,
it is. Our goal is for you to be a successful member of the leadership
team. An important part of that is having the proper information
(provided at the training sessions) and meeting with the other adult
and teen members (at the planning sessions) to form a leadership team. While we don't like to use
the "m" word (mandatory) our experience has shown us that teens who do not
attend these important sessions are less successful, more stressed out,
"behind the power curve" and more likely to end up as "go-fers"
instead of equal partners. If you know you can't attend one of the
sessions, please tell us when you apply. It may not affect your
acceptance, but it will affect your position at Camp Crossroads -- we can't afford
to have a unit or center completely staffed with volunteers who did not attend
the planning sessions. |
| I’m confused about Program Aides, AITs, Camp Aides, Teen
Staff-in-Training, Teen Staff, etc.
Are they all different names for the same thing or what? First, see the
note at the top of this web page. Things are in transition as a result
of the new Girls Guide to Girl Scouting. At Crossroads we have renamed
our "Aide-in-Training (AIT) program to our "Teen Staff-in-Training". This unit was designed
for girls who have completed 7th or 8th grade. The
girls in this unit are learning to be Program Aides. The weekend before
camp begins our Teen Staff-in-Training (AITs) spend time as a group with a
special instructor in a classroom style setting learning about leadership,
teaching and planning skills. Then, during the regular camp day they go
to a unit or center and apply what they have learned. Teen Staff-in-Training
must be available for the entire period of camp. Those assigned to units with
overnights are expected to participate in the overnight. Our hope is
that after she “graduates” from our training program she’ll come back next year as a
full teen staff member! At Camp Crossroads, if you are going into 9th grade or above, you can be a Teen Staff member. At the end of Camp Crossroads, we give both teen staff and teen staff-in-training a letter telling you how many hours you’ve worked and you take it back to your Girl Scout Advisor and decide how you want to apply your hours. The Service to Girl Scouting bars look like a great place to "apply" the hours -- but we're still learning the new awards so there may be more! Teen staff members at Camp Crossroads are required to attend training sessions specific to our camp (see the Important Dates section). Teen staff members assigned to centers attend the center staff planning session so they can help prepare the centers' activity plans. |
Revised: 01/09/12 19:09
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