GIRL SCOUT WORKSHOPS

Mission:To provide free Opera Education in an enriching environment to young Girl Scouts enhancing their awareness and experiences with the operatic music form.

Goals and Purposes:To facilitate two (2) free interactive educational events on Opera Education to Girl Scouts ages 5 – 14 (Daisy’s, Juniors and Cadets Scouts). This will include dance, a short opera segment with a synopsis of the story, craft, and make-up of a major character.

Finances / Budget: Budgeted amount is in the yearbook.

Approximate Budget
$1500.00 - the Mann’s (the performers)

$300.00 - Church rental and custodial care

$200.00 - Make-up

$ XX - Snacks

Contacts and Mentors: Linde Barret, Linda Meyers, Linda Neider Sugrue

Composition of Members:The Workshop is divided into two sessions – 1 in the morning and the other in the afternoon. The Girl Scout Council of Tropical Florida Schedule up to 60 girls ea. session. (This will break down into 15 per group.)

YPO Volunteers – Schedule at least 10 members per session. (Ideally a total of 20 on committee)

JOG – In addition, the JOG girls fill in where needed. (Usually there are 6-8 JOG members at each workshop.)

Timeline:

May

  1. Call the Girl Scout Council.
  2. Ask when the deadline for the Fall GS Calendar of Events is
  3. Ask who is in charge, make contact, and exchange phone numbers and e-mails.
  4. Note: This changes from year to year.
  5. Call the incoming President of YPO and ask her what opera she will choose for the GS workshop. (Usually, it’s the same opera as what the Teacher’s Workshop is highlighting.
  6. Call location where the workshop will be held in January and book the date. Request that we pay the deposit in early June (so it comes out of the proper year’s budget).

June:

  1. Contact the YPO Treasurer and request a deposit check to reserve the location GS Workshop . Currently we are paying $200. $100 per Saturday. You also may need to schedule the churches janitor (we’ve paid $50 in the past but it’s up to the church/location)
  2. Write the paragraph describing the opera to be presented, the dates of the workshop, and a brief synopsis of the workshop (craft, make-up, dancing, snack, opera songs, patch, and tickets to the dress rehearsal) to be printed in the GS Calendar.
  3. Send this via e-mail to the GS Counsel to be put into the calendar – VERY IMPORTANT TO GET THE WORKSHOP LISTED IN THE CALENDAR OF EVENTS FOR THE FALL. THIS IS DISTRIBUTED TO THE GS LEADERS IN DADE COUNTY.
  4. Start designing the patch with the Girl Scout Council contact person for the operas. The GS council will order them to be created and they will pay for it. (They charge the scouts for the patch.)
  5. Contact the Mann’s, husband and wife, team who perform the opera drama section of the opera and book them. They cost $1500.00 and they are definitely worth it.

July:

  1. Follow-up: Make sure GS workshop is in the calendar.
  2. Make sure patch is designed and ordered.

September - November:

  1. Order/ obtain the crafts for the crafts part of the workshop. No glitter; (the churches don’t like it in their facility). Have enough for 150 children. The crafts match the opera (ex: masks or jewelry if there’s a masked ball, love notes for a love affairs, etc.)
  2. Obtain the make-up for that portion of the workshop. You’ll need at least 6 full makeup cases (eye shadow, blush and lipstick). Also needed: q-tips, make-up removal, cotton balls, tissues.
  3. Costumes are also needed. Find costumes and make signs for the “acting” portion of the workshop. The Mann’s will create the script that she reads while the children act it out. You’ll see from the script the number of characters and what they’ll need (ex: Juliette needs a dress and head piece and Romeo needs a sword).

November- December:

  1. Pick up make-up, crafts & costumes
  2. Announce the workshops at the YPO meetings.
  3. Assign the women to the areas – Snacks, Make-up, Acting, Dance, and crafts to assist the Girl Scouts. The JOG girls will also participate – make sure to spread them out also.
  4. Write a section in the YPO newsletter reminding the members to show up for their assigned Sat. Remind them an education committee is mandatory.

January:

* Workshop is this month

Three YPO Chairman for Committee:

Chair I:

  1. the Girl Scout calendar write-up.
  2. contact with the GS Council for placing the GS into the groups
  3. designing the patch with the council
  4. scheduling the church and the custodian
  5. ordering the snack

Chair II:

  1. contacting and continuing to work with the Mann’s
  2. coordinating the script and costumes
  3. ordering the make-up
  4. preparing the opening and closing speeches for the workshops
  5. running the time schedule during the workshop

Chair III:

  1. ordering and organizing the crafts
  2. setting up the craft stations
  3. writing the newsletter articles for YPO
  4. contacting the YPO members for their Saturday responsibility

Problems that some time have occurred:

  • The Mann’s cost can go up and one day we’ll have to find new performers of this kind (not easy). We hope to keep them as long as we can.
  • At the workshop too many YPO members wanted to do only make-up and not any other jobs
  • Make sure you have enough makeup