Troop Organization

How the Troop is Organized

The Troop is a big organization that is run by the girls. The girls elect their leaders and those leaders decide what the Troop will do. Of course the elected girl leaders have a lot of assistance from adult leaders who advise them.

Twice a year all of the girls elect one girl to lead the entire Troop. This person is called the Senior Patrol Leader and is usually an experienced girl who has already earned at least the First Class rank. We also elect Assistant Senior Patrol Leaders at the same time. After she is elected, the Senior Patrol Leader appoints other girls to other leadership positions.

Every girl also belongs to a smaller 5 – 8 member group within the Troop called a Patrol. Twice a year each Patrol elects a girl to serve as Patrol Leader and another girl as Assistant Patrol Leader. These girls run the Patrol meetings. Each Patrol selects a name and the members wear a patrol patch and have a Patrol flag and a cheer. Members of Patrols usually become good friends because they work together with each other on projects and earning advancement ranks and merit badges. When we go on hikes, camping or other activities we often break-up into our Patrols to do things.

The Senior Patrol Leader meets with all of the Patrol Leaders once a month for a Patrol Leaders Council (PLC) before one of our regular Monday meetings. Any scout can attend the PLC. The Senior Patrol Leader runs that meeting and parts of our Troop meetings. She is the head girl and with the help of the Troop’s adult leaders runs the entire Troop. We have other girl leaders that help run the troop, such as a scribe, quartermaster and historian. Every girl will have her opportunity to be a leader.

We are glad to have adult women and men help guide us as we learn about citizenship, personal fitness, leadership and Scouting skills. These people include our Scoutmaster and several Assistant Scoutmasters. They have trained for their positions and are there to keep the girls safe and help make leadership decisions when the girls are unsure about what to do. They help the scouts learn Scouting skills so they can advance through Scouting ranks and earn merit badges. The Scoutmaster and Assistant Scoutmasters doesn’t lead the troop– that is what our Senior Patrol Leader and Patrol Leaders do. Instead, they try to guide and assist the SPL and scout youth leadership in running the troop.

The Scoutmaster and ASMs are selected by our Troop Committee, which is a group of adults, who run the administrative side of the troop and provide support that enable our program to happen. The Troop Committee (or TCOM) is led by the Troop Committee Chair.

Kiwanis Club of Sammamish has a charter from the BSA to offer Scouting to youth and has supervisory authority over all Troop operations. The club is represented on our Troop Committee by a “Chartered Organization Representative”.