13 yr old "Senior" GS

I guess this has been resolved to the extent that at least my daughter is
happy, and council has "approved" it. However I still have misgivings,
and would like some input from other Cadette and Senior leaders.

First I would liket o give you some background. My daughter is 13 (will be 14
in April) and in 8th grade. In our Service unit Cadettes are 6th - 8th grades,
Seniors are 9th - 12th grades. Originally when my daughter was in 6th grade
she choose to join the Cadette troop she is in becuase of personality
differences with some of the girls from the troop out of her school. Her
Cadette troop was a mixed troop and had girls from all the grades. The next
year, her leader formed a Senior troop for the girls that had bridged from
her troop (and a few others). The Cadette and Senior troops met at the same
time, there were things they did together, and things they did separately.
The troops ran well. My daughter finished her Silver Award in May, along
with some of the other girls. The problem comes this year. My daughter
is the ONLY Cadette, all the others bridged to Seniors. The other girls that
were in her grade have dropped out over the years. Basically the leader
has said she is going to run the troop as one troop (Senior) and asked if
Brianne would like to join a different Cadette troop. Well, of course she
didn't, so has registered as a Cadette in her old troop. But she will be
doing every thing with the Seniors, including activities that are designed
specifically for Seniors. I mentioned that our council has "approved"
of this arrangement. By that I mean, they have accepted her registration
in the council sponsored Bon Voyage program, that requres the girls to be
either in 9th grade or 14 years old. (The rest of the Seniors have also
registered in the program). Yes, they know she is in 8th grade. Their
reasoning was that they felt she was mature enough (more so than some of
the older girls). That she will be over 14 by the time they go on the trip
(where national is strict about the age). And that it would be penalizing
her, since the rest of the troop was participating. I don't have a problem
with her participating in the Bon Voyage program, I just mentioned that
as an example of councils, tacit approval of the arrangements of this troop.
I also don't have a problem with the troop per se. It is an excellent
troop, they do a lot of different things and the girls plan several of our
service unit events. Which is why I have left the desicion up to my
daughter, her leader, and council. My concern is that by being an unofficial
Senior this year, will she be missing out on things that she might otherwise
be doing (I don't know the programs in detail). And will she "burn out"
before she finnishes HS because she started early? Should I have insisted
that she register with a different troop? Or is she basically going to
be doing the things she would have done anyway, with the exception of a few
programs that she is getting in on early.

Thanks in advance.

Lynn
=============================================================================
Lynn Whited | Brownie Troop 401
ljw5@cornell.edu | Junior Program Consultant
Cornell University | Canoe Instructor / Leader
607-255-3727 | Seven lakes Girl Scout Council

Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional.
=============================================================================

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