Results tagged “Journeys” from GSSA Leader Blog: The Virtual Volunteer

We have received many questions lately about deadlines for Girl Awards, especially in view of the fact that we are still in transition to the new Journey Awards. Girls who are completing their awards under the 2006 Studio 2B standards (planners currently available on the GSSA Website) have absolute deadlines for all completed and approved paperwork:

Bronze- September 30 of the year the girl enters 7^th grade

Silver- September 30 of the year the girl enters 10^th grade

Gold -September 30 after the girl graduates from high school

Please note that the absolute deadline for all completed and approved paperwork for all of these awards is September 30, 2011.

Girls who are working on awards under the new Journey standards have absolute deadlines for all completed and approved paperwork:

Bronze-September 30 of the year the girl enters 6^th grade

Silver - September 30 of the year the girl enters 9^th grade

Gold -September 30 after the girl graduates from high school

More questions? Contact Mary Anne Brutkiewicz, extension 1202

Image via Wikipedia

In order to earn a Gold Award, a girl has to interview with the Gold Award Committee twice: when she submits her proposal; and when she finishes her entire project. Interviews will be held quarterly and the following paperwork deadlines will apply:

September 30 -paperwork submission deadline for Fall interviews*

December 30-paperwork submission deadline for Winter interviews

March 30-paperwork submission deadline for Spring interviews**

June 30 -paperwork submission deadline for Summer interviews

*final deadline for proposals for high school seniors

**deadline for final reports for high school seniors

Please note that September 30, 2011 is the absolute deadline for all approved and completed awards under the 2006 Studio 2B Guidelines. Therefore, June 30 will be the deadline for all girls working under these guidelines. The only exception is high school seniors, who have March 30 as their final deadline.

Please consult the revised Gold Planner for more information.

Summer camp hasn't started yet, it's raining pretty consistently and the kids are out for summer... What are your girls up to?  Is your troop meeting?  (I know I'd be meeting at least once a month to get that ice cream patch J)

Here are some rainy day (or any summer day) activity ideas:

Make individual servings of homemade ice cream This is amazingly simple for such a special treat. You can make an easy recipe that requires very little preparation time. The ingredients involve sugar, half and half, ice, rock salt, vanilla, ice and Ziploc bags.  (most of which you probably already have!)  The GSSA staff were discussing the recipe we've used at camp, but it will probably be a little less muddled to just link to Disney's version. 

Barbara Davis' tip: Get a large coffee can, and put the pint-sized Ziploc bag in.  Then, fill the can with ice and rock salt and roll it back and forth.  It's especially fun to roll the can back and forth with a friend; just watch Barbara and Kalishia do it!

Play Fort You know how much you loved it when you were a kid. Use sheets, blankets or comforters over tables and chairs. Put a lamp, pillow, books, games and snacks in the "tent". A giant appliance box is the perfect fort, of course, but it's a bit harder to find appliance boxes these days. You could visit a nearby furniture store with your girls. Bet they'll find one for you quickly - 'cause Girl Scouts are crafty!

Drama, what?? This may not be your girls, but I know a couple of drama lovin' Girl Scouts. I found a really cool activity your budding thespians are sure to love.  It's called 60-second fairy tales by Wade Bradford!  Talk about fast paced fun.

Journey on the Interwebs If you're going to be on the computer, you should send your girls to GSUSA's It's Your Planet site.  And I won't tell if you play around on it, too - it's that much fun!

Ok, there's four simple ideas... what activities do you have?  Bonus points if you make an instructional video!

It's Your Story--Tell It! Journey Series

Available in December 2010, the "It's Your Story--Tell It!" leadership journey series uses a storytelling theme in a fun and grade-level relevant way for girls to better understand themselves and their potential.

On this journey, an emphasis is also placed on media literacy and creative expression. All along the journey, girls have opportunities to engage in a variety of arts, including performing, visual, culinary, and new media, to tell their stories and take action to make the world a better place.

Daisy: 5 Flowers, 4 Stories, 3 Cheers for Animals!

Daisies learn just how much they can care for animals and for themselves--and just how good that makes them feel.

Brownie: A World of Girls

Stories teach Brownies clues about how they can create positive change in the world--change that affects girls.

Junior: aMUSE

Juniors learn just how many roles are open to them in the world and the possibilities those roles open for them.

Cadette: MEdia

Cadettes look for the ME in media and learn how they can shape media--for themselves, their community and the world.

Senior: MISSION: SISTERHOOD!

Seniors learn how widening their network broadens their world, and benefits the world as well.

Ambassador: BLISS: Live It! Give It!

Ambassadors learn to dream big, now and for their future, and begin their legacy as leaders who help others achieve their dreams too.

Girl Scouts of the USA launched a national campaign with the girl-centered journey, It's Your Planet--Love It!, that includes eye-catching, interactive activities and games and information that we know your girls will explore and love. 

This is a great resource to use particularly if your troop is working on this journey.

Have your girls join in on the fun and check it out: www.girlscouts.org.  You may want to play around on it as well, we certainly did!

There was a great article in yesterday's USA Today!  It's all about Girl Scouts' green efforts as we prepare for our 100^th anniversary.  Girl Scouts has always been green, but through the Journeys and the Forever Green project, we're taking green to a whole new level.  The Forever Green project is being piloted in 10 councils, and will expand nationwide next year.  I know I'm excited to take part in the Forever Green project - are you?

What makes a great Girl Scout year? Earning badges, hiking and camping, taking field trips, selling cookies, and enjoying Girl Scout traditions. Now you can tie all that together with a choice of two leadership journeys.

Six illustrated maps, one for each grade level, have been created to show how all Girl Scout activities -- earning badges, camping, selling cookies and more -- can tie into the new Journeys. Go to www.girlscouts.org/program/journeys/maps/ and start exploring!

NEW!  The Online GSSA shop is now LIVE at shop.girlscoutssa.org.  If our shops are too far away from where you live, you can still get all of the Girl Scout items you need, with personal service from our council. You'll find uniforms, fun accessories, new Journeys, and even gift certificates available online. The online store offers guest ordering, or the convenience of a one-time account set up, so you don't have to re-enter shipping and billing information every time you order. Questions about the store? E-mail us at shop@girlscoutssa.org.

Call for Entries

WHO:   Calling all Girl Scout volunteers. Disney's FamilyFun magazine wants to hear from you!

WHAT: As part of an upcoming story celebrating Girl Scouts, Disney's FamilyFun magazine would like to feature Girl Scout Daisy, Brownie, and Junior Girl Scout troop or group projects and activities. The best stories will reflect fun, learning, and inspiration and be those that Girl Scouts and their families can enjoy.

In addition, the best entries will:

·         Be memorable group projects, crafts, games, or activities;

·         Highlight the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Stories about girls enjoying the Girl Scout Journeys are encouraged.

Volunteers whose stories are published will receive $250 for their Girl Scout troop or group, a free set of FamilyFun recipe and craft books, and a free print or digital subscription.

HOW:   To enter, send a description of your Girl Scout troop or group's project, craft, game, or activity.  Photos are encouraged!  Please write "Girl Scouts" in the subject line and send your submission to: letters.familyfun@disney.com

WHEN: Submissions are needed by Friday, Sept. 25

Stumped on what your troop should do this month?  How about using the environmental events for September?  They're a great way to incorporate the new Journey.

September 3 The Wilderness Act of 1964 enacted by Congress

September 18 World Water Monitoring Day, www.worldwatermonitoringday.org

September 19 International Coastal Cleanup, www.coastalcleanup.org 

September 26 National Public Lands Day, www.publiclandsday.org

Journey 2, "It's Your Planet - Love It" are now available at GSSA Shops

Our girls are the most enviromentally-aware young people since the "Green Movement" of the 70's. The new Journeys help them develop and focus that interest.  They'll learn about the earth and have fun!  Here are the details:

Girl Scout Daisies: Between Earth and Sky -- On this journey, flower friends take to the road, living the Girl Scout Law with new friends and old. Join them for sunshine, fresh air, and colors and shapes, too--and big Daisy lessons.

Girl Scout Brownies: WOW Wonders of Water -- Girl Scout Brownies find plenty of ways to WOW! themselves and everyone else on this journey. You'll find everything you need to guide the girls to LOVE water, SAVE water, and SHARE what they know.

Girl Scout Juniors: Get Moving! -- This journey offers endless energy in all its forms and functions, plus ways big and small to Energize, Investigate, and Innovate. So get set to guide Girl Scout Juniors to see that energy is what leaders are all about.

Girl Scout Cadettes: Breathe -- On this journey called BREATHE, there's plenty of space for Girl Scout Cadettes to focus all their senses on air. And all along the way, you'll be guiding the girls to their very best flair!

Girl Scout Seniors: Sow What? -- When it comes to food, what's really best for people and the planet? Girl Scout Seniors will figure that out (with you!) as they dig into far-reaching food networks on this Sow What? journey.

Girl Scout Ambassadors: Justice -- On this journey to JUSTICE, Girl Scout Ambassadors create a brand-new equation for something Earth and all its inhabitants need. Do you yearn for it, too?

Each of the six membership levels of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience takes girls on a journey--a voyage to someplace new, with adventures along the way. These adventures engage girls in exploring the three keys to leadership--discover, connect, and take action.

But it is not just what girls do, it is how they do it. Beneath the fun and excitement of the books, the work of our experts ensures that girls are growing and developing their leadership potential in ways that are meaningful to them. The activities in the Girl Scout Leadership Experience embody the girl led, learning by doing, and cooperative learning processes.

On their journeys, girls grow in their understanding of themselves, of each other, and of how they can work together to change the world for the better. Each journey culminates in awards that help the girls see just how far they've come.

Getting Started:  The Recipe for a Great Adventure
All you need is a sense of adventure to guide girls on a great journey. Check out these five simple steps to getting started:

1. Boot up your computer and take a 10-minute walk through the Girl Scout Leadership Experience interactive resource at www.girlscouts.org/gsle. This bilingual interactive resource is designed for the busy volunteer. A guide talks you through each component of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience and provides clear definitions, illustrating how each piece is part of a well-researched, powerful, and change-making experience for girls.
2. Kick off your shoes and sit down to relax. Yes, this is where the real fun starts. Read the (age-appropriate for your troop) girl journey book as if you were a girl just for the pleasure of it.
3. Break out your accompanying adult guide and flick straight to the sample sessions at a glance two-page spread for a "bird's eye" view of how to bring journeys to life.
4. Now that you know what is possible, invite the girls (and their parents) to use their imaginations to make the journeys real in ways that excite them (girl led). You do not have to do everything as exactly as laid out in the books. The books are a great resource with lots of room for creativity. Remember, the books just provide the vanilla scoop: The girls and you add the sprinkles!
5. Now step back and watch how the girls, with your knowledge, support, and guidance, have enormous fun and a rewarding experience.

Throughout the journey--and even before--volunteer and staff members are there to offer crucial support and advice with learning opportunities. Don't hesitate to contact us: Teri Eversole at 251.344.3330, ext: 1302, and Cheryl Miller at 334.272.9164, ext: 2302.

Girl Scouts of Southern Alabama joins Girl Scouts around the nation to make the world a better place and celebrate Girl Scout Week, March 8-14.  The week honors the 97^th anniversary of Girl Scouting in the United States, which falls on March 12.

 What's New

 Girl Scouts proudly presents the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, a curriculum that fosters specific leadership qualities such as self-esteem, positive values, critical thinking, community spirit, and the ability to educate and inspire.  The Girl Scout Leadership Experience takes girls beyond single-interest badges into a series of themed activities based on the understanding that a true leader needs to do three things: discover herself and her values, connect to care about, inspire, and team with others, and take action to make the world a better place.  For example,  Girl Scout Juniors in fourth and fifth grades can now pursue single-interest badges on topics from computers to wildlife to field sports, or take a longer journey to become an "agent of change," earning three badge awards along the way to solve a problem together with community members.

Other recent changes include an updated Girl Scout uniform: girls can wear a tunic, sash, or vest to display their pins and awards combined with their own solid white shirts and khaki pants or skirts. Girl Scouts in high school can also wear a scarf like that worn by Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in 144 nations.

 Girl Scouts of the USA has more than three million members and is the leading authority on girls. Girl Scouts travel the world, learn twenty-first century business skills, and prepare for a high-tech future. The Girl Scout Leadership Experience reaches girls in every zip code, including locations in public housing, homeless shelters, juvenile detention centers, women's prisons, immigrant communities, and isolated rural areas.

Q: Can girls still earn badges, apart from journeys?
A: Girls are welcome to continue choosing and earning badges that represent their varied interests. Earning badges is an important tradition in Girl Scouting and it is here to stay! As adults and girls become more familiar with the elements of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, they will even be able to see how the Discover, Connect, and Take Action leadership keys can be integrated into earning badges.

Of course, no matter what activities girls do in Girl Scouting, the experience is always best when it incorporates the Girl Scout processes: Girl-Led, Learning by Doing, and Cooperative Learning.

Q: What is the future of badges?
A: Over the next several years, Girl Scouts of the USA will be updating some badges to ensure the learning experiences tie to the national leadership outcomes intended for girls. As new or refreshed badges become available and "old" badges are phased out, girls will have time to transition. They will not "lose out" on activities they have begun or planned. 

Girl Scout members have expressed interest in the availability of badges online and GSUSA is considering and analyzing this possibility. Further information will be available in 2009.

Q: What about local badge activities?
A: Locally created badge activities remain an important way to respond to the interests and needs of girls. By using the Leadership Experience as the "engine" for all programming, Girl Scout councils will be able to begin adjusting local offerings, purposefully planning them based on the leadership outcomes intended for girls.

Do I keep using my current handbooks and materials, even though we are starting with the new Journeys?

Keep using them. It will take several years to create sufficient new program materials for each age level, and there are many great examples of our Discover, Connect, Take Action leadership philosophy at work in the existing materials. Refer to the Winter 2006 issue of Leader Magazine: (Setting the Pace for the Future: The Girl Scout Leadership Model  and Activity Tip Sheets) for tips on how to adapt existing materials to the new leadership philosophy. Existing materials will begin to be phased out around 2010.

Awards

Q: What new awards can girls earn with the It's Your World--Change It! journeys?
A: Girl Scouts at each of the six grade levels have a chance to earn new official awards as they complete steps along the journey. The awards are designed to be worn on the Girl Scout uniform. Daisies, Brownies, Juniors, and Cadettes have the chance to earn several badges along the journey. Seniors and Ambassadors can mark the completion of their journey with a pin or badge.

The steps for earning the awards are clearly explained in the "how-to" books for volunteers created for each journey. Girls have information about the awards in their books, too. The journey books for girls and adults also have suggested reflection and ceremony ideas related to earning the awards. The goal is to provide opportunities for girls to fully understand the achievement and growth the awards represent.

Of course, no matter what activities girls do in Girl Scouting, the experience is always best when it incorporates the Girl Scout processes: Girl-Led, Learning by Doing, and Cooperative Learning.

Q: How do the Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards fit into the Girl Scout Leadership Experience?
A:  Girl Scouts of the USA is working to update the requirements for earning the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards and new guidelines will be available online in spring 2009.  During the transition years (2008-2010), girls may continue earning the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards based on existing standards.

Q: How can Girl Scout councils prepare for the future of the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards?
A: Girl Scout communities eager to begin planning for the updated approach to the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards prior to spring 2009 may note the following:

Grade Levels for Earning the Awards

Bronze Award: Earned by Juniors (4th-5th grade)
Silver Award: Earned by Cadettes (6th-8th grade)
Gold Award: Earned by Seniors or Ambassadors (9th-12th grade)

Anticipated Pre-Requisite Steps

The It's Your World--Change It! journeys have been intentionally designed to engage girls in a critical thinking process related to identifying and researching issues they care about, developing community networks, and creating and implementing plans to take action. Upon completion of the journeys, girls will be prepared to carry out substantial award projects. Based on this, Girl Scouts of the USA anticipates that when girls complete the journeys in this series, they will have completed the prerequisites, at the relevant grade levels, for Bronze, Silver, and Gold Award projects and ultimately earn the awards.

Options for the 2008-2009 Membership Year:

• Girls may earn the Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, or Gold Awards following existing guidelines.

OR

• Girls may complete a journey and, upon release of the new guidelines in spring 2009, begin work toward the Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, or Gold Award.

Want to know more?

Read about the leadership journeys here or contact Cheryl Miller at cmiller@girlscoutssa.org.