GSUSA Program Resource Update and National Program Portfolio Information
A new resource: Please view the following video to learn more about the new: National Program Portfolio – Complete the Picture:You’ve Got the Journeys – now add the Badges – Video
We want to share with you what’s in store for the girls in the year to come. Although this information may feel like a dramatic shift in program delivery, our commitment is to provide you with the current information we have from GSUSA. This transition is a work in progress, so patience is part of the prerequisite. We invite you to join us in looking forward to some amazing innovations that will attract and retain girls to our incredible organization so we may grow stronger together and make this world a better place.
We hope you will find this information exciting and helpful. We encourage you to reach out to us if we may assist you. Please contact Lori Sullivan at 954 – 513 – 3764 or lsullivan@gssef.org with additional questions.
It’s Your Story – Tell It!
We are excited to announce that the third Journey It’s Your Story – Tell It! is available. Journeys are our core resources and are to be used as the exclusive program delivery resource. They were developed to present a nationally consistent Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE). The three Journey series help girls explore the three keys to leadership: to discover, connect and take action to make the world a better place. We encourage you to embrace these resources and use them to enhance your girls’ Girl Scout experience.
The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting
During the last hundred years, the Girl Scout handbook has been updated numerous times. And what better time to come out with a new edition than our 100th anniversary?
The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting combines the handbook and the badge book into one publication. There will be a Girl’s Guide for EACH grade level, Daisy through Ambassador.
The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting is a turnkey program that offers straightforward badge activities and will complete the national program portfolio. It offers new badges, which are focused on skill building. The badges are written to girls and assume that adults are reading along with them and offering age-appropriate support. Volunteers learn the GSLE by using the Journey adult guides and can then apply what they’ve learned to all that they do with girls, including badge activities. So, the great news is that no additional adult training is needed.
In the Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting, you will find:
- What’s special about being a Girl Scout (by level)
- Girl Scout history
- Girl Scout traditions
- List of emblems and awards (i.e., membership stars, GSUSA strip, council strip, etc.)
- Awards log
- Diagram of sash/vest with badge placement
- Bridging award requirements for relevant grade level
- Bronze, Silver, Gold Award requirements for relevant grade levels
- Journey map for relevant grade level
- Map showing all the councils and special Girl Scout places (i.e., the Juliette Gordon Low Birthplace, world centers, etc.)
The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting
> Fall 2011: The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting and the new badges are available in council shops
Badges for Girl Scouts
Over the past two years, GSUSA has gathered feedback from councils and volunteers in a number of different ways and one message was heard over and over: Make it clear! Many people suggested only using the word “badges” instead of “Try-Its” and “Interest Projects.” So, in the new Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting, all grade levels except Daisies will earn badges. Daisies will continue to earn petals.
There will be seven Legacy badges for Brownies through Ambassadors. These badges are based on enduring topics that have been a part of Girl Scouting since the beginning – and they are not going away. This is part of the over-reaching national vision, which is to honor the past AND keep our badges relevant to today’s girls. The following badges will be offered for Brownies through Ambassadors.
- Artist
- Athlete
- Citizen
- Cook
- First Aid
- Naturalist
- The Girl Scout Way
In today’s world, it’s hard to find a topic that is more relevant than financial literacy! GSUSA will be offering new activities on this topic from Daisy up through Ambassador. And since Daisies earn petals, not badges, they will get actually earn financial literacy “leaves.”
Girls have always developed money management and business skills through the cookie sale. The cookie badges help girls develop focused skills, which they learn through practical application (that is, selling the cookies!). The financial literacy badges aim at developing overall financial skills. Together, the two badge programs will offer a well-rounded and comprehensive path to help girls become financially savvy.
So, what’s next?
To make room for the new books and badges, GSUSA will retire handbooks, awards, Try-Its, badges, IPs and other materials for girls and adults over the remainder of this Girl Scout year. Click here for a current list of items and their retirement schedule.
This does not mean you should stop working on any of your current projects and badge-work. In the near future, we suggest discussing with your girls what they wish to participate in and earn during the rest of the 2010-11 Girl Scout year. Then please consider purchasing the earned awards (Try-Its, badges, IPs, etc.) sooner, rather than later, so that the girls are sure to receive the recognition they have worked so hard to achieve this year. Please feel free to contact one of our council shops to make sure the awards are available.
- Jupiter Service Center Retail Shop: 561-427-0197
- Oakland Park Service Center Retail Shop: 954-739-7661
We also want to share some key dates that should assist you in shaping your plans for this coming year:
- It’s Your Story — Tell It! (The third in the Journey Series)
- GSSEF Council Shop Inventory
> After June 30, 2011, our council will no longer replenish inventory on any retired items. We will sell what we have in inventory until it is depleted.
We hope you will find this information exciting and helpful. We encourage you to reach out to us if we may assist you. Please contact Lori Sullivan at 954 – 513 – 3764 or lsullivan@gssef.org with additional questions.