GOLD AWARD REQUIREMENTS Seven Steps to the Girl Scout Gold Award

The Girl Scout Gold Award has seven steps:

1. ORGANIZE. Build a framework – get organized so that you can carry out the other six steps.
   
2. LEAD. Earn the Girl Scout Gold Leadership Award – put the Girl Scout Law into action.
   
3. NETWORK. Earn the Girl Scout Gold Career Award – reach out and build your network.
   
4. EXPLORE. Earn the Girl Scout Gold 4 B's Challenge – develop your voice.
   
5. CREATE. Create a project plan for your Girl Scout Gold Award Project.
   
6. ACT. Do the Girl Scout Gold Award Project – make a difference in your community on something you strongly care about.
   
7. REFLECT. Reflect and evaluate – realize how earning the Girl Scout Gold Award has changed you and impacted others.

Step 1:

ORGANIZE. Build a framework

Each potential Gold Awardee is expected to contact the council offices to find out about workshops that are scheduled for the award process, the specific requirements and the timeline for the filing of any and all paperwork.

Each potential Gold Awardee is then expected to purchase the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B Focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert. This should be read thoroughly.

Next, locate an adult advisor. Meet with your advisor and develop a timeline and a plan on how you will earn each of the three awards in Steps 2-4 as well as setting a date for a meeting with your council before proceeding to Step 5. Remember, you have lots of time! Steps 1-4 may be done when your 14-18 or in grades 9-12. You need to be 15-18 or in grades 10-12 when you do steps 5-7. Your advisor will be there to help you over bumps in the road, to support you, advise you on your project and, most importantly, to support your efforts. Your advisor is also there to ask questions, help you to clarify your plans. Advise you about the scale, scope and financing (if needed) of your project and to keep you up to date on all council policies and procedures. However, it is the responsibility of the potential Gold Awardee to create and carry out all of the steps!

Step 2:

LEAD. Girl Scout Gold Leadership Award
Here are the four (4) steps to earning the Girl Scout Gold Leadership Award.

Set the Spark
a) Choose and earn an Interest Project that you feel will help you practice living by one one of these four sets of values:

I will do my best to be:

honest and fair
friendly and helpful
considerate and caring
courageous and strong

b) Choose and earn an Interest Project that you feel will help you practice living by one one of these three values:

responsible for what I say and do
respect myself and others
respect authority

c) Choose and earn an Interest Project that you feel will help you practice living by one one of these three values:

use resources wisely
make the world a better place
and be a sister to every Girl Scout

During the process of earning each of the three Interest Project Awards, notes should be taken and entered into your journal. Upon completion of each Interest Project Award, the following questions should be completed:

ACTION

• Which did you choose?
• How did you put the Girl Scout Law into practice?
• How did it help you be a better leader?

Take Charge.

Choose a book from the Studio 2B Focus series, meet with your advisor to set your goals and earn the chosen charm. Remember to take notes journal along the way! The Reflection section, found on page 12, should be filled out at the completion of this charm.

Put Leadership into Action Now it's time to show your leadership skills. Spend 30 hours in a leadership role. Use yourLeadership in Action Log found on page 13 of the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B Focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert to keep track of your hours. Do any of the following to add up to 30 hours.

• Be an officer in a group or club at school.
• Chair or be a captain of an extracurricular activity.
• Assist in leading a Girl Scout troop/group in your neighborhood or at camp.
• Serve in a leadership role at your council.
• Play a leadership role in your town or at a place of worship.
• Partner with or shadow a leader in your community.
• Serve with adults on a council committee or council board of directors if your state law permits, or serve as a delegate to the National Council.
• Serve on the By Girls, For Girls National Advisory Committee or the local equivalent.
  

Put It Together Now. Consider what you have learned in earning your Girl Scout Gold Leadership Award by completing the statements found on page 13 of the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B Focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert:

• I demonstrated a real understanding of the Girl Scout Law by applying it to this situation in my life:
• In earning this award, I learned that a leader needs to be:
• Why do you think this is true?
• In earning this award as a leader, I am very proud of accomplishing:
• I have shown my personal integrity and honor by:
• Once these four steps have been accomplished, the Gold Award Leadership pin has been earned.
  

Integrity: The quality of possessing and steadfastly adhering to high moral principles or professional standards.

Honor: Strong moral character or strength, and adherence to ethical principles.

Step 3:

NETWORK. The Girl Scout Gold Career Award

Do one or a combination of the following for a total of 40 hours:

• Career-shadow one or more people
• Get an apprenticeship or internship
• Visit colleges or trade schools
• Organize a career fair
• Publish a newsletter or create a Web page about careers for your school
• Partner with one or more Girl Scout council staff people

FAST TRACK: If you currently have a paying job or have started your own business and have put in 40 hours on it, congratulations! Your fast track career moves have allowed you to be promoted. You can use this experience in place of the above step.

Now, see page 15, Reflection, in the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B Focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert and journal your thoughts and answers to the series of questions provided. To aid in this process, consult page 15, Tool Kit, to help you along the way. After completion of all of the above, the Gold Career Award has been earned.

Step 4:

EXPLORE. The Girl Scout Gold 4 B's Challenge

Become: Celebrate yourself today and become your best self in the future.

Belong: Be part of a group where you have fun, relate to others with respect, and develop lasting friendships.

Believe:Develop your ideas and voice what's important to you.

Build: Take action on what you care about and make a difference.

Here are the four steps to earning the Girl Scout Gold 4 B's Challenge:

Become

• In order to become your best self, you need to set goals for your personal growth.
• What are your strongest skills in managing projects? Are you very organized? Good at motivating others? Excellent at getting work done in the time you have planned?
• Which skills need work? Giving clearer directions? Using your time more effectively? Solving conflicts among group members better?
• Decide two skills you need to improve and the steps you will take to improve them:

Be SMART:

Use these questions as a guide in setting your goals (see page 17 in the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B Focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert):

• Specifically what will you do?
• How will you measure your progress toward your goals?
• How will you know if you have achieved your goals?
• Are your goals realistic? (Can you really achieve them or are they too hard?)
• What is your timeframe to reach your goals?

Belong: Our Community

You belong to your community. Who else lives there? Find out more about your community and its members.

The following is a list of information resources:

• Local school offices
• U.S. census report
• Town or county planning office
• Local library
• City government offices
• County health department
• County cooperative extension office
• Chamber of commerce
• State assembly member offices
• Girl Scout council office
• Community organizations
• Yellow pages
• Community Web sites
• Associations that promote issues for women, youth and children
• Local colleges and universities
• Social, service, fraternal, and professional organizations

This can be found on page 18 in the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B Focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert.

Believe: A Vision for Change

Crafting a vision for change is the initial step for making the change become a reality.Using what you have learned in the Belong section, answer these questions (found on pages 18 and 19, in the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B Focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert).

• What are the top five needs of my community?
• How do I know that this statement is true?
• Why do these needs exist?
• What project can be done to address the root causes of these needs?
• Where do I fit into addressing these causes?
• What will the community look like after the project is completed?
• What will be the long-term effects of the project on the community?
• The answers to these questions should be made as journal entries in your workbook. Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert
  

My Vision Statement

Using your answers to the questions on pages 18 and 19 in the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert, draft a vision statement of change for one aspect of the community needs;
Use pages 9-12 in the STUDIO 2B Focus Write Now to help you write your vision statement.

Build: Your Network

You can build a network of people in your community who can help you make your vision of change come true. Review the Believe section found on page 18 in the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert to discover what you've learned about the people in your community and take it a step further. Answer the following questions, found on page 21 of the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert.

• Who are the other people in the community who car about this issue?
• What people in the community are affected by this issue?
• Which people have the power to help solve this issue?
• Who supports young people and community service?
• Who are the political community leaders?
• Who are the community leaders who are not elected officials?
• How can you gain the support of the people you need to support your vision?

Use pages 18 and 19 in the STUDIO 2B Focus Write Now to build your persuasive skills to support your position on the issue. Once this has been completed, you have earned the 4 B's Challenge Charm.

Step Five:

CREATE. Plan Your Girl Scout Gold Award Project

The time has come for you to use your voice and make your mark in the community. Everything you've done in Steps 1 through 4 has led you to this moment! Use pages 23 through 25 in the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert, to help you.

Plan It. Identify your community issue and submit your idea and whatever else is necessary to the council Gold Award Committee for review and approval. This is best done via e-mail.

Choose It. Brainstorm all the ways you can solve the problem and decide which is the best way to go. Ask yourself questions such as the following to help you decide:

• Do I have enough resources (time, money, help?)
• If not, how can I get what I need?

Budget It. Create and review a budget, use page 24 in the Girl Scout Gold Award Studio 2B focus: GO FOR IT! workbook insert as a sample budget form; as well as pages 32 through 37 for ideas and guidelines. Also consult the most recent issue of Safety-Wise, which can be obtained from your troop leader, for all current health and safety standards to make sure you are following procedure. Should you find that your project is too costly, you may want to make adjustments and move on to another solution.

Map It. Write down the steps you need to take and what resources you will need. Using the following Timeline format, organize your available people and other resources needed to carry out your project. Fill in your timeline and submit it to the council offices for approval.

Timeline of Project Steps

Resources

• People:
• Costs:
• Facilities:
• Equipment:
  

Evaluation

• Meeting with council committee date:
• Suggestions from committee:

Step Seven: REFLECT

Reflect and evaluate. It is now time to answer the following six questions and complete your Final Gold Award paperwork. This paperwork should be handed into the council office on or before the council deadline.

• Did I accomplish what I set out to accomplish ?
• Could I have avoided some problems that sprang up?
• What did I learn about myself?
• What did I learn about others?
• How did I leave my mark?
• How can I hare what I did?

CONGRATULATIONS!

At this point, you have completed steps 1 – 7, completed your journaling, and submitted your final Gold Award paperwork! You have earned the highest award in Girl Scouting!

2008 © The Girl Scout Council of Greater Essex and Hudson Counties