Getting There...

Getting the girl to even get her application completed can be a challenge!  I have a girl who I interviewed (and did not approve) a while ago, who is still having a hard time moving from a collection project to a Gold Award Take Action Project.  Below is an excerpt from round two of trying to get her to a Gold Award Project.  Fortunately, I was able to also cc her advisor, so that she would have the opportunity to work with her girl, and get her to focus.  I truly hope that this girl comes back with a focused issue and a way to make a sustainable difference.

 

"I suggest you look at page 2, where the Standards of Excellence are listed.

#1 - Choose an issue.  What is your issue, in one sentence?  You need to drill down to this.  You listed many ideas:
at risk kids need self esteem building
keeping kids involved in healthy activities is good for youth (as opposed to gangs, drugs)
it's important to make good choices
volunteers lead healthier lives
kids need to learn to stay on the right path as they grow up
kids drop out of school
families are in financial crisis
cycle of poverty
need for volunteers to help those less fortunate

What's the ONE issue?  That's what you need to identify first.  Another way to say it is, "what problem that you see in your community are you passionate about?"  What strikes a chord in your heart?  For some it's domestic violence, children going to bed hungry at night, animal euthanasia, and for others it could be the importance of art or dance in a young child's life.  There's all sorts of issues that reach out and touch us. What's yours?

And then, what's the root cause?  WHY is there this issue?  Because THAT is what you need to address.  p. 10 in the Example #2 is a great example of how succinct and direct your project needs to be.  

Who are you trying to help?  Specifically. And how are YOU and your TEAM going to connect with those you mean to help?

What organization can you partner with to support your project?  I was surprised to see that Second Harvest was the organization you listed as a partner. Their mission and specific focus is about reducing/eliminating hunger in our communities, and I did not see that anywhere on your proposal as an issue you mean to address. 

Who is the team that you are going to educate and lead?  Not just managing a collection project!  You need to gather the team and educate them about the identified issue and root cause, enlisting their support to help you carry out your project. This project is about YOU using YOUR leadership skills!  And that means more than just managing time and collection boxes.

Your project needs to "ensure sustainability."  Forming a club at school is one way, and asking a homeowner's association to make a 3 or 5 year commitment to continue the work is another. Publishing results on a website is not, in and of itself, enough."

How do we describe SUCCESS

“Do not let what you can't do

interfere with what you can do.”

                        - John Wooden, coach

I like this for today.  We want our Gold Award girls to reach high and make a change. We want them to Take Action and make a change in their community.  But we don't want them to get stymied by how big their idea is, or what they can't do because they're too young, or don't have the required training, or whatever.  

We want the girl to do what she can do!  

It needs to be a stretch!  And it needs to be some good work, but it needs to be doable, too. Our job as advisors is to encourage the stretch!  Keep the bar raised!  Push the girl to do her best and achieve the goal!  It's going to look different for every girl because they are each individuals.


We want her to succeed and to celebrate that success. We want her to see that by Taking Action, she has made the world a better place.


She can do it! 

A Vision for the Future

“Vision enables you to glimpse into the future,

to sense its hope and power,

because you yourself are the means

for that future's creation."

                                              - Sara Paddison, author

Each girl is a part of her community, and it could be that this is the community that she will be in for the rest of her life!  Not a bad thing, though I do hope she also is able to visit and learn about people in other parts of the country.  But it's true, many of us come back to our roots, to home.

So as our girls are looking for a Gold Award Project, perhaps we want to encourage them to glimpse the future, and to see how they can make a difference now, so that they can influence the future.  Dream Big!  is another way to say this.  Perhaps we can ask, "what issue is so vitally important to you, that you can see making a difference in YOUR community now for the future?"  I wonder what she'd say?

For some, it might be a very visceral response, if domestic violence is near and dear to her heart.  Our girl could express how much she hopes that what she's doing locally now about safe dating, providing resources for DV victims and education should lead to fewer DV cases in the future.  Or for the girl who is committed to literacy, perhaps her vision is that all kids in elementary schools will have 10 books each, learn to read each one, and develop a lifelong love of reading.

These girls and their projects are the helping create the future. It's in their hands.  We just need to encourage them to see it and do it.  They can. And we know it!

Dream big!

True motivation comes from within –

from the willingness to see a dream fulfilled –

from the desire to leave the world better than you found it.”

                       - Steve Brunkhorst, Life Strategies Coach

Dream Big!  That's what we want our girls to do! We want them to think about the world around them.  Then focus on the community they live in.  Making a difference.  Making the world a better place.

Not, "let's make some neo-natal caps for the preemies", but "let's find a way to educate all Moms about the importance of folic acid and nutrition when they get pregnant."

Not, "let's collect blankets for the dogs in the shelter," but "let's create a curriculum for our city to get the word out about how important spaying and neutering pets is, along with a list of services."

Not, "let's make a birthday in a box for the local women's shelter," but "let's lead a series of workshops for our school about how boys should treat girls, with resources for services"

Not, "let's create a club for 15 women in my church," but "let's create linkage/education opportunities for women with each other and with other church groups to strengthen their commitment to serve and each other."

Not, "let's collect cel phones to donate to the local Domestic Violence shelter," but "let's create a sustainable program at school to teach kids about appropriate behavior at home and in relationships so that they don't wind up in a DV situation."

Not, "let's collect used trophies to donate to low budget sports programs," but "let's create a program to raise self esteem by using sports as a vehicle to do so."

Your girls are going to need to be motivated, to be sure, to complete this Award. It's not meant to be easy.  It takes time, and it will truly take a willing girl and supportive parents/advisor/team to leave the world a better place than she found it.

Give it your all!

I've got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end."
--Larry Bird
American basketball player 

Great attitude!  And I bet, at least for him, he gave over 100% on a regular basis.  I remember watching him play, and he was all elbows and determination!!!  


This is the kind of effort that we want our Gold Award girls to display, isn't it?  Not a half-way or lackadaisical effort, but one that they give 100% to.  Not every minute of every day, but when it's time to work on the Gold, they focus and give it their all.

All that passion and interest in their project should be the driver for doing a good job.  And it should also be contagious.  I bet Larry Bird's was!  He was all about team play, and our girls should be too. We ask them to identify an issue and then gather a team of friends, students, club members and/or troop members to lead.  Our Gold girl is the leader of that team, and she is setting the example, putting out the goal, getting agreement and then working with the team to achieve it.

All that determination and effort DO pay off in a complete, well done Gold Award Project.  Even if there's no 3-second rule involved....