Say it to me AGAIN!

I received an email from a girl last week who is trying to find a Gold Award Project.  Her mom is her advisor, and I think that adding the Gold Award to their relationship was not going smoothly.  The mom said "the talk" always devolved to an argument.

That's a tough spot to be in, on both sides.  This is one of the reasons we have the Drop-in Sundays once a quarter so that girls can talk with a member of the Girl Scout Gold Award Support Team about their idea. Either with or without their parent/advisor.  Sometimes, the girls just need to hear the info from a different source.  Sometimes the Moms do too!

Sometimes, it is just wonderful!  This really nice 10th grader was sitting across the table from me, full of enthusiasm and excitement for her Gold Award Take Action Project.  She is there to talk about what she wants to do, how she wants to do it, and when she thinks she'll have time.  I try to hear her out, then be encouraging, and ask why this is important to her?  What is the issue she is trying to address?  The root cause or need she is addressing.

And sometimes it's about sussing out who can be a part of her team.  Who can she find to be one of her peeps?  Not all troop members, but club members from school, non-profit resources, etc.

And then I come across a project that doesn't fit that model!  I spoke with a girl who wants to advocate for the saving/creation of a park in a her city.  She wants to use her leadership to promote a cause, not support a candidate, but support a need she sees in her community.  I had to double check this was okay, which it was!

She had leadership and while she didn't need a whole team of people, I bet she will end up serving as a leader in the campaign to save the park.  Her project didn't take money, but it will take all those good skills she'll need to use to be a leader.  Win, lose or draw, she will see direct results of her efforts, and she will be able to measure success and failure.  And she will see that one girl's voice in a city can help make a difference in her community.

It's all good!  Looking forward to seeing both of these girls' proposals in the very near future.