Brainstorming for GOLD!

"When Campbell was brainstorming ideas for her Girl Scout Gold Award project, she knew she wanted to do something to help the environment and help combat the increasing mosquito problem in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"I have always been interested in biology and environmental science, so when I was brainstorming for my Girl Scout Gold Award, I went to talk to Jeremy Starritt, the environmental services manager for the city of Frisco, about needs that our city had," said Campbell, an alumna of Frisco High School.

After discussing different ideas with Starritt and hearing about the numerous cases of West Nile virus found in the DFW area, Campbell decided to bring bat houses to Frisco's Beavers Bend Park in hopes of reducing the number of insects that can carry diseases such as West Nile virus."

Wow, nice job!  This was in the GSUSA blog on August 15.  Campbell had a general idea about helping the environment, but didn't know how to connect it to a Gold Award Project.  Soooo....she went out to discover the need!   The need she discovered was about combating mosquitoes.  She identified the need, and then went out into the community to see what was being done.

She narrowed her research to mosquitoes and bats, found an agency with the same concerns/interest, and partnered with them to take action to address the issue.

This is the PERFECT way for our girls to start thinking about their Gold Award Projects!  Think about where their passion is/what they're interested in, and THEN go out and figure out what they can do to address the issue. How they can use their passion to gather others to help, teach them and then lead the team through a successful TAP. (Take Action Project)

What a great example of a TAP done well.

Alive, Awake and Enthusiastic!

Enthusiasm is everything. It must be taut and vibrating like a guitar string."

--Pelé,

Brazilian soccer player


We want our girls to be enthusiastic about their Gold Award Projects! At the same time, the work they need to do must be challenging and meaningful.  Oh, and we want them to have fun!

Perhaps part of our role as a Project Advisor, parent or troop advisor is to be the girls' cheerleading squad!  (As well as chauffeur, of course!)  We are here to encourage, nag, help search out and get the girl to do her absolute best. There will be tears, smiles and everything inbetween, to be sure!

The girl needs to pick an issue that she is excited about and that has meaning for her. She needs to have a strong connection to those she means to help.  And she needs to be able to see what success could look like.  Pele would probably say that what she really needs is enthusiasm that she can sustain herself, and that we can help maintain during the tough times.

Wishing ALL our girls the enthusiasm to create and execute quality Gold Award Take Action Projects! 

Build Something - Is that enough?

“I have always enjoyed spending time at Crooked Creek Horse Park in Manor. That is why I chose to do my Girl Scout Gold Award Project for them. For my project, I built a sandbox and picnic table for their new playground, restored their picnic tables, painted a pavilion, and stained their horse arena. When I completed my project, I had a grand-opening picnic for the children. It was a great success,” Bell said. From GSUSA blog

 There's something to be said for building something that can last a long, long time at an existing playground.  I hope that she had other pieces that went with this, that the article failed to mention.

Issue:  lack of play equipment for kids and lack of upkeep at the Horse Park

Root cause:  money/budget? no one was interested?  or?

Partner with a non-profit:  could be she partnered with the Crooked Creek Horse Park

Discover:  how can I address the need in my community?  In this case, the specific community was the Horse park.  I also hope it was open to the public!

Team:  Who did she gather to educate about the need? Who was the team that helped her build the picnic tables and stain/paint the arena area?  The Gold Award is about leadership, and Bell needed to have a team to lead!  Did Bell and her team plan and carry out the Grand Opening?  Did she get the local newspaper to do an article?  Local news channel to do a feature?  or????  What helped make it meaningful?

Connect:  How did she decide what to do?  How did she figure out a way to fill the need?

Take Action:  There was action!  And it was action that could be seen!

Measurable:  How could she measure success?  Count kids who come to play? or?

Sustainable:  The Gold Award says that she must ensure sustainability.  Did the Horse Park take over the responsibility for maintaining the playground equipment?  painting and staining?

Global:  How could this work in other communities?  Seems possible that there is a similar need in many communities - equestrian and not.  Could this model be followed in other places to make a similar change?

 

 

Quality Gold Award Project

Massachusetts Girl Scout Builds Free Gardens
Posted: 06 Aug 2012 12:54 PM PDT

In Massachusetts, the North Reading Patch reports that Kristen Shevlin has been building back yard vegetable gardens for residents as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project. She is doing this free of charge, and plans to continue next year.

Shevlin has been involved with Girl Scouts since she was in kindergarten. Receiving the Gold award, the highest honor for a Girl Scout, would be a great way to "end her Girl Scout career," she said. She chose building backyard gardens for her project because she wanted to "do something to give back to our town a little bit.”

The raised gardens contain vegetable plants including tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and peppers. She realizes that a backyard garden can take up a lot of space, so also offers potted gardens.

This year, she planted around 15 or 20 gardens. Some of the residents plan to donate what they grow to the North Reading Food Pantry. She also planted some directly in the yards of residents who go to the pantry regularly.

“I had a lot of help with this, but so far it has been really successful," she said.

Right now, she is working on creating a website for the project to keep it sustainable for years to come. If she is unable to complete it when she goes off to college, she can pass it on to another girl scout. The website will have a description of the project, her contact information for future years and instructions on how to build your own garden.

She is also creating recipe cards for members of the pantry so they will have various ideas for how to cook the vegetables.

This is probably a pretty darn good Gold Award Project IF we make a couple assumptions that aren't mentioned in the article.

Her non-profit partner:  A shelter? Soup Kitchen Pantry?

The ISSUE: hungry people without resources for food who can learn to create their own food?

Root Cause:  lack of space for a food garden? lack of knowledge on how to do it? English issues? Money?

Discover: "teaching a man to fish"  or teaching a family to grow their own food is possible!

How to connect:  Gather a team to learn how to make the garden boxes.  Same team to help educate the recipients of the boxes. And help provide support during the growing seasons.  Unlike California, Massachusetts has SNOW!  Wonder if things grow in a basement?

Take Action:  Partner with the NP to identify who needs these boxes.  Teach them how to grow vegetables/food that they will be able to enjoy eating.  Provide simple recipes on how to use the vegetables in the box.  

Is it measurable?  Count the number of boxes given away?  The number of families helped?  The number of families who re-plant during the year?

Is it sustainable?  I'm not sure what "pass it on to another Girl Scout" means, but it seems to me that the NP Pantry she is partnering with is likely to support volunteers who want to help garden.  Did Shevlin work to set it up for the NP? Sure seems like a good fit.  Other Girl Scouts could certainly help, under the auspices of the NP.

What are the global implications?  Well, could she provide recipe cards to other shelters/soup kitchens/pantries that help those in need?  Truly, if the work she did for one can reach further, that's a global implication -- it takes it beyond just one shelter/pantry to help a greater number of people in her immediate community and perhaps, even county.

Here's the part that sticks in my craw: "Receiving the Gold award, the highest honor for a Girl Scout, would be a great way to "end her Girl Scout career," she said." Oh my, but she is so wrong!  There is sooo much for her to do as an Adult Girl Scout!  Let's remind OUR Gold girls. They don't have to leave Scouting, just because they graduate high school or earn a Gold. Girl Scouting can be part of their life. Forever!

How Gold was it Really????

"In Texas, the Cypress Creek Mirror reports that Girl Scout Rebeca Gonzales has a knack for photography, and now she’s using her talent to spread cultural awareness with a photo exhibit at Barbara Bush Library from August 18 through September 15.

With her Nikon D90, Rebeca, 17, set out to capture people with diverse heritages in her small northwest Harris County community. At first, she just wanted to fulfill requirements for her Girl Scout Gold Award project, a prestigious award earned by less than 5 percent of Girl Scouts, but the project grew as she gained support in her community." GSUSA Blog 8-1-12

I guess my first question is, Old or New Requirements?  For the old Go For It requirements, Step Five says to "Identify a community problem/need. Research. Brainstorm ways to solve the problem." I guess her project fits? She saw a need to "spread cultural awareness" and she filled the need by using her photographic talents to take pictures and create a photo exhibit.

But with the new requirements, on the face of it, she did not meet the standard.  Did she create a team to work with?  Did she use her leadership to affect change in her community?  Was it measurable?  Was it sustainable? Photos can live forever, especially if they're digitized and archived...BUT the new Gold requirements say that a girl must ensure sustainability.  Did Rebeca work with the library to create a traveling exhibit that the library could manage?  Spreading the message of cultural awareness to other parts of the town? county? state? 

I like the part about "the project grew as she gained support in her community".  What a wonderful thing!  Maybe it caused people to realize who their neighbors are, and how we're all here together? Maybe just seeing the multitude of faces smiling back into the camera to put a smile on the viewers' faces, too.  Maybe people became more culturally aware and tolerant of others. Wouldn't that be a fine thing!

Always a Girl Scout

"The thing about Hillary," a senior official in Bill Clinton's administration once told me privately, "is that she is always the Girl Scout."  Steve Lee Myers, New York Time Magazine July 1, 2012

Okay, so at first glance, I thought, "It's a compliment. She's a leader, well-spoken, has courage, confidence and character who wants to make the world a better place."

(No, this is not going to be a partisan post!  I'm not expressing any opinions about the President O'Bama, her job, politics, husband, etc.)

And then I read it again, and asked my sisters how they read it.  Both my younger sisters immediately said that it was meant pejoratively.  Sort of a slap back at HRC, that she goes out of her way to follow the administration's program and be a do-gooder.    Puts on a big smile and sells programs like a Girl Scout sells cookies, was another comment.

When asked to compile a brief description of her ethics or code to live by, my youngest sister said, "I was a Girl Scout for many years and continue–in my life and in my work–to follow a bowdlerized version of the Girl Scout Law, crossed with the Hippocratic oath: Be honest and fair, be responsible, and do no harm." 

Once a Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout. And I mean that in the absolute BEST possible sense!