How Golden was this really?

 "Ratchford’s project, “On the Right Track: Preparing for College in High School,” prepared other youth for their journey to college through a three-hour workshop.

She based her workshop on her experience getting ready for college as a senior at The Roeper School in Bloomfield Hills, she said.

“I found I was very knowledgeable on the topic of college preparation, and I received compliments on my presentation,” said Ratchford, member of Troop 43950. “I was able to overcome my shyness and transform into a strong public speaker.”

Participants in the workshop were able to ask Ratchford and her college counselor questions, in addition to learning about college and being successful through a multi-media presentation."


Like me, you probably get the GSUSA blog in your inbox Monday thru Friday, without fail!  It's exciting to see what other girls and councils are doing around the country.  And like me, you probably wonder about the quality of the Gold Award Projects they post!  Well, I wonder about today's for sure!  I have to hope that there was more to it than what was presented.

I think this girl identified a need to fill in her community. But did she identify a root cause? And did she create a Gold Award Take Action Project to address that root cause?  Might she have learned that there would have been a benefit to this information being given to younger students?  Or was it only for those who had successfully been accepted to a college? Was she able to post a link to her presentation online with the school?  district?  other schools for use?  How would she have create traffic to her site, if it were posted?

Did she gather a team of non-troop girls/boys to educate about the issue, and then help her create the multi-media program?  Was it truly only presented once?  Why not to the entire school district? county? state? Why not multiple times for different audiences?

How did she plan to ensure sustainability?  Was there an entity at the school to take it over?  NSF? ASB?  PTSA?  Is the presentation one that could have gone further?

As I've said before, I can't tell from what was posted on the GSUSA blog, but I have to hope that this Gold Award Take Action Project really was robust, and that it moves forward to help others.  

What a Take Action Project CAN look like!

For her Gold Award project, Rebecca created a website for orchestra music inventory among middle schools in Northern New Jersey. The site lists all the sheet music each school orchestras had on hand and the contact information for the schools’ music directors.

"An orchestra cannot play all the music in their music library at once," said Rebecca. "So if a school wanted to work on a piece but did not have the funding to purchase the music, they can use my website to see which towns have the music and contact that school’s music director to borrow it."

Rebecca’s website currently has more than 1,000 titles that can be borrowed for full orchestras, string orchestras and chamber ensembles. (from the GSUSA blog 6-1-12)

YES!  This is Gold Award Project quality!  Rebecca identified a need and discovered the root cause of the need.  I'm assuming that she gathered a team to help her inventory and sort all the music.  So, she used her leadership. She also used skills in working with other adults:  contacting all the schools, getting lists, maybe verifying the actual score availability.

I'm also assuming that she created sustainability by handing the website inventory over to the school district? a teacher?  music director? who will add new music in.  Also, perhaps she created a way to have the music come back to the right school.  Maybe she found a group on campus to do a yearly inventory/update as part of their service club hours?  Or perhaps her orchestra as HS has taken on that role?

I can only hope!  

Great Gold Award Project

As an interviewer for the Gold Award applicants, I am in awe of these girls!  Most have been in Girl Scouting over 10 years, and they just love it!  Most have a very clear understanding of their projects. Their enthusiam and excitement just leak out of them!  They just make me proud!!!

And then, there I am, a cheerleader for most, and the wet blanket for some. I'm the one who gets to ask, "what are you doing besides collecting supplies for the homeless shelter?"  I ask "what service projects have you done in the past?"  And then I get to ask, "How is their project going to make a bigger difference?"  How are they going to reach outside their comfort zone and be a leader?  And I get to ask the best question of all that I got from Lisa Hinshaw, "what's the hardest part going to be?"

One Gold girl had a passion for increasing literacy in the local elementary school. Her Silver Award Project had been to create and put on a play addressing this concern. Kayla had continued to work at the school after her Silver was completed, reading to the kids at story hour, volunteering her time.  It was a natural step for her to choose literacy at that school for her Gold.

Her root issue was literacy, recognizing that kids without English speaking parents at home were less likely to read English well, and learn to LOVE to read.  Kayla worked with the librarian and piggy-backed her gold project onto the library's Open House night.  She created 8 booths at her Literacy Fair, and she staffed them with volunteers form her high school, who did it for the service hours!  Her younger sister, a couple former troop girls and gal-pals helped as well.  Kayla organized the event, got together with the start up team to leader them in creating all the pieces, gathered materials and put on a fabulous fair!  Plus, she and her volunteers put on her Silver Award play again.  She had those 60 little kids sitting on the floor, completely enthralled. Plus, they had take away pieces on reading form the fair to use in the future.

But she wasn't done yet!  She completed an interactive computer program that the kids can use at the library at any time!  A great sustainable piece that makes a difference.  Truly, Kayla identified her issue, used her leadership skills, engaged volunteers from outside her troop, provided a huge benefit for a group of kids, and figured out a way for her work to benefit even more kids in the future.  a GREAT Gold Award Project finished just in time to list on her college applications this fall.  I am so proud of her!

(See the link to her video and some photos on the Great Gold tab.)

Welcome

Welcome to the Gold Award Blog Site.  A first for the council!  a site moderated by a volunteer (me) for other volunteers who are committed to guiding their Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts through the Gold Award process.  This blog will not replace the replace the required training, nor will it be a complete guide to the Gold!   However, the hope is that it will be a forum for project information and answering questions in a fun and interactive way. And as with all Girl Scout related activities, I ask that everyone follow the Promise and Law as they engage in the site. Were we all in one room, I'd have us create a group agreement.  But seeing as we're all over the county, I hope that I can count on each of you to act as if this group agreement were in place, and honor it.