Leadership Development Program

News from GSUSA about the New Girl Scout Leadership Experience

October 2007

1. Thousands of girls of all ages-including girls from GSCNC-have contributed ideas, points of view, projects, and reactions on everything they'd like to see in the program. Girls have told GSUSA about the kinds of challenging experiences they want; the "look" that will attract them to the revised books and awards; and what "leadership" means to them.
   
   
2. Teams of youth development and education experts-including Harvard Family Research Project, Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development, National 4-H, the Search Institute, and several universities-have partnered with GSUSA to identify 15 national outcomes. Defining these outcomes makes it possible to determine how Girl Scouting impacts girls' lives.
   
   
3. When volunteers and staff begin to intentionally use these national outcomes, we will see how council and troop program experiences relate to the impact of the new Girl Scout Leadership Experience. With nearly a million volunteers nationwide focusing on and striving together to achieve these outcomes with girls, the consistency and clarity of the experience will give adults in our Girl Scout community a renewed sense of purpose.
   
   
4. Girls will have a new book with a new look at each program level. In the book, they'll weave together their own thoughts and experiences with the unique Girl Scout philosophy of leadership where girls will:
   • Discover: Understand themselves and their values and use their knowledge and skills to explore the world;
     
   • Connect: Care about, inspire and team with others locally and globally;
     
   • Take Action: Act to make the world a better place.
     
     
5. Detailed and easy-to-use facilitator guides, corresponding to each of the girls' journeys, will make it easier than ever for volunteers to guide girls. Just by following the guides, volunteers will be coaching girls on fun and meaningful journeys-all the while intentionally and seamlessly tying activities to outcomes. At the end of the day, the journeys still leave plenty of room for customization-as volunteers and girls tap into their own imaginations!
   
   
6. Girls at every grade level will have new awards to earn and display proudly on their vests or sashes. Each award marks their accomplishments as girl leaders and also reminds them of the experiences they had earning it.
   
   
7. The new awards will connect us to our Girl Scout heritage as girls and their families gain a new appreciation for awards and what earning them really means. They will value them as families did back in the early 1900s-and celebrate earning them in the same spirit of Juliette Gordon Low when she said:
   "The awards you work on with others are more fun and better prepare you for being useful... you want to be proud of your badge and feel that you have accomplished something worthwhile."



8. Each program level provides Girl Scouts with their own unique and fun way to accept the challenges of their leadership roles. At each level, they are given opportunities to gain new skills and new reasons for climbing to the next level.
   
   
9. Across the country-and around the world-Girl Scouts will be united by their efforts to take action and make the world a better place.

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