Raise Your Hand

Be Bold. Be Brave. Raise Your Hand.

Get the Patch | The Book | Tips for Parents

When Girl Scout Junior Alice T. noticed that boys were aggressively participating in activities at a school fair, she started to worry that girls were fading into the background. Now, Alice has a message for girls everywhere to help them have more confidence, step up and become leaders: Girl Scouts Raise Your Hand is available in the Girl Scout shop and online (patch pictured on right).

Get involved with the Girl Scouts Raise Your Hand movement:

Take the Pledge

Parents and Troop Leaders, download printable resources for Girl Scouts to sign and keep as a reminder, or share with friends below:

Coloring Page & Pledge
Facilitator Guide
Raise Your Hand Flyer & Pledge

Sign the pledge: Sign the pledge below and commit to raising your hand in class when you think you know the answer or have a question. Not 100% sure? That’s ok! Take a risk and try anyway.
Recruit three girls: Recruit three girls (they don’t have to be Girl Scouts!) to take the Girl Scout Raise Your Hand pledge.
Share with us!: Tell us how raising your hand made you feel. Did it become easier to raise your hand the more you did it? Take a picture showing us how you raise your hand, and upload it to Facebook.com/gscnc using#gsRaiseYourHand. In the caption, share with us how the challenge went.

Parents and Troop Leaders: Check out our top tips for raising brave, bold confident girls who raise their hands in class below.

1. Teach her to embrace failure: Girls tend to hold themselves to impossible standards of perfection. Often, girls would rather stay silent than risk a wrong answer. Teaching girls that failure is a part of life helps them begin to approach challenges without fear.
2. Encourage teamwork: When girls work cooperatively with their peers, they start to identify their unique strengths and skills. Teamwork teaches girls to value each others’ ideas, and gives introverted girls opportunities to step up and take the lead.
3. Get her outdoors: Research shows that girls who regularly spend time outdoors are better problem solvers and more eager to take on challenges. That’s because time spent in the outdoors gives girls unique opportunities to try new things, take risks and get outside their comfort zone.
4. Inspire self-acceptance: As girls get older, they start to face more and more internal and external pressures. In fact, between elementary and high school, girls’ self-esteem drops 3.5 times more than boys’.
5. Connect her with mentors: Programs like Girl Scouts connect girls with a supportive network of inspiring role models to help girls reach their full potential. Not a member? Join or volunteer today.

Raise Your Hand, the book by local Girl Scout Alice Paul Tapper is available in our shops and online. "Inspired by Alice's journey to build girls confidence, the picture book illustrates her determination, bravery, and unwillingness to accept th e status quo. With Marta Kissi's illustrations depicting Alice's story, young readers everywhere will want to follow Alice's lead and raise their hand!"

You can aslo purchase the Raise Your Hand Gift Set that includes the book, bag and bookmark in our Girl Scout Shops. Alice has donated her advance, $25,000 to Girl Scouts Nation's Capital.