In addition to GSCO’s regular online training options that are scheduled for the year, the Highest Awards program will be adding a few additional virtual trainings while everyone is at home in the next few weeks. Please find the webinar info below and sign up if you are a Junior, Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador troop leader, girl, or parent. The online registrations for these events will all be available soon on the Events page of the GSCO website. Contact Kaitie LoDolce, Highest Awards Manager, at highestawards@gscolorado.org for questions. Gold Award Training Webinar Tuesday, March 31, 2020  from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. This is our official Gold Award training requirement for girls who would like to pursue Gold. It is also recommended for troop leaders or parents who plan to support their girls through the process. Highest Awards and Take Action Training Webinar Thursday, April 2, 2020 from 11 a.m. – Noon This training is for any troop leaders who would like more information on Take Action projects and/or the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Award programs. Gold Award Project Workshop Tuesday, April 7, 2020 from Noon – 1 p.m. This is a workshop for any Girl Scout Seniors or Ambassadors who are at any stage of starting their Gold Award process but have not yet submitted an initial proposal. #onlinetraining #VolunteerNews #HighestAwards #HighestAwardstraining #training

Thanks to everyone who has joined us this week for Sky High Ranch’s first-ever VIRTUAL SPRING CAMP! Since Monday, March 16, 2020, camp staff has been posting crafts, STEM projects, and more daily at @sky_high_ranch on Instagram. GSCO has tried to share as much of this content as we could on our other social media channels. If you’re looking for more of this material or just aren’t on social media, click here for the resources we’ve been utilizing during this exciting week. #WoodlandPark #2020VirtualSpringCamp #SkyHighRanch #VirtualSpringCamp #GirlScoutCamp #Instagram #PikesPeak #camp

Girl Scouts of Colorado (GSCO) is excited to announce The Carla Montana Distinguished Military Veteran Memorial Girl Scout Adventure Fund! The Carla Montana Distinguished Military Veteran Memorial Girl Scout Adventure Fund honors its namesake and the things she valued most. Carla grew up in a military family where service to one’s country and friendship to sister Girl Scouts were important values. She traveled extensively and had many meaningful experiences both personally and professionally, but her Girl Scout memories were among her most cherished. The timing of this announcement coincides with the Month of the Military Child, which was established in 1986 and has been celebrated every April since. GSCO is proud of our commitment to military families and will be joining Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) by supporting local events in honor of the Month of the Military Child throughout April 2020. We are inviting Girl Scout supporters to participate in a challenge to raise a minimum of $10,000 by April 4, 2020, allowing GSCO to complete the endowment started with a generous donation from Carla’s family. And to help get this started, all gifts to the Carla Montana Fund received between March 13 – April 4, 2020 will be matched, up to $2,500, by Elba Barr, Army Veteran and Lifetime Girl Scout! Distributions from the endowment will provide Colorado Girl Scouts from military families with scholarships enabling them to experience the learning, joy, and camaraderie acquired through travel and adventure. Additional details of the scholarship process will be made available once the endowment has been established. More information and online donations #TheCarlaMontanaDistinguishedMilitaryVeteranMemorialGirlScoutAdventureFund #veternas #Veterans #funddevelopment #2020MonthoftheMilitaryChild #MonthoftheMilitaryChild #military #CouncilNews

Submitted by Cameron Morgan Metro Denver Centennial Ten of our eleven Cadettes (sixth graders) logged in to a virtual meeting we hosted on GoToMeeting. We just started working on our “Breathe” Journey. The girls did the Promise and Law, then got scented items to describe as we talked about the smells present in our indoor and outdoor air.  We each placed a section of Scotch tape someplace in our homes to collect particulates. We’ll examine those next time! We had a cookie season update from our troop cookie manager, and the girls held up fingers 1-10 to indicate how much fun they’d had during cookie season (mostly 9’s and 10’s!). We have packages ready for our Hometown Hero cookie delivery, whenever we can make that happen. Most girls included their pets or stuffies in our “closing circle,” where we sang “Make New Friends” together. We had two girls already designated to lead the meeting; they had prepared the various segments based on the Journey guide book. As an adult leader, I was so impressed with their willingness to participate and their ability to take turns talking (sometimes hard in a group call). The future looks bright! We will meet again soon for chapter three of the Journey. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments, too. #Centennial #Journey #MetroDenver

What did you do for your Gold Award Project? Shire horses have been on the endangered species list for a very long time because they were used in wars to pull ammunition carts. During WWII, they were killed by the thousands by the airstrikes across Europe. Michelle Conner, my sponsor for this project and owner of Thunder Cliff Shires, started her organization by rescuing young Shires from slaughter. Now, she breeds them as well as incorporates a variety of horses for therapy, teaching people about her animals and the importance of them. Michelle is working very hard to bring the Shire breed back to life, as well as educate and help people with disabilities or those with anxiety/depression, including wounded warriors suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Thunder Cliff Shires is nonprofit and therefore, needs help anywhere they can find it. I decided to help them by building an obstacle course to help train their horses more effectively. My obstacle course consisted of three obstacles: a “tire bridge,” which was for the horses’ carriage rides; cowboy curtain, which is a large wooden frame with pool noodles hanging down to get the horses used to touch; and a tire pyramid to get them used to uneven ground. The obstacle course helps the horses with unfamiliar circumstances, getting them used to different touches and unstable environments, so that it they are calmer when dealing with children. How did you measure the impact of your Gold Award made on your target audience? I wanted my audience to learn self-improvement and the ability to get to know both themselves and the animals better. I want them to learn that anything is possible and that there is always somebody there to help them. Nobody likes to feel helpless and animal therapy is a very good method of improving moods. I would also like my target audience to know how the animals help them as well as what Thunder Cliff Shires does for animals and individuals with disabilities. I ensured that they would learn about my project and its effect, as well as how it could help them or those around them. Michelle has promised to tell visitors to the ranch about my project, and I created a pamphlet that I am going to show and hang up. I have also kept in touch with Thunder Cliff Shires to ensure that the team educates people on the project and how it helps them and the horses. How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement? Thunder Cliff Shires has expressed how much they needed the obstacles and said they would most definitely use them for years. Sharing the project will also bring others to possibly come to her organization and check it out. Sharing may also give others the idea to do similar things, therefore ensuring that there’s motivation to continue use by seeing how much an obstacle course could help. The horses are also going to breed, causing them to need to be trained to help people- and so the cycle continues. The obstacles are also well built and are ensure to stand throughout the years because of their strength. Thunder Cliff Shires has tours for Wounded Warriors, elder homes, etc. and the obstacles and sign will be there to educate visitors about my project. I will also continue to help them should they need any support from me. I’ve made myself available to help with tours and have created a group of volunteers that have offered support in the future as well. What is your project’s global and/or national connection? Hopefully, by sharing my project and plans, other organizations all around the world will see and use my ideas to benefit their own animals or people. Using these obstacles to help animals get trained will help them get trained faster- and trust is extremely important if these animals are to deal with people that may need that help. It may also help to educate people about horses and about the endangered Shire horse, possibly influencing them to look into helping the animals. It may also educate people on the method of therapy through horses and how helpful it could be to help or calm down an individual. Advertising what I’ve done with my project will also influence others to volunteer and support other organizations. Prior to helping with my project, none of the people that volunteered were aware of the endangered species, the therapy, or the organization. Teaching them will spread and they will tell others, and the education will continue. I have asked Thunder Cliff Shires to post my plans so that others can have easier access to them. Organizations all around will be inspired by my plans, and Thunder Cliff Shires is connected to a network of other people and places like them so they can spread my project. What did you learn about yourself? I learned that if I motivate myself and buckle down to get to work, then I can do anything I set my mind to. I also learned that no matter how hard something may seem at first, it isn’t that much work in the end and there are several ways to see the work as something smaller. Instead of dreading and saying “I have to do this, this, and this,” I instead would tell myself “you only have to do three more things to complete the project” and I think that helped me a lot. I also worked on decreasing my procrastination, which not only helped with this project, but will help with school as well. How will earning your Gold Award impact your future? The Gold Award will impact my future in many ways. The award provides more opportunities for future education. I want to go into a STEM field and the Gold Award will look very good on my college application, as it will show that I can collaborate with others to complete a project. It has also motivated me and made me realize I can do anything I put my mind to. It taught me that not everything is scary, and that I can be more laid back about things. This will probably stick with me for the rest of my life. Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience? I feel like the Gold Award was an important part of my Girl Scout experience because it felt like all the years, I’ve put into Girl Scouts led up to it. All of the smaller projects were preparing me and everything now seems like it was extremely important to do instead of just work to get me out and talking to people into the community. I also feel like I have done what a Girl Scout should do, which is give back to her community. I also feel very accomplished with my Girl Scout career. How did earning your Gold Award help you become a G.I.R.L? I feel like getting my Gold Award made me more comfortable with taking risks. I’ve always been a very anti-hazard person, and anything even slightly outside of my comfort zone, I refused to do. This project helped me to realize that the worst thing anyone can say is no, and that to go out and do things is the only way I will learn and improve as a person. Going outside of my comfort zone is something I’ve noticed I do more, even in the short period of time it’s been since I have finished my project. I believe that this will be very important for the rest of my life. **IMPORTANT NOTE: This blog represents only a small fraction of the hard work, dedication, and requirements that go into earning a Girl Scout Gold Award. It is simply a brief summary, which is meant to inspire Girl Scouts to Go Gold in the future. For more information on earning your Gold Award, please email highestawards@gscolorado.org. #GoldAward #Elbert #HighestAwards #ColoradoSprings #GoldAwardGirlScout #GirlScoutGoldAward #horses #BanningLewisPreparatoryAcademy #animaltherapy #TakeAction #PikesPeak #ThunderCliffShires #Shirehorses

Following the advice of the Centers for Disease Control and GSUSA, we are extending our cancellation of all Girl Scouts of Colorado-sponsored, in-person programming and events for eight weeks, through May 17, in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. [Update 4/6: All Girl Scouts of Colorado-sponsored in-person programming and events are now canceled through May 31] The current recommendation is to cancel all gatherings of more than 10 people. Unfortunately, that means we will cancel all Volunteer Appreciation events and Highest Awards celebrations, as well as several high-profile partner events. But, we are looking at ways to provide virtual programming, online celebrations, and Girl Scouting-at-home resources. As good Girl Scouts, we’re using this crisis as an opportunity to try new things and new ways to deliver the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Already, we’re hosting a “virtual spring camp” on our Sky High Ranch Instagram (@sky_high_ranch) and had nearly 400 girls join in today from across Colorado, 30 other states, and 3 countries! Watch our social channels, website, and blog for more virtual programming opportunities in the near future! All Girl Scouts of Colorado staff are working remotely through May 17 and the retail shop is closed. However, the GSCO Leadership Team and Emergency Response Team are meeting regularly and will continue to assess cancellations and work status as we move through this crisis. We will keep you informed of any status changes. At this point, we have made no decisions regarding summer camp cancellations. We will continue to gather information to make decisions in the best interest of our members and staff as we move forward. It has never been more important to remember that Girl Scouting is not just what we do, it’s about who we are. You are a Girl Scout whether or not you attend troop meetings. Now more than ever, we must all follow the Girl Scout Promise and Law. We must be responsible for our own health and for our possible impact on the health of others, and prioritize social distancing as much as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we all work together to ensure the health and safety of our communities. We love seeing how our Girl Scout community takes the lead and comes together in times of need – even when we cannot be together physically! If your troop is hosting a virtual gathering or you have ideas on Girl Scout activities or service that can be done at home, please share at gscoblog.org/share. #GirlScoutsoftheUSA #GSUSA #CentersforDiseaseControl #COVID19 #CouncilNews

What did you do for your Gold Award project? For my Gold Award, I created the Buddies Club. The Buddies Club partners a student with disabilities and a non-disabled peer to form a long-lasting friendship, improving social skills and reducing stereotypes. As a club, we tie-dye shirts; play board games; carve pumpkins; and play basketball. The club is a way to foster experiences between students who otherwise would not interact. Through the Buddies Club, students with disabilities are able to foster friendships and, perhaps more importantly, learn interpersonal skills to interact with others in the real world. How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience? I administered a survey to all members of the club, both disabled students and Buddies. I asked students with disabilities  if they had gained a friend, if they felt more included in the school, and if they had learned more social skills. I asked Buddies if they had gained a friend, if they were more likely to interact with people with disabilities in the future, and if they had witnessed greater inclusivity in the school. After surveying the Buddies and students with disabilities in my club, there was an overwhelming consensus that the club helped students make new friends and encouraged inclusivity in the school. Students with disabilities felt like they had learned new social skills. Buddies in my club also noted the club had helped encourage all students in my school to be more inclusive, but it had to be an ongoing process to create lasting change. They all said they were more likely to interact with disabled students in the future. How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement? My Gold Award will be sustained beyond my involvement as I have guaranteed the continuation of my club. I have signed confirmation from both the next president of the club and the teacher sponsor of the club to continue running and promoting the Buddies Club. Additionally, my website ( https://the-buddies-club.weebly.com/) allows others to create and run the Buddies Club in their communities. I visited other school districts in my community and distributed materials and resources to kickstart Buddies Club programs in those communities. What is your project’s global and/or national connection? Sixty-percent of students with disabilities report being bullied regularly, the exclusion of students with disabilities is not limited to my school; it occurs in every elementary school, middle school, and high school in America. To address global exclusion in clubs and social aspects of high school, I created a website detailing how to replicate my club. The website streamlined the process of creating a Buddies Club at other schools, easily and concisely communicating my research and my project. Finally, I gave presentations to community members and organizations, spreading my club and website to other communities to kick-start the process in other schools. What did you learn about yourself? This project was an eye-opening experience from start to finish. I have led other community-service projects, but none of this magnitude and difficulty. Although I learned a huge number of skills, like communication and organization, I also learned intrinsic things about myself. Most importantly, I learned about my love for helping others, especially those in the disabled community. Witnessing the differences my project made in my school has encouraged me to pursue a career in healthcare for people with disabilities. How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future? Earning my Gold Award has inspired me to further my investment in disability topics throughout college and make a change in the real world. I hope to study biochemistry and pre-medical sciences in college .My current research is an isolated view of disabilities, only considering classroom inclusion. Using the expanded opportunities in college, I can interweave topics about disabilities to investigate medical, social, educational, and political implications. I will apply my education to my community, finding solutions to problems for people with disabilities. Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience? For me, the Gold Award project was the culmination of 12 years of Girl Scouts. The skills that I’ve learned, since being a Daisy, have contributed to my success in this project. I will be graduating high school (and Girl Scouts!) this May. Recieving my Gold Award is a reflection of my incredible and transformative years in scouting. How did earning your Gold Award help you become a G.I.R.L. (go-getter, innovator, risk-taker, leader)? This project helped me become a G.I.R.L. by pushing me to become an innovator. I had to come up with a creative solution to an incredibly complex problem. Through extensive research and planning, I organized a one-of-a-kind club that helps combat the exclusion of students with disabilities. My project also helped me grow in the other three aspects of GIRL (go-getter, risk-taker, and leader), but I feel as though I grew the most as an innovator. **IMPORTANT NOTE: This blog represents only a small fraction of the hard work, dedication, and requirements that go into earning a Girl Scout Gold Award. It is simply a brief summary, which is meant to inspire Girl Scouts to Go Gold in the future. For more information on earning your Gold Award, please email highestawards@gscolorado.org. #PalmerRidgeHighSchool #GoldAward #HighestAwards #ColoradoSprings #GoldAwardGirlScout #GirlScoutGoldAward #TakeAction #PikesPeak

Sky High Ranch is offering our first ever VIRTUAL SPRING CAMP! Due to unexpected circumstances, many Girl Scouts will be out of school and away from troops for the next few weeks. We believe it is important to maintain meaningful connections with family, friends, and our community now more than ever. Starting on Monday, follow @sky_high_ranch on Instagram for daily crafts, STEM projects, and more you can do at home. #SkyHighRanch #virtualspringbreak #GirlScoutCamp #Instagram #camp

Because the safety and well-being of girls is always our top priority, Girl Scouts of Colorado has decided to follow the actions of area school districts and the Colorado High School Sports Association. All staff-run and in-person activities for girls and adults are canceled effective immediately until at least April 6, 2020. We will offer refunds or reschedule when possible. The status of events, activities, and programs being managed by external partners will be determined by each individual partner. Please contact the partner directly regarding questions about their events, programs, and activities. Reservations for troops and outside users of Girl Scouts of Colorado properties are also canceled beginning Monday, March 16, 2020 until at least April 6, 2020. We are advising troops to follow their school’s guidelines. If their school is closed or not allowing after-school activities, then troops should not meet. Troops hosting events at other locations should use their best judgement and exercise an abundance of caution. We will continue to monitor the actions of local school districts, Colorado Department of Health and Environment, and GSUSA, and reevaluate as needed. During this time, GSCO staff will be working remotely and we will do everything we can to allow for virtual Girl Scout activities to continue and provide troop leaders with ways to guide their girls through activities online when possible. You can use these sources to ensure you stay up to date on the latest information and best practices for coronavirus and communicable disease prevention and management: Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Preventing COVID-19 Spread in Communities American Academy of Pediatrics Update on COVID-19 #health #CoronavirusDisease2019 #GirlScoutsoftheUSA #GSUSA #ColoradoDepartmentofHealthandEnvironment #Coronavirus #COVID19 #safety #CouncilNews

As of March 16, 2020, this event has been canceled. All girls in grades 6-12 are invited to connect with professional women in a variety of career paths at Girl Scouts of Colorado’s first “Secrets to Success” event in Northern Colorado on Saturday, April 18, 2020 at Aims Community College. Girls will personally engage with top women leaders in a variety of career fields such as law, emergency response, animal care, theatre, and more. This event joins today’s leaders with the next generation, to share their expertise and provide inspiration for success. Financial assistance and travel stipends are available. Register now: https://gscolorado.formstack.com/forms/2020secrets_to_success_nc_04_18_2020 In preparation for this exciting event, we are thrilled to announce some of the amazing women whom girls will be engaging with, including Shauna Johnson, Technical Manager, Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. Shauna Johnson grew up in a musical family and fell in love with the technical side of theatre in high school. Her career has spanned more than 20 years and she has been with the Candlelight Dinner Playhouse since it opened in 2008. While at the Candlelight, she has worked as Technical Director and Stage Manager, and is now part of the Executive Management Team as Technical Manager, which means she is responsible for all technical areas and the maintenance of the building. Shauna received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre from the University of Northern Colorado and has worked as a designer and technician for many theatre companies across the state, as well as Stage Manager and Head Carpenter at the Union Colony Civic Center in Greeley for local productions and National Tours. Shauna is a proud 2015 True West Award winner for her management and special effect work on “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” at the Candlelight. When asked about the challenges women face in technical theatre she says, “Women can be found in all aspects of theatre. However, Technical Directing tends to appeal to men more, so it has always been a challenge for me to prove that I belong. I have always believed that hard work, expert knowledge, and refined skills should have more impact when it comes to any job, regardless of age, race, or sex. I am proud that, by simply doing the work and doing it well, I am valuable and I have gained the respect of my colleagues, not only at the Candlelight, but across the state.” When she isn’t working, Shauna has most likely escaped to the mountains with her dogs or can be found cheering on the Rockies and spoiling her nieces and nephews. #CONVERSATIONSTATIONLEADER #CandlelightDinnerPlayhouse #GSCOevents #ShaunaJohnson #NorthernampNortheasternCO #Greeley #ConversationStationLeaders #Communitypartnerships #SecretstoSuccess #2020SecretstoSuccessGreeley #communitypartners #AimsCommunityCollege #2020SecretstoSuccess #SecretstoSuccessConversationStationLeader

Submitted by Jillian B. Metro Denver Broomfield Everyday in my life, I change people’s perspectives about people who are differently abled. I am friendly and outgoing. I am not afraid to talk to anyone. I almost always inspire a smile from those around me. A Longmont police officer visited my booth. He was friendly too, just like me! I love being a Girl Scout and I especially love selling cookies! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments, too. #2020GirlScoutCookieProgram #Longmont #Broomfield #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #MetroDenver

Submitted by Krista Allard Northern & Northeastern CO Longmont Our Daisy troop collected donations during cookie season to support our local American Legion and veterans. The girls worked very hard and collected more than 250 packages of Girl Scout Cookies! Our very last cookie booth of the season was at a local restaurant where we invited veterans wearing a symbol of their service to visit, pick up a donated package of cookies, and enjoy a free drink on the restaurant. Our Daisies loved handing out the packages they worked so hard to collect and showing the local veterans our bulletin board of their own family veterans. The veterans enjoyed the recognition and connection with the Daisies! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments, too. #GiftofCaringHometownHeroes #NorthernampNortheasternCO #2020GirlScoutCookieProgram #Longmont #Veterans #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #AmericanLegion