Design the event patch for Girl Scout Days at Elitch Gardens! We’re looking for creative Girl Scouts to share their best design. The winning design will be the picture on our 2017 event pass. The Girl Scout who submits the winning design will win two Elitch Garden day tickets, VIP Rapid Ride passes, and two Attraction tickets (choice of XLR8R or Sling Shot). The contest is open to all Girl Scouts. Entry forms can be found at https://goo.gl/qX9KqN . The registration deadline is June 27, 2017. Entries can be returned to your area GSCO office, the GSCO shop, or emailed to Lori Thompson at lori.thompson@gscolorado.org. Save the date for Girl Scout Days at Elitch Gardens, August. 11-13, 2017! All Girl Scouts, friends, and family are invited. We’ll have special activities celebrating our GSCO Centennial on Saturday, Aug. 12 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. for all Girl Scouts. Elitch Gardens is also hosting the band, “Forever In Your Mind,” in one of their season concerts, Saturday evening, which is included in park entry for the day. Cost is $25.99/person. Tickets can be purchased at https://goo.gl/Ekz6Hx. Not able to make it? No problem. Elitch Gardens is offering a Girl Scout discount for daily entry of $29.99/person all season long that can be purchased through the same link. A portion of all tickets sold will be donated back to GSCO. Questions? Please contact Lori Thompson at lori.thompson@gscolorado.org. We hope to see you there! #GirlScoutevents #Denver #ElitchGardens #communitypartners #MetroDenver #patchcontest

Submitted by Melissa Ellenberger Pikes Peak Colorado Springs Two years ago, the amazing girls in Troop 607 decided to go to Yellowstone National Park. To ensure every girl in the troop could attend, each girl had to sell 292 packages of Girl Scout Cookies, 5,500 packages. The girls surpassed this goal by 2,000 packages! 19 girls and 11 adults made the trip for four days and three nights. They stayed just steps away from Old Faithful and Mammoth Hot Springs. The girls hiked and saw geysers, gorgeous hot spring pools, buffalo, bears, elk, and more. The best part is there were no televisions, phones, very limited cellular service, or WIFI! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #PowerofCookie #YellowstoneNationalPark #FindYourPark #ColoradoSprings #Yellowstone #NationalParkService #GirlScoutCookies #2017CookieSale #PikesPeak #EveryKidinaPark

Congratulations to Abigail W. of Troop 40923 in Colorado Springs! She designed the patch for Girl Scout Days at Water World! Abigail has won four Water World day passes and meal vouchers and her design will be the picture on our event patch. Choosing a winner was tough for our friends at Water World. We had 23 great entries from Girl Scouts across the state. A big thank you goes to Water World for hosting the contest and providing the prize pack and to our Girl Scouts who entered! Girl Scout Days at Water World is planned for June 24 and 25, 2017 and all Girl Scouts, friends, and family are invited! Water World is offering a generous discounted price of $25.99/person for our special Girl Scout weekend and will donate part of tickets sales back to GSCO. Not able to make it that weekend? No problem! Water World is also offering Girl Scout families a $30.99/person daily ticket for the entire season and donating a portion of these tickets sales back to GSCO, too. You can purchase tickets at www.thcalyspsoclub.com and enter “Girl Scouts” for the store name. Discounted meal vouchers are also available. Hope to see you there! #WaterWorld #ColoradoSprings #GirlScoutDays #Denver #MetroDenver #WaterWorldpatchcontest #PikesPeak #patch

The Centennial Patch Program celebrates 100 years of Girl Scouting in Colorado. The center patch is surrounded by add-on topics.  Each topic has suggested Discover, Connect, and Take Action activities. To earn an add-on, girls must complete at least one activity from each Discover, Connect, and Take Action area. The patch and activity add-ons may be purchased from the GSCO Council Shop. To order yours, contact 303-607-4880 or retail@gscolorado.org. Resources for Girls:  http://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/content/dam/girlscoutsofcolorado/documents/Centennial_Patch_Girl.pdf Resources for Volunteers:  http://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/content/dam/girlscoutsofcolorado/documents/Centennial_Patch_Adults.pdf #CentennialPatchProgram #GSCOCentennial

My name is Lilli T. and I live in Breckenridge. I am currently working on my Girl Scout Gold Award, which will take place in the Haitian school of St. Paul’s. Haitian education rates are among the lowest in the western hemisphere with a literacy rate of 61% compared to America’s 86%. Haiti has 15,200 primary schools, 90% of which are non-public and run by religious affiliations. The United States has 66,718 public primary schools. 88% of eligible Haitian students are enrolled in primary school, while 20% are enrolled in secondary school. Secondary and higher level education in provided by public and private institutions. The Haitian government provides very little funds for public schools, only 10% of the government’s budget is spent on public schools. Out of the 67% enrollment rate for primary school, 70% continue to the third grade. 21.5% of the population, age 5+, receive a secondary education, and 1% receive a university level education. 33% of children (ages 6-12) do not attend school. The school where I will be completing my Gold Award at is named St. Paul’s. St Paul’s school is located in Petit Trou de Nippes, Haiti, a rural coastal town located 80 miles west of the capital, Port-Au-Prince. It was founded in 1990 and began as a one room schoolhouse educating all ages and boys and girls together. It has since grown to a co-ed fall 2016 enrollment of 400+ students ranging from grades K-8. St. Paul’s enrollment fee is $350 per student or $7,000 a class. However, due to the devoted Colorado Haiti Project and its partners, tuition is nearly free to all students. For my Gold Award, I am partnering with the Colorado Haiti Project and heading their new youth entrepreneurial program for the 8th grade class at St. Paul`s Episcopal School in Petit Trou. I will be organizing a three-day hands-on business workshop that is an opportunity for 8th grader students to “start” small businesses. The students will learn a simplified version of the five fundamentals of business – creating business plan, product, loans, advertising, and how to earn a profit. They will start with thinking about their markets, design, advertising and create a budget. They will then go to the “bank” and take out a loan with which they will visit the “wholesale store” where they will buy the materials for the products they will make. The students will spend a day or two making their products and on the final day a market will be held where they will sell their products. After the sale, they will pay back their loan right here to the “bank” and are then allowed to visit the wholesale store to buy materials, or candy, to make more products for fun! My primary goal in completing my Gold Award is to provide these 8th graders, whom some will not continue school after this year, with an enriched education that will help them in the work force. I also hope to educate those in the United States and elsewhere about the education climate in Haiti and encourage them to get involved in making a change! #Haiti #GoldAward #StPaulsEpiscopalSchool #HighestAwards #Breckenridge #PetitTroudeNippes #ColoradoHaitiProject #PortAuPrince #mountaincommunities

Named after Girl Scout founder, Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low, Daisy’s Circle is Girl Scouts of Colorado’s monthly giving program.  Funds raised through Daisy’s Circle provide financial assistance for girls and volunteers, support Outreach Programs and more. Girl Scouts of Colorado provides roughly $125,000 in financial assistance annually, 26% is funded by Daisy’s Circle members.  Financial assistance makes Girl Scouting possible for more girls, helping them to reach their full potential.  It is our goal to grow Daisy’s Circle enough  to fully fund this need. The power of monthly giving is in the numbers.  Even a small monthly gift from a number of donors makes a big difference. Monthly donations help lower costs through automation and reduced mailings and creates an ongoing predictable cash flow. It’s easy for you, it’s easy for us, and it makes a lasting impact. Do you believe in Girl Scouts?  Do you believe that the Girl Scout experience can change a girl’s life? At Girl Scouts of Colorado, we believe, and we want this experience to be available to every girl regardless of where in Colorado she lives or what her circumstances are. Won’t you help us reach our goal of raising $125,000 annually by joining Daisy’s Circle? The bigger the circle, the bigger the impact. Sign up now:  www.gscodaisyscircle.org or call (303) 607- 4879 #DaisysCircle #funddevelopment #monthlygiving

Submitted by Beth and Jennifer of Troop 62027 Metro Denver Denver Earning our Girl Scout “Pizza” badge was both educational and fun. Pizzeria Locale opened its doors early to entertain our wild pack of girls, who learned that pizza in its simplest form is healthy, and that only four ingredients are needed to create the perfect dough: flour, yeast, water, and a pinch of salt. Steven and the crew at Pizzeria Locale welcomed us into the restaurant with kindness, smiles, and great enthusiasm. They were prepared for our arrival with dough making stations and ingredients perfectly laid out for the girls to work with. Our troop found kneading the dough to be quite enjoyable (how patient the team was with the mess they made), and the girls learned to shape dough properly for consistent baking. Some of the girls even tried creative designs, like oversized donuts, but learned that to cook dough evenly in Pizzeria Locale’s 800˚F brick oven in three minutes, it must be formed and flattened in the traditional Neapolitan style. There was intense concentration and much giggling, and following the lessons on pizza making we all enjoyed a fabulous lunch, with a wide selection of pizzas and fresh toppings. Oh, and let’s not forget the best part. Dessert! If you haven’t tried the Budino, you should. There is simply no way to describe this hand-crafted dessert. It’s amazing! Thank you everyone at Pizzeria Locale for making our visit such a delicious and educational adventure for our girls. You’re the best! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #Denver #MetroDenver #Pizzabadge #PizzeriaLocale

Congratulations to Troop 41625 from Monument! These Girl Scouts are among the winners in Girl Scouts of the USA’s Cookie Troop 100 Challenge. In celebration of 100 years of Girl Scouts selling cookies, nearly 5,000 troops participated in GSUSA’s Cookie Troop 100 Challenge. Go-getting troops set their goals and told GSUSA how they planned to put their cookie money to good use. Girl Scouts earned their Cookie Business badge and asked 100 new customers to buy cookies. And to make things extra fun, troops blinged their booths and shared photos of their creativity! Now that the entry period has closed, GSUSA has randomly selected one troop from each participating council to receive $100 toward its awesome Take Action or service project. And one VERY lucky troop will win $3,000 to superpower its project! To see all of the 2017 Cookie Troop 100 winners, go to the GSUSA blog. #GirlScoutsoftheUSA #CookieTroop100 #GirlScoutCookies #2017CookieSale #Monument #PikesPeak

Girl Scout Juniors and Cadettes are invited to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s (FEMA) Girl Scouts Event, “Girl Scouts Today, Emergency Managers Tomorrow”, the morning of Friday, June 16, 2017. Girl Scouts can earn a Disaster Readiness patch and learn how to better prepare for, protect themselves and their families, respond to, and recover from emergency hazards. The American Red Cross will host their Pillowcase Project, where girls will learn how to assemble a quick emergency kit to share with others. Girls will also explore careers in emergency management. The event is hosted by FEMA staff from the Region VIII office and will be held at the Regional Response Coordination Center (RRCC) in Denver. Here are the event details: Date: Friday, June 16, 2017 Time: 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. Location: FEMA, Building 710, Denver Federal Center, Denver, CO 80225 Cost: Free Registration: Please pre-register here – http://www.signupgenius.com/go/904044bada72aa57-girl3 Space is limited to 40 Junior and Cadette Girl Scouts, so please register early. Registration deadline is June 9, 2017 at 5 p.m. Questions? Please contact Lori Thompson at lori.thompson@gscolorado.org. #GirlScoutevents #DisasterReadinesspatch #FEMA #emergencymanagement #GirlScoutJuniors #Denver #GirlScoutCadettes #AmericanRedCross #MetroDenver #PillowcaseProject

Submitted by Heidi Kane Metro Denver Thornton Sunset Hills and The Woods Service Units came together to celebrate Memorial Day and thank our veterans at the Commerce City Memorial Day Parade. It was an honor to show our Girl Scout pride, shake hands with local veterans, and remember our fallen heroes! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #Parade #CommerceCity #Thornton #MetroDenver #MemorialDay

Submitted by Jody Clair Pikes Peak Colorado Springs Get this discount if you enroll this weekend! Girl Scouts need to be in 6th grade at time of travel. That means 5th grade right now is A-OK! Email girlscoutjody@gmail.com if you need more information. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #ColoradoSprings #PikesPeak #PuertoRico #travel

Submitted by Jody Clair Pikes Peak Colorado Springs This trip is open to Girl Scouts and one adult as paid participants. The Girl Scout MUST be in 4th grade or higher (through 12th) at time of travel. That means anyone finishing 3rd grade now can apply. The closing date for new participants is June 5, 2017. Don’t delay! Send your deposit and the applications in ASAP before time runs out! See the flyer for more information: Marine_Life_tour This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #Florida #GirlScoutevents #ColoradoSprings #MarineLifeTour #travel #PikesPeak