October 11 was declared International Day of the Girl (IDG) by the United Nations in 2012. Ever since, Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world have been celebrating IDG every year. It is a key moment for us to come together to raise up girls' voices, and show how our Movement empowers girls and young women to shape the world they want to see all year long. This year's World Association for Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) activity pack will help leaders to launch and participate in a global youth consultation. Let’s ensure that Colorado girls of all ages are participating in this global effort to support Girls to Speak Up! Let’s support Girls to Speak Up and earn their International Day of the Girl 2022 badge by completing activities from the pack. Download the free IDG Activity Pack today. After completing the activity pack, leaders share the responses they have gathered in their troop by completing and sharing this survey by November 30, 2022! By participating and completing the activity pack and sharing your responses on the survey you are competing to win IDG 2022 badges for your troop! Perhaps a troop from Colorado will win. If you’re a volunteer leader who would like to take part in the #ListenToGirls Youth Consultation, yet are not completing the activity pack with a group of girls, you can still contribute. Complete this survey to contribute your thoughts that will help inform WAGGGS of future programs and activities to become a truly girl-led movement. Colorado leaders and volunteers voices are important to WAGGGS, be sure to participate by November 30, 2022. Activity Pack Form Survey

Girls, volunteers, and caregivers, Are you passionate about Girl Scouts and learning about other cultures and the world beyond the United States? Would you like to learn more about the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS)? Would you like to learn more about taking part in international programs and learning leadership skills? Then the Global Action Team is for you! Our mission is to bring awareness of and create action steps on global issues that impact the lives of girls and women to make the world a better place through the worldwide sisterhood. We share our knowledge to help with World Thinking Day programs, plan activities around infusing global into all the badges, and help troops while they are planning international trip. If interested in joining the Global Action Team, please email the Global Action Team at gscoglobal@gmail.com or contact Rebecca Lipman at Rebecca.lipman@gscolorado.org #global #GlobalActionCommittee

All of us involved with Girl Scouting know first-hand the value of investing in girls, and I’m so grateful that philanthropist Mackenzie Scott sees the value as well. Investing in girls creates a ripple effect, producing the greatest return in economic development, social progress, and public health, improving not only individual lives but society as a whole. That’s the macro view. It’s the up-close and personal view that I find even more inspiring. I love meeting Girl Scouts and hearing their stories of challenges and successes. Girls who discover in ways big and small that they have the power to change the world. Girls who lead with empathy and lift up those around them – and these girl leaders are in elementary school. I’ve met older Girl Scouts who see a problem in their community, and they lobby the legislature and get a solution. I know Girl Scouts who’d never seen a shooting star before going to one of our camps and left with a newfound love of science. These girls, because they’re Girl Scouts, have had the opportunity to try new things, to fail sometimes but get back up and persevere. They’ve had the comfort of being surrounded by a sisterhood of support, and they’ve had the benefit of having caring adult role models in their lives. They’ve taken action and made their world a better place beginning at a very young age and escalating as they grow in the program. These girls believe they can do, and be, anything because they know their own power. The $2.8 million from Mackenzie Scott is a validation of the Girl Scout experience. It shows that Girl Scouting works, and it shines a light for others to see the value in investing in girls. Before Mackenzie Scott began her giving initiatives, only 1.6% of annual giving has benefited women and girl-focused organizations. It’s critical that we follow Mackenzie Scott’s example and eliminate this disparity. We are grateful for Mackenzie Scott’s donation and honored to be among the Girl Scout councils selected by her to receive these funds. This generous gift will allow us to think big and be visionary as we work to ensure Girl Scouts remains relevant and accessible to all girls. This gift will help us reach more girls across the state and lift up the issues they care about, such as mental health, equity, and the environment. We hope it will be a catalyst to inspire more support, because girls are worth it, and every girl deserves the opportunity to reach her full potential. Leanna Clark is the CEO of Girl Scouts of Colorado. Read the press release and FAQs

My Girl Scout volunteer journey started nearly 12 years ago in a coffee shop, seated between two complete strangers in a community I'd moved into only a few short months before. One very active mom who happens to know everyone in this community and had an 'older' (third-grade) daughter in Girl Scouts was connecting me with another mom of a kindergartner, both of us new to the community and both with our first born girls in their early days of elementary school. That can be an overwhelming time in life, watching your oldest child start their formal education, learning the ins and outs of the dropoff lanes and pick-up lines, navigating the endless requests for crosswalk volunteers, classroom parent, reading helpers, library volunteers. It's a lot. I still had three babies at home and a full-time job, would I really consider leading a troop of 20 Girl Scout Daisies as well? What's in it for me? I didn't know the answer to that question that day, but I naively signed on because Adrienne said it wouldn't be that hard, she'd be our Troop Cookie Manager, and she'd done this all before - no worries. I agreed because I knew wanted to embrace whatever opportunities came along to help shape my kids' lives. I'm also not good at saying 'no' so I became a troop leader. I also volunteered at the school doing all the things -- while I enjoyed helping kids cross the streets safely, shelving books in the library, getting behind-the-scenes looks and getting to know teachers by being a reading helper or a field trip chaperone, those opportunities didn't come close to what I got from volunteering with Girl Scouts. Flash forward: My co-leader and I are still at it as our high school seniors write their college essays and contemplate trying to accomplish Gold between their busy school, sports, and work schedules. It's a much smaller group than the 20-or-so we started out with but even those who have not continued on greet us with sweet smiles and warm embraces. We've had the privilege to witness so many things with these girls - first overnights, fear of heights conquered, friend drama, nervousness while speaking to adults to almost being adults, many trips planned and funded, a pandemic, middle school awkwardness giving way to high school confidence, speaking up for what they believe in, believing in things that matter, struggling with health issues and mental wellbeing but standing strong, earning Bronze and Silver and discovering they have the power to change the world. But, what was in it for me? It's hard to quantify because it's so much. I got to learn and grow right along side them. I gained friends who I know I can count on for life. I had crazy fun experiences pushing myself out of my comfort zone just like the girls. And, so many funny stories and memories of time well-spent with my daughter that I will always treasure. If you're a Daisy troop leader or contemplating being one (or even a Brownie, Junior or Cadette leader), you might think you're doing it for the girls, which is absolutely true, but you will grow too. Stick with it, I guarantee you won't regret it!

The Global Action Team is a network of dedicated Girl Scout volunteers who are passionate about Girl Scouts learning and experiencing other cultures and the world beyond the United States. The Global Action Team invites you to join them! The concept of “global” is present in everything a Girl Scouts does. From earning the Violet Petal as a Daisy, learning how to be a sister to every Girl Scout, celebrating World Thinking Day, completing the Justice Journey as an Ambassador, or exploring global environmental issues. The Global Action Team meets virtually once a month to discuss plans for global ideas, concepts, and events for Girl Scouts of Colorado. Over the last few years, the Global Action Team has: • Assisted service units across the state with their regional World Thinking Day programs • Planned and executed a virtual World Environment Day program • Launched an educational video all about global Girl Scouts • Published a week-long series of activities for Girl Scouts to celebrate Our Chalet’s birthday • Written Blog Posts to inform Girl Scouts about Global Activities As we embark on a new membership year, we look forward to being guests at virtual Service Unit Meetings to introduce Global and WAGGGS to our membership, World Thinking Day activities, Global Action Award activities and troop trip progression. Other ideas are in the planning process, and we’d love your input! As we work to serve Girl Scouts across Colorado, we also are looking for members from across the state and we want you to join us! This is a wonderful opportunity to give back to the Girl Scout community and tap into your passion for all things global. If interested, please review the position description here and email the Global Action Team staff liaison, Rebecca Lipman, rebecca.lipman@gscolorado.org.

Grace and Jillian from Troop 67481 completed their Silver Award by creating The Pink Project. The Silver Award project was to put menstruation products in all the LPS middle schools to provide all LPS middle school girls with the supplies they needed. Grace and Jillian wanted to bring awareness to the needs of the community, provide supplies for menstruating teens/tweens in need as well as limit the stigma around menstruation. There will always be more menstruating people in need, and the box will continue to help them. The posters will raise awareness for the issues menstruating people will face, and decrease the shame and stigma some people feel. Grace and Jillian shared their thoughts on the process of earning their Silver Award: Grace says, "My favorite part of the project was planning it and putting our plans into action. For example, writing the script for presenting in front of the LPS school board took about a week of writing and later fine tuning. When we actually presented it though, it felt so good and like our plan was being put into action and people were listening to two 8th graders about an issue in our community. When people responded to our emails and actually got excited about our project and supported us, I couldn't believe it! In the end, when I look back to where we started, we came a long way from just choosing an idea that we were passionate about to actually putting something into action in our community, more specifically our middle schools." Jillian says, "I loved making the boxes, and putting the signs up around the schools. I learned that people will donate tons of products if given the opportunity, and that some schools in our district don’t provide menstrual products in the health centers/front office." "Our project was also what we envisioned to be a starter example for all LPS middle schools, our hopes in the somewhat near future are that all LPS middle schools install period product dispensers in both the girls PE lockers rooms and restrooms." Grace adds, "From Girls Scouts and this project specifically, I learned that some people are passionate about some of the same things that are you, you just have to be open to talking to them about it. People will also donate lots of products if given the opportunity and some issues in our communities are simply so small that just two 8th grade girls can make a difference."

Welcome to the new, improved GSCO Blog, where we want you to share your expertise about Girl Scouting! Whether you're a seasoned Girl Scout volunteer happy to pass on your knowledge to the next generation of troop leaders or you're a Girl Scout youth member who knows the adventures you've taken can inspire others, we want to hear from you. You choose the topic or we're happy to give you some guidance. You pick your platform — do you prefer putting pen to paper (well, fingers to keyboard actually) or is a Vlog (video blog) more your style? It's all good if it informs or inspires the Girl Scouts of Colorado community. These featured posts will appear monthly in the Leader to Leader section and will be in addition to all the other great news and Girl Scout-generated content shared here daily. We want this section to be useful and inspiring to new volunteers and those who've been around awhile. Reach out if you've got passion for Girl Scouting and a way with words, we're excited to hear from you!

Have you ever been to a rodeo? Have you ever seen a horse and wanted to learn more? Or, have you ever wanted to be a princess? Join Miss Rodeo Colorado 2022 Ashley Baller as she takes you behind the scenes of the life of a rodeo queen. Learn about the role of Miss Rodeo Colorado, what it takes to become a state titleholder and how you can get involved with horses or agriculture! As the previous Manager of Multilingual Resources and Communication within the international department of the world’s largest equine breed registry, the American Quarter Horse Association, Ashley will teach you about horses and opportunities to get involved with them. We will chat about rodeo, horse care, riding disciplines, tack and more! Ashley can’t wait to meet you and hopes you join her for an evening of fun learning about the life of a rodeo queen, horses and different ways you can learn more or become involved. See you soon, cowgirl! Register here: Daisy, Brownie, Junior: https://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/en/sf-events-repository/2022/-inspiring-futures—miss-rodeo-colorado—dbj—virtual.html Cadette, Senior, Ambassador: https://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/en/sf-events-repository/2022/-inspiring-futures—miss-rodeo-colorado—csa—virtual-.html

This is Girl Scout Troop 16190 from Basalt, Colorado. We are 6th graders at Basalt Middle School. We, as a troop, decided to earn our Bronze Award, and for our Bronze Award project, we decided to share lots of songs we have learned together as a troop. We started this project in 5th grade and have now completed it. We chose this project because we feel like many Girl Scout troops are disconnected to the musical side of Girl Scouts, and we think singing together is a really important part of the Girl Scout experience. Our troop loves to sing, and we hope that we can share our love of music with everyone. We made videos teaching you some of the many songs we know. These videos are very easy to use and learn with, because they are step-by-step. We talk you through the songs and do the hand motions so they're easier to learn. We slowly progressed to the end result. We also have a Girl Scout Song Book with all the song lyrics, as well as a Google Slides presentation that can be used for troop or group learning. The slideshow contains the song lyrics, direct links to the videos, some great tips for song leaders, as well as photos of our troop. We recommend using the Google Slides presentation first as you get started. Printing the Song Book is a nice way to allow everyone to look at the lyrics individually. Here is the link to the Google Slides presentation. Here is the link to the Song Book. Here is the link to our YouTube Playlist with all of the videos.

Girl Scout Troop 70757 in Fort Lupton misses the days pre-COVID when their community would come together to watch a movie under the stars. The girls wanted to bring it back! They researched movies that had a strong female character, then voted on which they wanted to show. With the movie chosen, Abominable, they spoke with the City to secure the park and projection system. Girl Scouts also spoke with local businesses sharing their event. Ace Hardware donated popcorn, the Jump 'n Play donated cotton candy and snow cones, and the KM Cup donated lemonade. All these items were given out for free! Over 150 people attended the event. It was a HUGE success.

Troop 46311 attended UCCS Cool Science Day 2022. They learned so much about science, robots, coding, animals, bugs, making their own ice cream, and solar s’mores!

Join Troop 2235 for a fun time & learn about the different type of pollution in our air and how we can reduce it! Date: November 13, 2022 Time: 1:30 - 4pm Location: Arts Hub, 420 Courtney Way, Lafayette Cost: $32 per Girl Scout Includes Badges & Take Action project To register, click here. If you have any questions, please contact Meredith at mltlocke@gmail.com.