Submitted by Lisa Svede Centennial Metro Denver My daughter, Lauren, in Troop 60762 did her 5th Grade Passion Project on Girl Scouts! She said Girl Scouts is a passion of hers because her grandmother was her mom’s leader, now her mom (me!) is her leader and her younger sister is now a Daisy Girl Scout. Her topic: How does Girl Scouts teach girls to become leaders in society? She addressed her topic by focusing on these three questions: Does Girl Scouts provide girls with opportunities to practice and use leadership skills? What do Girl Scouts learn from cookie sales? How do badges and Journeys help girls learn leadership skills? She taught many 5th grade students and their parents about the many wonderful leadership opportunities girls have in Girl Scouts and how they learn to become leaders as they advance through the levels of Girl Scouts. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #Centennial

Win a special one-on-one lunch with Kim “Ruddy” Petau, Camp Director for Sky High Ranch, or Monica “Obie Joe” Gray, Camp Director for Tomahawk Ranch! All you have to do is write a short essay (250-500 words) about how getting outdoors with Girl Scouts has helped make you who you are today. You must include a photo of yourself and the camp director with whom you would like to have lunch. All essays must be submitted via email to Betsy Smith, Outdoor Programs Director, by Tuesday, May 31, 2016. Betsy’s email address is:  betsy.smith@gscolorado.org The best essays will be shared on the Girl Scouts of Colorado blog and the winning essays will be announced at the end of June. The one-on-one lunches will happen in August after overnight summer sessions at both camps have ended. #CampContest #GirlScoutCamp #SkyHighRanch #TomahawkRanch

Calling all Katniss Everdeen’s! Are you or your troop interested in Archery? This is your chance to get certified as a Level 1 Archery Instructor through USAA Archery. This certification allows an adult (16 and over) to supervise and facilitate troops shooting at an archery range.  GSCO is offering this certification class from 11am- 5pm on Saturday June 4th at Sky High Ranch for only $60 including lunch. Can’t make this training? We will be offering another one in September, contact Anna Danila for more questions or more information at anna.danila@gscolorado.org Register here: http://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/content/girlscoutsofcolorado/en/events-repository/2016/usaa_archery_1_certi_1.html So, what can you do after you are certified as an archery instructor? You can help your cadette troop earn their archery badge! http://www.girlscoutshop.com/BADGES-PINS-AND-AWARDS/NEW-GIRLS-CHOICE-OUTDOOR-BADGES/NEW-GIRLS-CHOICE-CADETTE-ARCHERY-BADGE-REQUIREMENTS-FREE-DOWNLOAD You can rent the council archery set and take your troop to a local archery range! http://gscoblog.org/equipment-checkout/ Check out these links for local free or low cost archery ranges! Lon Haglar, Loveland: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lon-Hagler-Archery-Range/168562606527526 Bear Creek Archery Range: http://www.lakewood.org/Community_Resources/Parks,_Forestry_and_Open_Space/Bear_Creek_Lake_Park/Park_Activities/Archery_Range.aspx Cherry Creek Archery Range: http://familyshootingcenter.com/ Boy Scout Indoor Archery Range: http://www.coloradoadventurepoint.org/ Colorado Springs: http://www.razorsedgearchery.com/ http://cpw.state.co.us/placestogo/parks/CheyenneMountain/Pages/ArcheryRange.aspx

Submitted by Sally Hays Gunnison Western Slope On April 28, Girl Scout Troops 11056 and 11015 hosted a business etiquette tea party for 8th though 12th-grade girls. Guest speakers Liz Fuller and Chelsea Dalporto-McDowell led discussions about business etiquette, as well as formal and non-formal dinner settings. All of the 11 girls and their mothers enjoyed petit fours, cookies, lemonade and tea. At the end of the discussion, all girls received the etiquette book 50 Things All Young Ladies Should Know. The goal for the troops was to teach girls in the community how to be more proper in formal situations. They hope that the girls will spread the information to others. Troop 11056 was able to earn their Silver award by organizing and hosting this fun event! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #Gunnison #SilverAward

Submitted by Nicole Singleton Wellington Northern and Northeastern CO At the beginning of the cookie season we asked our girls how they wanted to give back to our community. We gave them 3-4 options and they unanimously voted to donate our Hometown Hero packages to the Wellington Food Bank. They also decided that we should donate some of our cookie profits to the food bank so they could buy what they needed most. After talking more about it during cookie season, we decided to organize a food drive too. We set up a donation bin at Ridley’s Family Market here in Wellington for a week, and today, our Daisy troop handed off their collected donation in addition to our HTH packages and our monetary donation directly to representatives from the Wellington Food Bank. They were impressed by “how much 8 little girls were able to collect,” but we knew that they’d do a great job! We’re so proud of them for thinking of others in our community, and for wanting to give so generously. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #Wellington #WellingtonFoodBank

Submitted by Lori Closs Littleton Denver Metro Our troop of just 8 girls got over 200 packages of donations for our Hometown Heroes – West Metro Fire (Station 13). Even though it was cold and snowy, the men LOVED getting cookies. They were so excited they offered a tour and had a box half gone before we left! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #HometownHeroes #Littleton #westmetrofire

Submitted by Deb White Rifle Western Slope There is nothing better than finishing up a badge and showing your friends and family what you learned. And that is exactly what Troop 2013 Junior girls did. They finished off their drawing badge by hosting an art show to showcase their skills. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too.

Ask Nancy Mucklow how long she’s been a Girl Scout and she’ll say “forever!” This lifetime Girl Scout joined our sisterhood in the second grade and hasn’t looked back. She planned on having a daughter and becoming a troop leader, but life doesn’t always work out like we plan. After she and her husband moved to Steamboat in 1989, they had two boys. Nancy remained involved in Girl Scouts as a Service Unit Manager, but soon the boys’ 4H activities required more of her attention. Even though Girl Scouts had to “take the backseat” for a few years, she remained involved and did what she could to support local girls, leaders, and other volunteers.  After her youngest son graduated from high school a few years ago, she jumped full force back into Girl Scouts. “Nancy has REALLY helped grow Girl Scouts in our Mountain Communities, particularly in her service unit,” said Cricket Hawkins, Volunteer Support Specialist for Girl Scouts of Colorado. So, how did she do it? Nancy will tell you it was one volunteer…  one troop… one girl at a time. She got to know each of them personally. What did they want to do as Girl Scouts? What did they need help with? What activities did they only dream of doing and what was getting in their way of accomplishing their goals? Nancy did all she could to help. She worked to secure local funding, which enabled Routt County Girl Scouts to go horseback riding regardless of their ability to pay. She has also helped to organize a STEM Day, troop camping trips, and events designed for specific age groups, like Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors. “Our older girls need to be participating in events designed just for them, so Girl Scouts is more than just a line on their resume or college application,” she said. Nancy realizes she is able to do more than the average volunteer, but that doesn’t stop her from encouraging others to help whenever and wherever they can. “Whatever small amount you are doing—whether it’s providing snacks at a meeting or driving girls to a field trip–  it’s important. Even if you can only do one small thing, it matters and it makes a difference in the lives of girls,” Nancy said. Nancy is also a member of the Girl Scouts Board of Directors. Her term expires later this year, so she applied for a seat on the GSCO Membership Connection Committee. In addition to her role as a Girl Scout volunteer, Nancy also sits on the board of the Routt County United Way and volunteers with the local Methodist church. #adultvolunteers #mountaincommunities #Steamboat #volunteer

We love it when you share your stories and photos with us on social media! This recent post and photo from @jac3683 in Pueblo on Instagram caught our attention and we wanted to share it with you. “When my kiddo was born without fingers, I always knew she would be just fine. But I worried a bit about the school years when kids can be so cruel. When we joined Girl Scouts, one of the first things my new co-leader told me was that we had another #OneHanded little girl in our troop. This friendship has been an awesome one to watch grow as these two work together to figure out how to accomplish some of the same tasks their ten-fingered friends can do! #GirlScouts has been priceless for so many reasons, but especially this one!”

Seven Girl Scouts from Junior Troop 30222 in Pueblo will accept the Bronze Award, the Highest Award a Girl Scout Junior can earn, for their work to collect about a hundred packages of socks and underwear for families served by the Pueblo Cooperative Care Center. In order to collect these items, girls enlisted the help of their classmates at Morton Elementary School. They challenged all of the classrooms to collect the most socks and underwear. The girls treated the winning classroom to a root beer float party. The troop will officially accept their award at the Highest Awards celebration on Friday, April 22 at 6 p.m. at the Center for American Values (101 S. Main St. #100, Pueblo). They will join dozens of other Girl Scouts and troops from across southeastern Colorado who have earned their Bronze and Silver Awards. The young ladies, who will be accepting these awards, have demonstrated exceptional commitment to taking action to make the world a better place through their community service. Their accomplishments reflect extraordinary leadership and citizenship skills that mark them as valuable contributors to their communities and world. #HighestAwards #southeasternColorado #BronzeAward #Pueblo #Juniors #PuebloandSoutheasternColorado

The Girl Scouts of Colorado Retail Shop will soon feature a new clothing line with our upcoming 100th anniversary logo.  Before then, you may see GSCO staff members wearing these shirts with great pride and excitement. We’ll keep you updated as to when you’ll be able to purchase them through the retail store. Coming in the next couple months, there will be more merchandise with these new logos to make sure our 100th anniversary will be celebrated with great enthusiasm during the 2016-17 membership year. In the meantime, Super Bowl patches have been mailed to leaders and parents who submitted the application by the deadline.  The second round (waitlist) will be mailed the week of April 18. The Hometown Heroes patches have also arrived and will be sent out next week to those leaders who submitted their application by the deadline. Cookie Credits are also in the mail and the retail store is ready for Girl Scouts to use them.  Many new items are available along with GSUSA insignia and uniforms. Reminder: Cookie Credits are not a valid form of payment on the Girl Scout Shop website, but the retail store will take your order and Cookie Credit payment over the phone and give you free shipping! Summer is also approaching and the retail store will be adjusting store hours. May 21, 2016 is our last Saturday open for the season.  The retail store will be closed for Memorial Day weekend. Summer hours will start on May 31, 2016.  We will be open 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday- Friday and will be closed Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.  Summertime is a low season for the retail store with half of our normal foot traffic and phone calls. Retail associates are always available to answer your questions and help with all your needs. Please call (303) 607-4880 or email retail@gscolorado.org #cookiecredits #GirlScoutshop

The state of Colorado has issued a proclamation celebrating the 100th anniversary of Girl Scouts’ Highest Award, which is now known as the Gold Award! A PDF of the proclamation is below. Share it with your troop or print it and use it as part of local Highest Awards celebrations. For the 2015-16 Girl Scouts awards program year, more than 1,600 girls across the state earned their Bronze, Silver, or Gold Award! The Highest Awards represent the highest honors a Girl Scout can earn. They include 1,177 Bronze Award recipients, 393 Silver Award recipients, and 48 Gold Award recipients! All girls who have earned their Highest Award are invited to be recognized at one of our regional Highest Awards celebrations this spring. We also encourage everyone to recognize girls at the local level too. Please check out our Tips and Tricks for Hosting a Highest Awards Celebration for more information. Questions? Email highestawards@gscolorado.org Gold Award Proclamation #BronzeAward #GoldAward #GoldAwardCentennial #SilverAward