Submitted by Mary Kritenbrink Centennial Denver Metro Congratulations to Cadette Girl Scouts from Troop 60744 who have earned their God & Church award. During the course of 3 months, the girls explored their relationship with God and Church, participated in leading a worship service, delivered Meals on Wheels, and served lunch to our friends without homes in downtown Denver. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #Centennial #GodandChurch #MealsonWheels

Submitted by Alexandra Ramey Erie Northern and Northeastern Colorado Since her mom was out of town the first weekend of cookie sales, Alexandra was determined to catch up this weekend! As a Daisy, going door to door was a new experience for her. The excitement of reaching her 50 package goal for the Broncos patch had her running from house to house. She was thrilled when we found this house full of Bronco fans getting ready for the game, they bought 12 packages and were nice enough to come outside for a picture! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #Broncos #cookies

From Girl Scouts of the USA: We’re excited to announce the winners of the Girls’ Choice Art in the Outdoors badge design poll! Girls were given the choice of two badge designs for their Girl Scout level, and asked to pick their favorite. More than 12,500 girl votes were cast—and the winning badge designs are here. Did your favorite come out on top? Now’s the time to start taking notice of that crisp blue sky or the abstract sculptures in your local park, and get ready to create some amazing art in the outdoors. Badge requirements will be available for download May 30, 2016, and in council shops by the summer! Thank you so much to everyone who voted. We are thrilled to be working with girls on more girl-led programming—they’re our favorite partners! #artintheoutdoors #GirlsChoice

Submitted by Tracy Taullie La Junta Pueblo and Southeastern Colorado Two Cadettes from La Junta Girl Scout Troop 31747 completed their Silver Awards by providing social services with ” Bags of Love.” Mali P. and Makayla T. worked for months gathering donations to accomplish their task.  In the end, they provided 20 backpacks with blankets, books, stuffed animals, bathroom supplies, water bottles, and much more to be given to children taken from their homes. The project was special to the girls, who love children and especially special to Mali who’s family has two foster children of their own. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #Cadette #LaJunta #PuebloandSoutheasternColorado #SilverAward

Submitted by Skyler Korell Pueblo Southwestern Colorado Skyler (7) was having fun watching her friends share their videos on Facebook and decided to make her own video (utilizing the recent Colorado Snow Storm to help her!) This video was made by Skyler (with some help from mom) on iMovie! This video was submitted as part of the Best Cookie Video Contest. #2016CookieSale #BestCookieVideo #SouthwesternColorado #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieSale #Pueblo #cookiecontests

Every year at Lazy Acres, the camp opens it’s door just once outside of the summer season- to welcome troops to the annual winter troop camp! Last weekend over 6 troops came together to take part in every type of winter activity- sledding, snowshoeing, snowball fighting, snowman making, even snow archery! Thanks to camp director Jill, there was plenty of indoor fun too with arts & crafts and making delicious snow ice cream. After troops spent the day outside frolicking in the snow, it was time to tuck into the lodge for indoor “s’more dip”, songs and games. This summer, the dedicated volunteers and GSCO who love Lazy Acres will be throwing a 70th anniversary of the much loved camp. For more information contact Jill Marostica at jillmarostica@juno.com Gaining speed on the sledding hill Ready for a snowball fight! Snow archery!

Submitted by Linda Robinson Loveland Northern and Northeastern Colorado The GSCO History Committee has a display at the Loveland Public Library during the month of February.  The display highlights 100 years of Highest Awards in Girl Scouts.  The Girl Scout Gold Award began in 1980, but Girl Scouts have been earning a highest award since 1916.  This award has been called the Golden Eagle of Merit, Golden Eaglet, First Class, and Curved Bar.  Posters showing information about these awards, along with Girl Scout handbooks and badge books through the years,  are joined by some vintage uniforms and badge sashes showing earned badges. In addition to highlighting Highest Awards, there is a section advertising cookie sales. The GSCO history committee hopes that if you are in the Loveland area during the month of February, you will stop by the library and see the display.  The Loveland Library is located at 300 N. Adams Ave, Loveland, CO 80537 and is open daily from 9:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. For more information on the GSCO History Center in Loveland email gscohistory@gmail.com.  We welcome troop visits as well as community visitors.  The committee works on Tuesdays from 9 a.m.-noon. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #GSCOHistoryCommittee #HistoryCommittee #Loveland #NorthernandNortheasternColorado

Submitted by Rebecca Lankford Broomfield Denver Metro Magic Sky: Mission Spectacular camp Juniors, Cadettes, Seniors, Ambassadors only! Friday, May 20 7 p.m – Sunday, May 22 1 p.m. Camp at beautiful Magic Sky Ranch and be the first Girl Scouts to use the professionally designed field archery range! Arrive ready to show what you know and be spectacular! Activities may include: survival games, cabin challenges, climbing wall, field archery (weather dependent), outdoor cooking competition, team building, orienteering, knife skills, sing-off, swap exchange and more! Cost:  $80 per scout, $70 if paid in full by 3/1 $50 per safety ratio adult, $45 if paid in full by 3/1 $25 registration fee per person to reserve your spots – due no later than 3/1 Accommodations: heated cabins with bunk beds and mattresses, and indoor bathrooms. Cabins include couches, 2 large school cafeteria-style tables, and picnic tables on the porches. Each cabin will be responsible for cleaning up the cabin before check out on Sunday. We hope you will join us at one of the most beautiful camps in Colorado! For more information and to register: http://www.planetReg.com/gsmissionspectacular Questions? For more information please contact Rebecca “Zap” Lankford and Cara “Mascara” Cansler at camplikeagirlscout@gmail.com Camp must have a minimum of 50 participants pre-registered by 3/1 or it will be canceled. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #seniors #MagicSky #Cadettes #Juniors #camp #ambassadors

Well the answer is not simple. It is so much more than to just “have fun.” Based on our 2015 survey results the BEST part about summer camp for our parents was #1: “my camper’s experience” and #2: “my camper learning independence and self-sufficiency” We strive at Girl Scouts of Colorado’s summer camps, to make your child’s experience at summer camp the whole package, full of campfires, friends, songs, caring camp counselors, activities, fun and personal development. It has been shown that summer camp helps to increase the qualities within girls such as: communication, self-awareness, self-sufficiency, independence, respect, confidence and a sense of adventure. “Five Great Reasons Parents Send Their Kids to Camp” from the Sunshine Parenting blog, is about the impact camp has on children regarding their social skills. Research they had done reported that 95% of children surveyed said they had an overall improvement of social skills. And unsurprisingly, all campers (100%) reported making new friends at camp, with 99% of campers’ parents reporting the same. Learn more about relating a child’s happiness & increase in social skills to their time at summer camp in this American Camp Association article. Camp offers opportunities which can be difficult to come by-the chance to shoot an arrow, to hike to the mountain top, to sing around a campfire while making s’mores, to ride a horse, to go fishing, to go rafting, to fly across a zip line and to make lifelong friends. So, why send your daughter to camp? Because it’s GREAT for her mind, body and soul. Register your daughter now for Girl Scout camp! This article was written by Monica “Obi Joe” Gray, Camp Director at Tomahawk Ranch. #AmericanCampAssociation #summercamp #SunshineParenting #TomahawkRanch

Submitted by Jessica Roeder Arvada Metro Denver Daisy Troop 65526 is excited to announce the completion of their first service project! The girls chose to help make the world a better place by providing homeless children in the Arvada community with a sense of security and warmth, as well as education and entertainment. The girls worked with community partners and another national non-profit organization to make 15 Project Night Night bags for children under the age of 12. Each bag contained a stuffed animal, blanket, book, two toothbrushes, and mini pillow that was handmade by each girl. Each girl also made a personalized card to put in the bag she created. The girls enjoyed presenting the Arvada Police Department with the bags. Officers will be distributing the bags to homeless children in our local area over the next month. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #Arvada #communityservice #communityserviceidea #Daisies #MetroDenver

On the outdoor program team, we have been working to create new programs for Summer 2016. Two that I am especially excited to share with you today are perfect the girl or troop who loves adventure, the outdoors and camping! The first is the Horse Adventure Trip, July 24th– 30th. On this trip, girls entering 7th grade and older will take a 3 day, 2 night horse pack trip into the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, camping at a beautiful lake. Participants will then spend three days at a working cattle ranch practicing their horse and ranching skills, as well as a full day of whitewater rafting on the Arkansas river. Girls can sign up for this trip as an individual, and if they have a friend who is a fellow horse lover but not a Girl Scout- that is okay too, no previous Girl Scout experience necessary! The second new program I can’t wait to tell you about is our new Meadow Mountain Ranch High Adventure Troop Camp. On this trip, a troop and their one or two of their leaders will have a mountain adventure on a three day, two night backpacking trip into Rocky Mountain National Park. Like the outdoors, but not sure you could plan a backpacking trip on your own? Then this trip is perfect for you and your troop! Our trained Girl Scout staff takes care of all the planning, meals, and even most of your camping gear. We offer one weekend in June, one in July and one in September of this chance to adventure in the mountains. Interested in either of these awesome outdoor adventure trips? Contact Outdoor Volunteer Programs Manger Anna Danila, anna.danila@gscolorado.org. Register Now for Summer Camps! This was written by Anna Danila, Outdoor Volunteer Programs Manager. Anna oversees volunteer-led programs in the outdoors. #highadventure #SangredeCristoMountains #Cadette #troopcamp #Ambassador #RockyMountainNationalPark #MeadowMountainRanch #camp #senior

Submitted by Erin Koon Boulder, CO Northern and Northeastern Colorado The University of Colorado Buffaloes take on Arizona State at Coors Events Center, Sunday, February 28th 2016 at 2:30pm! All scouts will participate in a post-game event with Ralphie’s Green Stampede and will earn a unique Ralphie Recycling patch! Scouts of all levels will learn the benefits and importance of recycling/eco-products AND will be introduced to a college campus! To attend this unique event purchase tickets at www.cubuffs.com/promo and enter the promo code 2016GIRLSCOUTS. The Buffs are looking forward to hosting the Girl Scouts of Colorado! **Don’t forget $4 of every purchase will directly benefit the Girl Scouts!** This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #CUBuffaloes #recycling #UniversityofColorado