What did you do for your Gold Award project? I did a Girl’s Science Event for girls in grades 6-8 that brought together exhibitors around Colorado to present a booth to the girls. Physics, aviation, space, and more were all addressed in the booths. Hands-on activities, as well as experiments, were used by the exhibitors to engage the girls and really interest them in the sciences! Why did you pursue this Gold Award project? I pursued this project because I felt that the issue of the number of women in STEM fields needed to be addressed. As a little girl, I had always dreamed of being a scientist, pouring acids into beakers, wearing goggles, and creating chemical reactions. I want the same for every girl. I wanted them to be able to have the confidence and will to be able to aspire to achieve. How did your Gold Award project make a difference? My Gold Award project affected girls at an earlier age and influenced them to pursue higher level science and math classes in high school and possibly even in college. What skills did you gain through earning your Gold Award? I gained invaluable leadership skills as well as better time management through earning my Gold Award. How did you make your project sustainable? I have passed on my project to the Key Club at my school, who will continue the event in future years. I also hope that the information that the girls gained at this event will be ever in their minds. My hope is that they, too have been inspired to inspire others. What was your connection to the national or global community? My issue was not only a local issue, but it is also an issue nationally and globally as well. The issue is similar all throughout the nation, and many initiatives have also been taken, such as mine, to resolve that issue. What will you most remember about your Gold Award project? I will always remember the girl’s smiling faces at my event. This gave me a feeling that I will never forget, one of accomplishment and success. How will earning your Gold Award help you in your future? My Gold Award has provided me with so many  valuable skills that I will be able to employ in the future in college and my future job as well. These skills seem to be unobtainable in any other way. Through my Gold Award, I have been able to achieve more, and gain the confidence that I need to achieve more in the future. Why do you feel the Gold Award is an important part of your Girl Scout experience? I feel that the Gold Award is essential to the Girl Scout experience because it allows you to take on a massive challenge, and for you to be a leader of it. This, to me, has been the perfect way to signify a change that I have made and a mark that I have left next to my Girl Scout name. ***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 #HighestAwards #GirlScout #STEM #ColoradoSprings #oldergirls #GirlScoutsofColorado #girls #TakeAction #GirlScouts #Colorado

The countdown to the opening of registration for Girl Scout camp is underway! It starts Jan. 13, 2015 at 9 a.m. on the Girl Scouts of Colorado website. On Thursday, Jan. 8, 2015, Kim Petau, camp director for Sky High Ranch, and Girl Scout Anne Martens joined FOX21 in Colorado Springs to talk about registration for Girl Scout camp. Here are a few “behind the scenes” photos: Ask yourself, “Where will I…” stand atop a mountain and take in the forever view? feel my heartbeat in my ears as I zip down the zipline? and, most importantly, where will I make friendships that will last a lifetime? For summer 2015, Girl Scouts of Colorado is excited to announce girls will be able to have those experiences — and hundreds more—at Sky High Ranch! Resident camp is returning to this beautiful rustic camp near Manitou Lake and Woodland Park for the first time since 2012. For many Girl Scouts, attending resident camp at Sky High Ranch is a family tradition.  Their mothers, grandmothers, and even great-grandmothers, in some cases, have fond memories of their summers at Sky High Ranch. Girl Scouts of Colorado will also offer resident camp at perennial favorite Tomahawk Ranch near Bailey, southwest of Denver. Some of the activities at our resident camps include archery, backpacking, photography, and rock climbing. Our standard resident camp runs 6-days. We also offer 2-week camps , as well as mini 3-day camps. The summer camp schedule is live on the Girl Scouts of Colorado website (girlscoutsofcolorado.org) so you can begin to review the 2015 offerings. Girl Scouts of Colorado will continue to offer day camping adventures throughout the state. Girl Scout summer camp programs are open to all girls throughout Colorado who are over the age of 6. Registration begins Jan. 13 at 9 a.m. on the Girl Scouts of Colorado website at girlscoutsofcolorado.org. Register early. Some sessions fill in just a few hours. Girl Scout camp is a safe place for your girl to explore her world, make forever friends, and learn to be a leader.  Girls learn differently than boys and everything at Girl Scout camp is designed to meet girls where they are. No labels. No competition. No boys. There’s just a whole lot of “you go, girl!” Girl Scouts has been helping girls shine for more than 100 years. Girl Scouts of Colorado is proud to serve 25,000 girls across the state with the help and support of 10,000 adult volunteers! Learn more how you can be part of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience by visiting girlscoutsofcolorado.org, calling 1-877-404-5708, or emailing inquiry@gscolorado.org. #daycamp #summercamp #overnightcamp #SkyHighRanch #GirlScout #ColoradoSprings #oldergirls #gsco #troopcamp #GirlScoutsofColorado #girls #TomahawkRanch #media #GirlScouts #camp #Colorado

You’re invited to a cookie open house in Colorado Springs! Where: Girl Scout office 5353 N. Union Blvd Suite 101 Colorado Springs, CO 80918 When: Thursday, January 15, 2015 During the open house, there will be various activities, training sessions, and Q & A about the 2015 cookie sale, including Digital Cookie. Noon – 7 p.m. The Girl Scouts of Colorado pop-up shop will be open. You can purchase “council’s own” merchandise, such as t-shirts and hoodies, and cookie sale items, like rally kits. Place an order in advance for uniforms and badges, and pick it up on that day. Use this form to preorder and guarantee delivery of your items that are in stock. The order deadline is 5 p.m. on January 14, 2015. 3 – 6 p.m. Are you a Cadette, Senior , or Ambassador? Like travel? Outdoor events? Camp? Headed for a Highest Award? Cookie sale proceeds can make a big difference in your ability to participate! Come learn all about what older girls can do with cookies. 6 – 8 p.m. Juliette cookie training. Parents and girls can come learn how to order cookie packages, sign up for booths, enter orders in eBudde, etc. If you would like to make an appointment to go over specific cookie questions, eBudde training, etc. please sign up for a time using this link: http://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4AA9AB2EABF49-cookie #GirlScout #ColoradoSprings #GirlScoutsofColorado #girls #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScouts #Colorado

Tuesday, January 13, 2015 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. Corporate Office  3801 E. Florida, Suite 720  Denver, CO 80210 4 p.m. – 7 p.m. Girl Scout Shop 1485 S. Colorado Blvd., Suite 260  Denver, CO 80222 Stop by anytime throughout the day for in-person support for Camp registration & Cookie questions: Regsitration for 2015 Summer camps opens at 9am on Tuesday, January 13, 2015.  Check out this summer’s sessions!  Talk to Outdoor Program staff about your camp questions. Get help from Product Sales staff with cookie starting inventory and more! Don’t miss cookie season!  Register your daughter as a Girl Scout. History Committee archives display featuring camp & cookie memorabilia Alumnae Meet Up 10 am-2pm – Tea & Girl Scout Cookie pairings #daycamp #summercamp #overnightcamp #GirlScout #GirlScoutsofColorado #girls #Denver #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #MetroDenver #GirlScouts #registration #camp

What did you do for your Gold Award project? I started a blog dedicated to aiding those recovering from eating disorders and the education of those who wanted to learn more about eating disorders. This lead to me giving a talk at Boulder High School’s body positive club about my project. Why did you pursue this Gold Award project? I decided to pursue this issue because I have seen eating disorders do terrible things to the lives of my friends. Adolescent girls heading to college are the most prone to developing eating disorders at such a stressful time in their lives and I thought that this project would be a great way to guide my peers into to this time of change. I am also a dancer and have seen eating disorders very present in the dance world, so I also wanted to explore and educate those who were close to me through dance about this issue. How did your Gold Award project make a difference? I was able to educate others on how to recognize signs of eating disorders as well as offer support and resources to those suffering from them. What skills did you gain through earning your Gold Award? I was able to gain skills and experience dealing with real world issues that I would not have been able to experience without completing the Gold Award. I not only learned leadership, planning, and goal setting skills, but I also learned interview techniques and how to network amongst a group of people who could help me in achieving my goals. How did you make your project sustainable? The blog that I created, loveveryinch.weebly.com, will exist forever and the Boulder High Body Positive club that I spoke at remains active. What was your connection to the national or global community? Eating disorders are a widespread issue, not just in America, but around the world. Being able to start an open conversation about eating disorders in Boulder will hopefully lead to a more in-depth exploration of this issue in other places. What will you most remember about your Gold Award project? I think my most memorable experience was getting the chance to talk to a club of people my age who were dedicated to body positivity. How will earning your Gold Award help you in your future? Being able to have experience leading a project and completing one’s goals are important skills to have in one’s life. Besides developing communication and networking skills, I am able to have a piece of work proving that I am driven and hardworking when it comes to things I believe in. Why do you feel the Gold Award is an important part of your Girl Scout experience? I was able to take initiative of a project that I felt passionately about and I was able to take all of the leadership skills that I had learned throughout my time in Girl Scouts and apply them by myself. ***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 #HighestAwards #GirlScout #oldergirls #GirlScoutsofColorado #girls #boulder #MetroDenver #GirlScouts

Individual or combined Service Units are encouraged to plan celebrations honoring the highest awards recipients. Please contact your local Program Support Specialist for additional support. Bronze Award Recipients December 2014Troop41105 – Colorado SpringsAlexandra ShemonEvelyn OppsKirra SubaNaomie DaughertyZerelda Daugherty #BronzeAward #HighestAwards #TakeAction

Individual or combined Service Units are encouraged to plan celebrations honoring the highest awards recipients. Please contact your local Program Support Specialist for additional support. Silver Award Recipients December 2014Troop41105 – Colorado SpringsNichole CaranoTroop42393 – Colorado SpringsEmily ClarkTroop43360 – FountainBreanna MaxcyJordan HensleyNatalie UngerTroop62967 – Highlands RanchCassidy Christian #HighestAwards #SilverAward #TakeAction

What did you do for your Gold Award project? Took inner-city Denver kids at the Boys and Girls Club on an education hike up near Boulder, CO. Why did you pursue this Gold Award project? I wanted to take the opportunity to make a positive impact on the kids at the Boys and Girls Club. How did your Gold Award project make a difference? I was able to teach the children about a topic they never would have learned about otherwise. What skills did you gain through earning your Gold Award? I became a better leader and more comfortable leading others. I was in charge of a group of counselors, who were older than I was, and I was forced to learn to interact and lead a group of people I was unfamiliar with leading. How did you make your project sustainable? I created a Hike Manual that will be passed down from summer to summer at the camp. It is for the counselors to use and teach from. Along with that, I created a Hike Activity Book for the campers to keep them engaged in what was being taught. What was your connection to the national or global community? Wherever these kids go in their life they always will keep the knowledge they learned at camp. This information will help them in many aspects including respecting nature and staying safe in circumstances of natural disasters common to Colorado. What will you most remember about your Gold Award project? The most fond memory I have about my Gold Award project is working with the kids at Gates Camp and getting to interact and teach the children. How will earning your Gold Award help you in your future? This experience has taught me many things, but most importantly, about teaching children and what a difficult, but rewarding task that can be. In the future, I will keep the skills I learned from this project and apply them when I hopefully become a teacher. Why do you feel the Gold Award is an important part of your Girl Scout experience? The Gold Award is a culmination of all my hard work over the years. Over everything I have learned when I was Brownie up to doing the actual project, everything I did lead up to my project and prepared me for that as well as 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 #HighestAwards #GirlScout #oldergirls #GirlScoutsofColorado #youth #girls #Denver #boulder #MetroDenver #TakeAction #GirlScouts #camp

Submitted by Kristi Gulley I just wanted to share a fun activity my troop did. At our last meeting, we assembled over 100 holiday wrapping kits. Then, we went Christmas caroling around one of our local neighborhoods and left the kits on the doorsteps. It was a fun night and to see the surprise on the faces of the people who were home was priceless! We asked for people to share on social media. This was posted on a local community site: “Looking for Girl Scout Troop 4258 – I think they played Santa! Last night, I found a roll of holiday wrapping paper and some gift wrapping supplies on my porch with a delightful note from Maya with Girl Scout Troop 4258. I can’t be totally sure whether this was intended to be delivered to me, but I really want to thank Maya and her troop. Problem is, I have no way to contact them. They are also trying to follow their gifts on social media which seems like a totally cool holiday activity. I’ll be posting that pic in a few.” A few other neighbors responded that they also got them and yes, it was intended for her! It was such a great experience and a great opportunity to share random acts of kindness with the girls. #GirlScout #GirlScouts #girls #oldergirls

Submitted by Orin Levy “Me and My Guy” is by far the most cherished weekend my daughter and I share all year!  It is direct one-on-one time where there are no distractions and nothing else to do but enjoy each other’s company.  We’ve come to Lazy Acres and “Me and My Guy” camp for five straight years starting the very first year my daughter was old enough. We plan on returning every year until she ages out and even then, we’ll beg to come back as volunteers. The counselors for the weekend, Nerd and Purple, are two of the most dedicated and special people I know! They genuinely enjoy being there and that enthusiasm is both infectious and truly part of what makes the “Me and My Guy” program so incredibly special each and every year.  I keep a pretty busy schedule including a fair amount of travel during the year. But, this is the one weekend I have made a solemn promise that nothing will break, that no matter where in the world, quite literally, I find myself I WILL make it home for this weekend!  If I can offer one final encouragement to the men in their daughter’s lives it’s that we matter more than you can possibly realize to your daughters. This is a special time in your child’s life that she will always remember that you cared enough about her to put aside whatever was going on in your life to make her and her alone the most important thing in your life. *** “Me and My Guy” at Lazy Acres is July 17-19, 2015. The Girl Scout summer camp schedule is now live on the Girl Scouts of Colorado website girlscoutsofcolorado.org. Register online starting Jan. 13 at 9 a.m. Register early. Some sessions fill in just a few hours. #summercamp #overnightcamp #GirlScout #GirlScoutsofColorado #girls #GirlScouts #camp

Submitted by Mary Ward I recently returned to the place where I became myself: Sky High Ranch. “Rustic” is the fancy word I used to read in the description of this majestic place in the camp brochure. This is the only place I’ve ever been where a hole in the ground is politely referred to as the “ladies room,” where we all sing grace together before every meal, where girls don’t wear makeup, where we do so many fun things without anyone updating their Facebook status about it, and where no matter how many years pass, the memories will always linger on my heart. I found myself thinking back to my days at Girl Scout camp, and how the friends I made there are the ones I still keep in touch with. I remember looking forward to camp from the time the brochure appeared in my mailbox until I stepped out of my mom’s minivan at the base of Cardiac Hill. It’s so rare to find friendships where you can go nine months without talking and then pick up right where you left off, but those are the kinds of friendships that are formed at Sky High Ranch. These days, I think it’s hard for kids to form quality relationships with one another because they are so distracted by the over-stimulation that’s occurring around them all the time- devices at their fingertips to always keep them entertained, the TV is always on, ear buds in- it’s a miracle that anyone is able to get anything done. Girls today need Girl Scout camp more than any other generation. This place is not just a way to keep girls busy for a week. It’s not just a place where girls have fun and explore. Yes, they do those things, but it’s so much more than that. This is a place where girls learn about themselves and their world. A place where girls grow passionate. A place where girls step out of themselves and into something bigger- into a sisterhood that lasts a lifetime, into the freedom to create their own identity, into the chance to help other girls learn who they are and feel good about themselves. We used to say that living with someone for a week is equivalent to knowing someone for a year. That sounds a little crazy, but to this day I still believe that. We met on a Sunday, and within 24 hours, I’ve seen your crazy morning hair, found out how funny you are, discovered that you snore, learned many things that we have in common, noticed your picky eating habits, stumbled across your pet peeves, and found a new sister. We might be friends for a summer, or we might be friends for a lifetime. But, we will always be bonded together in some way by this shared experience. I hear parents saying that their daughter won’t be returning to camp because of other activities: basketball camp, band camp, sports teams, but I just can’t keep my mind from wondering if those places will be as enriching as the place I grew up in. The truth is that I know that they won’t be- they just can’t. Girls need to be free to run wild, to explore, to smell the rain as it pours onto the beautiful evergreen trees that surround the property, to jump into a freezing cold pond first thing in the morning- just because they can. And that’s the thing I learned at Sky High that probably changed my whole life- I can. *** The Girl Scout summer camp schedule is now live on the Girl Scouts of Colorado website girlscoutsofcolorado.org. Register online starting Jan. 13 at 9 a.m. Register early. Some sessions fill in just a few hours. #SkyHighRanch #GirlScout #GirlScoutsofColorado #girls #GirlScouts #camp #alumnaestories

Girl Scout camp is a place where a girl can be a girl—and a girl can be anything she imagines. She can stand atop a mountain and take in the forever view. She can feel her heartbeat in her ears as she zips down the zipline. She can bow to her fellow campers as they applaud her first bullseye. For summer 2015, Girl Scouts of Colorado is excited to announce girls will be able to have those experiences — and hundreds more—at Sky High Ranch! Resident camp is returning to this beautiful rustic camp near Manitou Lake and Woodland Park for the first time since 2012. For many Girl Scouts, attending resident camp at Sky High Ranch is a family tradition.  Their mothers, grandmothers, and even great-grandmothers, in some cases, have fond memories of their summers at Sky High Ranch. Girl Scouts of Colorado will also offer resident camp at perennial favorite Tomahawk Ranch near Bailey, southwest of Denver. Some of the activities at our resident camps include archery, backpacking, photography, and rock climbing. Our standard resident camp runs 6-days. We also offer 2-week camps , as well as mini 3-day camps. The summer camp schedule is live on the Girl Scouts of Colorado website (girlscoutsofcolorado.org) so you can begin to review the 2015 offerings. Girl Scouts of Colorado will continue to offer day camping adventures throughout the state. Girl Scout summer camp programs are open to all girls throughout Colorado who are over the age of 6. Registration begins Jan. 13 at 9 a.m. on the Girl Scouts of Colorado website at girlscoutsofcolorado.org. Register early. Some sessions fill in just a few hours. Girl Scout camp is a safe place for your girl to explore her world, make forever friends, and learn to be a leader.  Girls learn differently than boys and everything at Girl Scout camp is designed to meet girls where they are. No labels. No competition. No boys. There’s just a whole lot of “you go, girl!” Girl Scouts has been helping girls shine for more than 100 years. Girl Scouts of Colorado is proud to serve 25,000 girls across the state with the help and support of 10,000 adult volunteers! Learn more how you can be part of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience by visiting girlscoutsofcolorado.org, calling 1-877-404-5708, or emailing inquiry@gscolorado.org. #daycamp #summercamp #overnightcamp #GirlScout #GirlScoutsofColorado #girls #GirlScouts #camp