The Outdoor Property Evaluation Task Force will be holding a Town Hall meeting to hear feedback about Girl Scout properties in the southern part of our state on Saturday, March 8, 3:00-4:30 at the Pueblo Service Center (21 Montebello Rd, Pueblo, Colorado 81001). The discussions will focus on Lazy Acres and Sky High Ranch properties. This is the second of four meetings that are designed to collect feedback on the usage of and demand for Girl Scouts of Colorado outdoor properties. The first meeting was held on December 19 in Colorado Springs and focused on Sky High Ranch. Future meetings will be held in Northern Colorado and Denver later this month. Dates, times and locations for those meetings will be announced via this blog once they are confirmed. #SkyHighRanch #GSCOproperty #OutdoorPropertyEvaluationTaskForce #GirlScouts #Colorado #LazyAcres

Jordanne Stobbs-Vergara Centennial Eaglecrest High School Speak loudly and carry a confident smile What did you do for your Gold Award project? For my Gold Award, I gave a series of presentations to young men and women from different organizations about public speaking, speech writing, and general eloquence. Why did you pursue this Gold Award project? I noticed a deficit in public speaking skills in the young people in my area and this deficit lead to students not being able to clearly advocate for themselves or communicate their ideas. How did your Gold Award project make a difference? My Gold Award project made a difference in boosting the confidence of the young men and women I presented to, as well as providing them with an important skill set to use in their future. What skills did you gain through earning your Gold Award? I gained skills of organization, communication, leadership, ingenuity, teaching, and I even became a better public speaker myself though my Gold Award. What will you most remember about your Gold Award project? I will remember most how well my presentations were received by my audiences and the tangible excitement the students got when they understood and were able to demonstrate a new concept. How will earning your Gold Award help you in your future? In the future my dream is to be a lawyer in the Air Force. So my Gold Award helped me with the leadership skills I gained as well as being able to teach or communicate one idea to a diverse audience. Why do you feel the Gold Award is an important part of your Girl Scout experience? The Gold Award, to me, is the graduation of Girl Scouts. It is the ‘congratulations, you made it through!’ Earning the Gold Award was really a culmination of learning how to put together all the skills Girl Scouts gave me, from confidence in speaking to adults to organizing a community behind a common goal, into one, cohesive project. #Centennial #Colorado #GirlScouts #GoldAward

Megan Dirksen Lakewood Bear Creek High School A Dog’s Eye View What did you do for your Gold Award project? For my Gold Award project I created an informational video about Freedom Service Dogs. This organization trains and gives service dogs to people with disabilities or veterans. Here is the final video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWZ_oJamgII. Why did you pursue this Gold Award project? I pursued this Gold Award project to improve my skills in video, increase my communication skills, increase my interpersonal relationship skills, and to support a great organization that makes life better for both dogs and people. How did your Gold Award project make a difference? My project made a difference by helping me learn new abilities and giving me the confidence to do a project of this scale. Also, this video was posted on social media sites and is helping increase awareness of the importance of service dogs. What skills did you gain through earning your Gold Award? The skills I gained through earning my Gold Award were video and filming skills, communication, organization, patience, how to work with a team, be a leader, and see a project through to completion. What will you most remember about your Gold Award project? I will most remember the appreciation and thanks that I received from people who I filmed and people who have viewed the video too. How will earning your Gold Award help you in your future? Earning my Gold Award will help me in my future by helping my confidence, ability to possibly get scholarships or jobs, and working in a team environment. Why do you feel the Gold Award is an important part of your Girl Scout experience? I feel like the Gold Award is an important part of Girl Scouts because many of my previous Girl Scout skills were incorporated in finishing this project. It also gives me such a feeling of accomplishment and reward that I have enjoyed sharing with people. #Colorado #GirlScouts #GoldAward #Lakewood

Garrett Ann Nevins Highlands Ranch Mountain Vista High School Unifying Christmas What did you do for your Gold Award project? For my Gold Award project I taught high school SSN (special support needs) students some life skills they could use to make fleece pillows that they donated to the Ronald McDonald House. The goal was to connect the students with the community in a way that would result in them giving back. This project required them to focus on following directions, developing and using math skills, and working on their hand-eye coordination. Why did you pursue this Gold Award project? I pursued my Gold Award project because I wanted to make a difference in the lives of the students and provide them with skills and memories they could carry forward in the future. How did your Gold Award project make a difference? My project made a difference by teaching a new life skill to the students, giving them additional confidence and self-esteem to know they are giving back to the community. This project also gave the peer interns who assist these students another opportunity to help others as well. What skills did you gain through earning your Gold Award? The skills I gained from my Gold Award project were organization and time management, because I had to make sure I met certain deadlines. Another skill I believed I developed was patience. During my project, I had to make sure I gave people enough lead time for them to respond to my requests. What will you most remember about your Gold Award project? The thing I will remember most about my Gold Award is observing the SSN students making the fleece pillows. It was so inspiring to see their excitement and energy going into their work, and also seeing how intrigued they were and interested to help the Ronald McDonald House residents. It was incredible being able to achieve my goal; for they expressed how happy they were to be able to donate their pillows, and still ask periodically if the pillows are liked by their recipients. How will earning your Gold Award help you in your future? I am looking at a possible career in special education, and the Gold Award gave me an opportunity to lead a project with this amazing group of students. Why do you feel the Gold Award is an important part of your Girl Scout experience? I feel the Gold Award is an important part of my Girl Scout experience, because it provided me an opportunity to put the Girl Scout leadership skills and parts of the Girl Scout Law to work in a service project that makes the world a better place. #Colorado #GirlScouts #GoldAward #HighlandsRanch

Girl Scout Troop 74372 from Louisville, Colo. is honoring a special group of heroes during this year’s Girl Scout Cookie Season, the Colorado National Guard. When the Colorado floods hit last September, members of this fifth grade Girl Scout troop were on a school field trip to outdoor education center, Cal-Wood, above Jamestown. The floods trapped the girls and their classmates at the camp for several days as all roads in and out of the area had been washed out. Colorado’s National Guard was called in to rescue the group by helicopter. The Colorado National Guard was a natural choice for this troop to honor during the Girl Scout Cookies Hometown Heroes Program. Through this program the troop has collected hundreds of packages of cookies, which they plan to deliver to their heroes in March. This is a great story that highlights what many Girl Scout troops are doing throughout the state to recognize community heroes this Cookie Season. The goal in Colorado this year is to donate 200,000 packages to Girl Scouts’ Hometown Heroes. #GirlScoutCookies #HometownHeroes #GirlScouts #Colorado #ColoradoNationalGuard

Submitted by Josephine Natrasevschi Fort Collins On Tuesday, Feb. 18, Josephine Natrasevschi a senior at Fort Collins High School was honored with the Violet Richardson Award by Soroptimist of Fort Collins. The Soroptimist Violet Richardson Award recognizes and honors young women between the ages of 14 and 17 who make the community and world a better place through volunteer efforts this year Josephine Natrasevschi from Fort Collins High School was honored for her project, Protect Yourself. I am a Girl Scout and have learned the importance of service. I have been an active participant in community service ranging from decorating bags for Meals on Wheels as a kindergartner to my Gold Award Project, Protect Yourself. In 5th grade my troop decided to adopt a nursing home. This was our first major project and we were excited as could be. Our mission was to go regularly and read to, sing to, bring art and visit with the residents of Columbine Nursing Home. They loved to hear about our lives and our adventures (or at least they humored our young and self-centered minds). I earned my Girl Scout Bronze Award through my service with the Columbine Nursing Home. I also learned the importance of SENIORS and how to treasure their stories. This is one of the reasons I am studying to be a certified nurse aid this year in addition to my studies. At Lesher Middle School, I worked on a service project for the homeless with Northern Colorado Catholic charities ³The Mission² to earn my Girl Scout Silver Award. My service included collecting laundry soap, toiletries, crafts, school supplies, wrapping presents for Christmas and cleaning and organizing the mission. What I remember the most was helping teach crafts. I met kids much younger than me and those of my age without a home. They would catch the school bus daily at the shelter for school. I never knew this side of homelessness before and it made me very thankful for what I had previously taken for granted. While attending Fort Collins High School; I have worked with National Honor Society, Math Honor Society and Science Honor Society to aid the community. Still my most substantial and meaningful project has been with Girl Scouts. I researched, trained, blogged, developed, and taught a class to aid in Sexual Assault and Rape Prevention. I have taught this class in Fort Collins and Gunnison CO, Boston MA, and Providence, RI. I have influenced people in China, India, Australia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and England with my program. Some people have learned hands on from me. Others learn from the instructors I have taught but many have found the information in my blog http://protecty0urself.wordpress.com/ (interestingly enough this blog has formed a sort of community, one of trust and support). I have dedicated over 400 hours to this project and effected over 4500 people thus far. I have been asked why I chose this project. Rape and Sexual Assault is something that touches all of us. 1 OUT OF 4 women are raped on a college campus and unfortunately I have witnessed the direct result of this statistic through family and friends. A couple of weeks ago President Obama signed legislation to study and help solve this problem. Last week college administrators from all over the nation met at the University of Virginia¹s campus for the first ever conference on sexual assault on college campuses. This is an important step. By sharing with each other and compiling a list of information regarding what works and what doesn’t a solution may be found? I plan to continue my service to the community while in college. I hope to attend Brown University and would like to help establish a Sexual Assault program there. My goal is to provide education and prevention, rape kits on campus, advocates for victims, and therapy for victims. I also believe Student athletes can be used to help educate and prevent rape. I would like to establish this program at Brown and eventually share it with other Ivy League schools to test on their campuses. This story was submitted via the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #GoldAward #SoroptimistofFortCollins #VioletRichardsonAward

From Marlene Logan Girl Scouts of Colorado Board Member Rae Ann Dougherty recently received a very prestigious national Girl Scout award. Rae Ann was presented with the Juliette Low World Friendship Medal during the annual Friends of Our Cabana meeting in Cuernavaca, Mexico. The medal is “awarded to individuals who have enriched and leveraged the global understanding of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting to grow responsible global citizens. This prestigious national award is approved by the GSUSA National Board of Directors.” This is only the third time the award has gone to an adult Girl Scout from Colorado. The other two recipients were LaRae Orullian and JoAnne Busch. To receive this award you must be nominated. Marlene Logan, Katrina Jameson and Eloise Golden were instrumental in submitting Rae Ann’s application. Rae Ann has been involved in Girl Scouting for years, and in the fall made a $25,000 lead gift with her husband, Richard, to the Girl Scouts of Colorado Endowment. This gift will provide scholarships to current or lifetime Girl Scouts of Colorado members between the ages of 12 and 30 for travel. #Colorado #GirlScouts #JulietteLowWorldFriendshipMedal #RaeAnnDougherty

Elisabeth Collins Highlands Ranch ThunderRidge High School Improvisation Sensation! What did you do for your Gold Award project? For my Gold Award project I founded and directed “Improvisation Sensation!” for five high schools in the Douglas County School District. The event consisted of an improvisation workshop, dress rehearsal, dinner and evening community performance attended by more than 100 people. I also prepared a booklet with the guidelines for improvisation and many improv games. I sent this booklet to the Girl Scout World Centers for them to use for evening programs. Why did you pursue this Gold Award project? This Gold Award project allowed me to provide my peers with an opportunity to overcome public speaking anxiety and to perform spontaneously in a caring and supportive environment. It also allowed the students to perform in front of a live audience. How did your Gold Award project make a difference? The high school teams gained more confidence, gained knowledge about how certain improv games and developed certain skills (such as continuing a dialogue between improv players, building a scene quickly, learning to trust each other and working together as a team.) What skills did you gain through earning your Gold Award? The two leadership skills I gained were the ability to resolve problems/conflicts quickly and providing detailed and clear communication. What will you most remember about your Gold Award project? The most memorable part of my Gold Award project was the evening community performance and watching the teams show what they learned. Additionally, I will remember that even the best made plans still require some “improvisation” to overcome unforeseen problems. How will earning your Gold Award help you in your future? The Gold Award has helped me learn the steps necessary to develop a plan and learn what it takes to carry out an event. I can now take what I have learned and apply these skills to future events. When applying to one college, I was offered a scholarship, just because I had completed the Gold Award :). Why do you feel the Gold Award is an important part of your Girl Scout experience? I started in Girl Scouts when I was a Daisy. Our troop learned about the Girl Scout Law and went on several field trips. As we got older, our troop earned the Bronze Award and the Silver Award. We enjoyed helping with Girl Scout Service Unit camps and learned that helping our community was an integral part of Girl Scouting. The Gold Award stretched my leadership skills, by planning and event all on my own. I learned that to accomplish everything on my plan, I needed to ask others for help and I learned that communication is essential. This project taught me that an individual can create change through a series of small actions to accomplish a larger project and goal. #Colorado #GirlScouts #GoldAward #HighlandsRanch

Lindsey Romig Littleton  Dakota Ridge High School Aware What did you do for your Gold Award project? For my Gold Award project I chose to educate people about homelessness: what causes someone to be homeless and who the homeless are. I mostly focused on the population of panhandlers because I feel like they don’t get as much attention as the people who are getting help from shelters and food banks. I did a lot of research, and for my project I created a video, borrowed a video, and created a final result video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFF36kmdsQQ ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtJWkMrtlvo ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwnyqrbeSYs Why did you pursue this Gold Award project? In the last few years I have been surrounded by people and places attempting to help the homeless. How did your Gold Award project make a difference? My Gold Award introduced the program “Food Not Cash,” which is a way of helping panhandlers without giving them money. What skills did you gain through earning your Gold Award? Through earning my Gold Award I have become a better public speaker, I have become better at researching, and I have become a better leader. What will you most remember about your Gold Award project? My project got amazing responses, and inspired many people; I believe this is what I will remember about my Gold Award project. How will earning your Gold Award help you in your future? Because I have earned my Gold Award I hope that I will continue to learn about the issue of homelessness, continue to become a better public speaker, and to be completely honest, I hope that schools will see that because I have earned this award that I am a strong leader, and have a desire to learn. Why do you feel the Gold Award is an important part of your Girl Scout experience? I believe that the Gold Award is a way for a girl to “discover herself:” learn her limits, and learn where she can push herself. I think that knowing those things is invaluable in the “real world.” #Colorado #GirlScouts #GoldAward #Littleton

Submitted by Kristin Coulter Denver Cadette Girl Scouts, Morgan Ward and Fiona Shore from Park Hill Troop 3573 got a surprise visit from Channel 7 Weatherman Mike Nelson. The girls had been working hard to attract customers to their cookie booth in the pet grocery store, Green Buddies, parking lot on Colfax Avenue, Saturday, Feb. 1, when Mike Nelson stopped in for a Thin Mint fix. This story was submitted via the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #MikeNelson #myboothsales #ParkHill

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 January 2014 Troop 10020 – Lake City Kayla Chambers Troop 10120 – Grand Junction Kalina Mow Troop 10132 – Grand Junction Carissa Crawford Troop 50162 – Lakewood Sydni Sich Troop 51303 – Littleton Anastasia Bowles Troop 51435 – Golden Ashley Dale Clare Darling Elizabeth Koch Grace Kern Katelyn Maher Kathleen McMurtrey Kaylee Coffman Megan Feiner Megan Higgins Sophie Matthews Troop 61292 – Parker Alexandra Merrill Isabelle Diranna Natasha Diranna Troop 69604 – Littleton Kelsey Harry Troop 70480 – Niwot Ashlin Hult Hailey Noterman Mari Barrett Troop 72580 – Superior Emily Locker Haley Patterson Shelby Oke #SilverAward

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 January 2014 Troop 10098 – Grand Junction Johneth Price Troop 14643 – Grand Junction Kalea Potter Troop 43592 – Monument Cassidy Werner Troop 60008 – Englewood Marissa Moreland Troop 60702 – Centennial Abigail Johnson Adrianna Johnston Amberly Kroha Anna Durr Emma Gardner Laura Greichen Lauren Stephens Lillian Richards Rachel Lindell Skye Martichuski Troop 73323 – Superior Abigail Mousseau Ashleigh  Lightbody Emily McGarry Kaitlyn Alves Taylor Johnston Troop 73357 – Louisville Annie Fowle Astrid Borsholm Ava McDonald Caitlin Sagrillo Celia Pacheco Emmy Ayad Gabriella Wyckoff Lily Esterline Mattie McKenna Naomi Smith Natalie Powers Sara Pilot Shannon Blanco #BronzeAward