Submitted by Emily Sage Northern & Northeastern CO Loveland Camryn and Peyton from Troop 71020 wanted to show nursing home residents some love during the COVID-19 pandemic. For their Silver Award project, they decided to adopt a nursing home in Loveland and partnered with The Courtyard of Loveland Assisted Living to develop an Adopt-A-Grandparent program. Camryn and Peyton started the program by making Thanksgiving treats for each of the residents and forming a group to sing socially-distanced, outdoor Christmas carols. To make their project sustainable, they asked Girl Scouts across Colorado to adopt a resident and send a Christmas gift and letter each month for the following year (2021). Peyton and Camryn plan to continue bringing small gifts to the residents for various holidays, such as the valentines they dropped off in February. We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here. #HighestAwards #Loveland #SilverAward #COVID #NorthernampNortheasternCO #AdoptaGrandparentProgram #GirlScoutSilverAward #SilverAwardGirlScouts #TheCourtyardofLovelandAssistedLiving #SilverAwardproject #TakeAction

Submitted by Elizabeth Rouse Metro Denver Denver Registration for Girl Scout University is open! Sponsored by the Alpha Phi Omega chapter at the University of Denver, Girl Scout University will take place on April 17, 2021! This provides Girl Scouts the opportunity to earn two badges in one fun-filled morning! Due to social distancing practices, this year’s event will be held online using the Zoom platform. We will be offering a few different badges for Juniors and Cadettes, who can pick one badge for the first session and another for the second session. Specifically, Juniors can select between Drawing, Staying Fit, and Savvy Shopper. Cadettes can select between Science of Happiness, Comparison Shopping, and Eating For You. The cost of the event is $7.50 per badge or $15 for the whole morning. This event is a fundraiser for our organization. So, the price of the event includes the cost of badges, shipping (as we will mail the Girl Scouts the badges they earn after the event), and a small donation to Alpha Phi Omega. Registration will close on April 10. You can register at the following link: http://cglink.me/2fC/r1060299 Thank you and we hope to see you there! For questions, please contact gsu@apo-alphaetaiota.org. GSU-final_poster__2021 We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here. #UniversityofDenver #GirlScoutingatHome #AlphaPhiOmega #Denver #GirlScoutsatHome #DU #2021GirlScoutUniversity #MetroDenver #GirlScoutUniversity

What did you do for your Gold Award project? For my Gold Award project I addressed the problem of bullying in schools. I painted affirmations throughout Lewis Palmer Middle School and created a monthly affirmation chalkboard that’s in the main hallway. With the constant positive affirmations around the middle schoolers, it can help to make them be more positive towards themselves and others. How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience? I measured the success of my project by creating a survey. I surveyed some students in  the school. I asked if they read the affirmations, if the affirmations impacted them, and if there should be bright paintings affirmations in all schools. I received a lot of positive feedback from this survey from the students, staff, and principal! How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement? My project is sustained beyond my involvement through the monthly affirmation chalkboard I started and a guidebook I created. The students part of an anti-bullying group put a new affirmation on the chalkboard every month for everyone to read. In the guidebook, I created a checklist of all the supplies I needed and the steps I took. What is your project’s global and/or national connection? I shared my project globally through a guidebook I created. I shared a checklist, the steps I took, and pictures. I shared the guidebook with schools globally to inspire them to put up colorful affirmations in their schools. What did you learn about yourself? Through this project I learned to take initiative. Before this project, I didn’t have the confidence to talk to strangers to ask for help. I had to talk to a lot of people I didn’t know and I have become more capable of speaking up for myself. How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future? Earning my Gold Award will impact me in my future because it has prepared me for the real world. I spent a lot of time and commitment on this project. There were difficulties with it and I was able to overcome those difficulties. Earning the Gold Award is a very rewarding experience because it’s something you invest a lot of time in. Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience? The Gold Award was an important part of my Girl Scout experience because I knew it would be a very rewarding experience when I was done. I knew I would feel very accomplished because I completed my biggest project yet and I feel prepared to do bigger things now. I wanted to do the Gold Award project because I enjoyed doing my Bronze and Silver Awards, and wanted to continue to help my community. How did earning your Gold Award help you become a G.I.R.L. (go-getter, innovator, risk-taker, leader)? Earning my Gold Award has made me become a G.I.R.L., specifically a go-getter. I have learned to speak for myself instead of having others do it for me. I really had to come out of my comfort zone to speak to people I didn’t know to get what I needed.  This project also had some difficulties and I was able to overcome those to complete my project. **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. #PalmerRidgeHighSchool #GoldAward #LewisPalmerMiddleSchool #HighestAwards #LewisPalmerSchoolDistrict #GoldAwardGirlScout #GirlScoutGoldAward #bullying #Monument #TakeAction #PikesPeak

Submitted by Destani Barnes Pueblo & Southeastern CO Pueblo Troop 35131 collected more than 400 packages of Girl Scout Cookies and delivered them to the different fire stations and police stations throughout Pueblo and Pueblo West. The Girl Scouts wanted to let our first responders know just how grateful they are for their service. We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here. #police #HometownHero #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #HometownHeroes #Pueblo #PuebloampSoutheasternCO #firefighters

What did you do for your Gold Award project? For my Gold Award project, I built a trail at a fourth-grader school in District 20 in Colorado Springs called School in the Woods. With the trail, I created a trail guide that anyone of any age can use when they walk around the trail. It includes different plants that can be found on the trail, which ecosystem they can be found in (montane, foothills, etc.), and ways for them to connect with nature by using their senses. How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience? I measured the impact of my Gold Award project on my target audience by asking those at School in the Woods to continue taking kids and their families on the trail. I also asked other volunteers at the school and the Nature Trail Committee what they thought of the trail. I hope that the kids who attend School in the Woods will be able to take their families on the trail and possibly learn something new. How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement? My project will be sustained by the amazing people at School in the Woods. They have such an active program, and families who are always willing to volunteer and help the school with whatever they need. In the past year, there has been a committee formed between volunteers who are parents or avid volunteers from years past who have come together to work on the trails around the school. The Nature Trail Committee and Mr. Wuerth have agreed to help keep the trail intact. They will pull weeds, move rocks, and maybe expand the trail if needed. What is your project’s global and/or national connection? With schools becoming more online and desk-based, students are struggling to find time to go outside and experience nature. We, as a nation, don’t know what the upcoming school year will look like. We know one thing for sure, we still need to get outside and take a walk. Students, elementary through college, have already been pushed to a desk job. To get the word out about my project, I sent information about it to three different organizations that focus on outdoor education. I emailed the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education, North American Association for Environmental Education, and Nation Environmental Education Foundation. I sent them the trail guide, which I gave to School in the Woods to use on the trail, the newsletter that was sent out to School in the Woods alumni, and general information about me, what I did, and what the Girl Scout Gold Award is. What did you learn about yourself? I learned while making this project that I need a straight up deadline. I can’t really space out the work if there is not date deadline. I keep putting it off and off until I have a deadline. I know that this is something that I do need to work on, but I know that this drives me and is my motivation to do work. I learned that if you are passionate about something, and you know you need to work on it more and need an extended deadline, that is fine. I was supposed to present my project a month earlier and I was disappointed when I was not finished. I felt bad and disappointed in myself. I now know that everything is not as serious as I think and that I should not be putting this much pressure and stress on myself. This is something that I should have never stressed that much about. How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future? I think by earning my Gold Award, I gained a lot of confidence. I feel that I can go into the world and make changes. I also think that it will help me during job interviews because it gave me the confidence to talk to adults and know how to lead and work with a team. Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience? I feel that the Gold Award was an important part of my Girl Scout experience because it showed me that you can still be a Girl Scout even at an older age. It also showed me what being a Girl Scout truly meant. It showed me that what I have been learning through Girl Scouts over the past couple of years, from kindergarten til now, comes into play when doing your Gold Award. How did earning your Gold Award help you become a G.I.R.L. (go-getter, innovator, risk-taker, leader)? Earning my Gold Award helped me become a risk-taker in the sense that before this project, taking on big projects wasn’t my forte. I didn’t like asking others for help and committing to something like this was hard for me. This project for me was a risk that I decided that I wanted to take. I now am also a go-getter when it comes to something that I am passionate about. I know that when I really want to do something that I should work hard to achieve it, and that I should be proud of it as well. **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. #AcademyDistrict20 #GoldAward #outdoors #ColoradoSprings #GoldAwardGirlScout #goutdoors #GirlScoutGoldAward #AirAcademyHighSchool #PikesPeak

Submitted by Jordyn A. Pikes Peak Colorado Springs After 11 years of selling Girl Scout Cookies, I was given the opportunity to be a Cookie Captain. Like the troop I was helping to lead, I started out as a Daisy 12 years ago. I thought it would be a great opportunity to take this chance because I wanted to mainly focus on my Gold Award this year, but still be involved in the cookie selling season. Being a Cookie Captain was perfect because I was involved in a leadership roll, met a group of some very bright young girls, and still got to be involved in this year’s cookie season. As a Cookie Captain, I attended multiple cookie booths with the girls, as well as a meeting to talk about importance of greetings, manners, and marketing when selling cookies. The troop was very smart and all understood how to act according to the Girl Scout Law. I would also make posters for booths, including holiday and special event posters. In doing all this, I still let them have full independence when speaking with buyers, handling money, and communicating with customers (with guidance if needed). We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here. #ColoradoSprings #CookieCaptain #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #PikesPeak

Earth Day is just around the corner, April 22. Check out just a few of the ways your Girl Scouts can celebrate both in-person and virtually! Join one of GSCO’s Naturalist Clubs at one of their biweekly meetings! Girls will complete an activity celebrating or preserving the natural world created specifically for them under the guidance and encouragement of Girl Scout staff. They will also receive ideas to continue to spark their creativity and learning in between sessions. Girls can choose to attend all sessions in April or pick a few to attend. Sign up once, and you’re ready to go for the season. Schedule for Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors: April 14: Naturally Slow Fashion: Tips for being a Green Fashionista April 28: All About Flowers Register now! Schedule for Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors: April 1: City Farming and Urban Agriculture April 15: Eco-Friendly Yards April 29: Flower Hour: Beauty and Impact Register now! Join Girl Scouts of the USA for a virtual Earth Day celebration that just might change the world! The Plant the Future with the Girl Scout Tree Promise event featuring Danni Washington on April 22 will give girls an opportunity to learn about the power of trees to keep our communities healthy and strong. Sign up today! Learn more about the Girl Scout Tree Promise here. Participate in Girl Scouts of the USA’s Citizen Scientist service project and help scientists collect data for their studies and experiments. Learn more here! Use Girl Scouts of the USA’s Badge Explorer to find a badge to earn or Journey to complete that’s related to the environment. Here are just a few ideas to get you started. Daisy Eco Learner Brownie Household Elf- Learn some new household habits to help your family save energy, save water, and save the planet! GSCO Media Star Zoe explains in this video how Girl Scout Brownies can even earn their Household Elf badge. For more fun activities to earn this badge, watch this video by the GSCO Outreach team. Junior Gardener- This series on the GSCO Blog by our Outreach team helps Juniors complete Step Five of their Gardener Badge, which is to grow their own garden. Cadette Trees – Check out this series on the GSCO Blog by members of our Outreach team to help Cadettes find out all about trees: from the shade to the science, the fruit to the forest, and the legends to the lumber. Senior Eco Explorer Ambassador Eco Advocate Make seed bombs. This fun project can be done with mostly recycled materials. Learn how in this video by GSCO Media Star Myla from Arvada or in this video GSCO Media Star Bianca from Denver. Make Fairy Bells. Learn how in this video by GSCO Media Star Lizzy from Littleton. We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here. #GirlScoutsoftheUSA #2021EarthDay #GirlScoutingatHome #GSCOevents #GSUSA #GirlScoutTreePromise #GirlScoutsatHome #2021GirlScoutTreePromise #EarthDay

Submitted by Jessica Spangler Metro Denver Denver Girl Scout Juniors Julianna and Kennedy, and Girl Scout Daisy Summer of multi-level Troop 65659 came together to deliver more than 70 packages of donated cookies to the staff and volunteers of the Denver Rescue Mission. The girls gave the cookies to staff member Krista who thanked them for their donation. The troop’s Girl Scout Senior Elizabeth asked the rest of the girls if they would choose the Rescue Mission as their Hometown Hero this year. In January, she met virtually with the Rescue Mission’s Public Relations Manager and learned that it benefits from amazing volunteers each day who continue to serve meals to people without homes throughout the pandemic. The troop agreed that they are heroes in our community. We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here. #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #HometownHeroes #MetroDenver #DenverRescueMission

Submitted by Tiffany Gagnon Pikes Peak Black Forest We really appreciate that GSCO is doing the tickets this year. It’s been a hard year for some of our girls to reach their goals and this will help with our troop goal of going camping this summer while also saving to go to Savannah, Georgia in a few years. Troop Goal: 3,600 Hometown Hero: Air Force Academy Squadron We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here. #SilverTicketWinner #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookies #2021SilverTicketWinner #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #PikesPeak #BlackForest

Submitted by Jillian Thompson Western Colorado Grand Junction Picking up cookies from the cupboard, I saw a ticket slide around in the box from the top. Sue witnessed this, we opened it together, cheered in excitement, and took a photo! Hometown Hero: VA Hospital We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here. #SilverTicketWinner #GrandJunction #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookies #2021SilverTicketWinner #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #WesternColorado

Submitted by Patricia O’Connor Mountain Communities Steamboat Springs Our troop had four selling girls this year. One, in a high risk family, sold 100% via DOC. Between two of the girls, our troop held ten cookie booths. As a result of the great selling options and girl perserverance, our four girls totaled more than 2,800 packages! Thanks to one of our final cookie booths, we got winning gold and bronze tickets! Troop Goal: 2,000 packages Hometown Hero: Lift Up Food Bank We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here. #BronzeTicketWinner #GoldenTicketWinner #2021BronzeTicketWinner #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #SteamboatSprings #mountaincommunities #2021GoldenTicketWinner

Submitted by Christina Nathanson Metro Denver Highlands Ranch Two girls were opening a case to replenish cookies at a booth and found the ticket. They were so excited! Troop Goal: 10,000 Hometown Hero: Cherry Creek School District We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here. #SilverTicketWinner #HighlandsRanch #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookies #2021SilverTicketWinner #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #MetroDenver