Girl Scouts of Colorado is thrilled to announce the date for our virtual Highest Awards celebrations for the spring of 2021! Highest Awards Girl Scouts, troops, and families are all invited to attend to celebrate our 2020-2021 class of Gold, Silver, and Bronze Award Girl Scouts in Colorado! Sunday, May 16 – Virtual Highest Awards Celebrations 1 p.m. Bronze Award Celebration 2 p.m. Silver Award Celebration 3 p.m. Gold Award Celebration These celebrations are an opportunity to recognize the outstanding Bronze, Silver, and Gold Award Girl Scouts who have earned their distinction in the last year. All troops and/or girls who have earned their Bronze, Silver, or Gold since March 2019 are invited to participate in a celebration of their choice. Anyone who filled out the Bronze and Silver Notification form prior to March 1, 2021 will receive the event link and detailed information to share with the rest of their troop via email the first week of March. You do not need to register for this event! The celebrations will premiere live on our Facebook and YouTube channels at the event start time. 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. #GoldAward #HighestAwards #GirlScoutingatHome #GSCOevents #SilverAward #2021HighestAwardsCelebrations #GirlScoutsatHome #BronzeAward #TakeAction #HighestAwardscelebrations

Thank you to all the Girl Scouts who entered this year’s contest for Best Cookie Video! We received nearly two dozen entries from across Colorado and are so impressed by your creativity and enthusiasm. Third Place- 50 Cookie Credits Girl Scout Maible from Longmont plans to use her winnings to support her troop in some way, either with Girl Scout activities or buying badges or patches. “My biggest wish is to collect lots of donations for my Hometown Hero, Our Center food bank in Longmont. I learned about food insecurity this year. We donated cookies to Our Center last year, and the people there told us the cookies were nice treats during the pandemic. I want to help brighten the days of those people who need food from Our Center. A box of cookies is a special treat, and everyone deserves a treat!” Second Place- 100 Cookie Credits Girl Scout Clemmer from Highlands Ranch plans to use her winnings to go to Girl Scout Camp. “I love music and performing almost as much as I love Girl Scouts! Every year I try to come up with a way to use music as part of the Cookie Program. I’m hoping to sell 1,000 packages this year!” First Place- 200 Cookie Credits It was just too close to call, so we declared a tie! Both Matilda from Denver and Adalyn from the Pikes Peak region plan to use their Cookie Credits to go to camp! “I am a Girl Scout Brownie and a third grader. I’ve sold Girl Scout Cookies for four years, and it’s one of my favorite parts of the Girl Scout year. I like telling people about cookies and seeing how happy everyone is when they get theirs. My mom, Nana, and my mom’s Nana were all Girl Scouts, and I love being a Girl Scout, too. In Girl Scouts, I got to compete in a racing derby, organize a trash clean up event for my Take Action project, have fun with my friends, and I can’t wait to go to Girl Scout Camp.” – Matilda “She has been working hard by staying safe! She has posted flyers throughout our neighborhood, made videos, and also hosts bi-nightly virtual cookie booths. She also stays safe by wearing custom masks and gloves she helped me make, she is constantly sanitizing, and keeps a safe distance. She has also done more than 50 porch drop-offs.” – Kendra, Adalyn’s mom 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. #2021BestCookieVideocontest #BestCookieVideo #BestCookieVideocontest #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram

Submitted by Ariella Wells Northern & Northeastern CO Fort Collins Some of the girls from Troop 70720 got to try SCUBA diving! The company running the program has to limit class sizes right now to six participants due to COVID, so other girls will get their chance in the next month. The first part of our “try-it” experience was in-person class instruction followed by 90 minutes in the pool with everyone finishing up in the deep end– 13 feet down! It was a super fun experience! SCUBA diving is something none of the girls had tried before and so far, everyone gave it an A+++ 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. #FortCollins #NorthernampNortheasternCO #SCUBA #SCUBADiving

Are you curious about other faiths? Do you want to learn more about your own faith and how it connects to your Girl Scout leadership journey? Join your sister Girl Scouts and faith leaders to celebrate your own faith, learn about other faiths, and take steps to earn your My Promise, My Faith pin. The My Promise, My Faith pin invites Girl Scouts in grades 4-12 to experience a faith journey through exploration of the Girl Scout Law and teachings from their faith. You can earn this national pin each year. An upcoming event series with Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) will feature an interfaith celebration followed by Girl Scouts and faith speakers sharing their views on what makes their faith unique, and what we have in common. This series will also include fun, interactive activities. Try to attend all three sessions. Register today to guarantee your spot: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/awesome-girls-girls-of-faith-celebrating-together-registration-140163927079 All faiths welcome! On the event day, visit the online event page by following the link in your reminder email. From there, you’ll click the link for that day’s session. Session One: Thursday March 11, 2021 from 7:30 – 8:45 p.m. ET Interfaith Celebration Judaism speakers Orthodox Christian speakers Session Two: Friday March 12, 2021 from 7:30 – 8:45 p.m. ET Speakers from these faiths: Buddhist Catholic Lutheran Session Three: Sunday March 14, 2021 from 4 – 5:15 p.m. ET Speakers from these faiths: Baha’i United Methodist Muslim Questions? Contact Inquiry@gscolorado.org. 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 #GirlScoutingatHome #GSUSA #faith #GirlScoutsatHome #2021GirlScoutWeek #GirlScoutsoftheUSAGSUSA #GirlScoutWeek

Submitted by Troop 65857 Metro Denver Parker Our troop did World Thinking Day activities at our meeting on Saturday, February 20, 2021. We had an awesome, in-depth discussion with their guest peacebuilder about what peacebuilding looks like and how they can take some peacebuilding ideas to their everyday lives. They worked together on their Peace Pledge. I am a peacebuilder because I’m stronger than the dark. I am making this peace pledge to relax. I believe we should have respect and no war in the world. I want to help make a difference for peace by stopping the drama. It’s important to respect and listen to others because everyone has their own opinion. I plead to be a peacebuilder every day in my home, school, community, and the world. Signed, Troop 65857 Happy World Thinking Day! 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. #Parker #GlobalGirlScouts #2021WorldThinkingDay #MetroDenver #WorldThinkingDay

What did you do for your Gold Award project? A lot of schools have library books and textbooks that they are throwing away because a lot of schools are switching to digital libraries and e-textbooks. The books that they are throwing away are in good condition and could still be used by a lot of people with restricted access to internet resources. So, my project was to get these books from the schools and get them to places where they will be read. How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience? I collected more than 3,000 books and donated them to multiple places. How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement? My project is sustainable because I got Pine Creek High School’s National Honor Society (NHS) on board and they will be continuing my project. I also submitted my project to the NHS database, so other high schools with National Honor Societies could replicate my project. What is your project’s global and/or national connection? I donated the books out of the city, out of the state, and out of the country. Besides that, by submitting my project to the NHS database hopefully other schools will try my project in their communities. What did you learn about yourself? I learned that I am not great at email communication. Because of COVID-19, the majority of the communication for my project was over email. I know the basics of how to communicate over email, but it was definitely hard when that was all I had to rely on for most of my communication. How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future? I am hoping that with my Gold Award I can get into a good college and get good scholarships. Besides that, I think it helped me figure out how to network with people and get the books to the right places. Also, I think just putting yourself out there. Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience? I think the Gold Award was an important part of my Girl Scout experience because I got to work with so many other people. In Girl Scouts, there are events where you see other troops, but other than that, I don’t meet a lot of other Girl Scouts, especially not very many around my age. With getting my Gold Award, I met a lot of new people and council members that I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t gotten my Gold Award. How did earning your Gold Award help you become a G.I.R.L. (go-getter, innovator, risk-taker, leader)? I definitely had to be innovative when earning my Gold Award. Especially because of the pandemic, there were a lot of places that wouldn’t take books and people who wouldn’t respond to my emails. Trying to think of new ideas of where books should go. Like thinking of the prison system, nursing homes, homeschooling communities, these were all places that I hadn’t really considered until starting my project and realizing that if I wanted to actually finish my project, I was going to have to do a lot more thinking outside of the box to get these books to schools. **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 #PineCreekHighSchool #AcademyD20 #GoldAwardGirlScout #literacy #GirlScoutGoldAward #books #PikesPeak

Submitted by Stephanie Daniels Metro Denver Westminster Girl Scouts of Troop 68127 volunteered with The Little Big Fridge located within Impact Humanity in Downtown Denver. They shopped, prepared, packaged, decorated, and delivered 100 sack lunches for those experiencing homelessness. Even the smallest of acts can make a big IMPACT. The bags included positive messages and special sticker seals created by the troop. The girls made all of the sandwiches, packed all the bags, and delivered all of the lunches. 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. #Westmintser #ImpactHumanity #Denver #ThoseExperienceHomelessness #MetroDenver #TheLittleBigFridge

Submitted by Ariella Wells Fort Collins Northern & Northeastern CO I know everyone is inundated with cookies right now, BUT older Girl Scouts from Fort Collins have worked hard to put together two “3 Cheers for Animals” Daisy Journey events. March 21, 2021 1 – 4 p.m. https://3-cheers-for-animals-daisy-journey-in-a-day-copy.cheddarup.com April 11, 2021 1 – 4 p.m. https://3-cheers-for-animals-daisy-journey-in-a-day-copy-11004.cheddarup.com Both of these events are run by Girl Scouts in high school. They did them in person in 2019 – 2020 and for 2020 – 2021, it is on Zoom. They have done one Zoom event so far with good feedback. And, they are ready to run their last two events of this school year! 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. #Journey #GSCOevents #NorthernampNortheasternCO #animals #3CheersforAnimalsDaisyJourney #Journeys #FortCollins

Register NOW for Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day from 9:30 a.m. – 1:40 p.m. on April 3, 2021. This event is for middle school aged girls to explore different types of engineering through participating in engaging engineering activities. Meet and learn from collegiate and professional engineers and see how engineers can positively impact the world!. In response to COVID-19, this year’s Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day will be held virtually and boxes with needed supplies will be sent to participants! Link to register: http://coloradostate.swe.org/introduce-a-girl-to-engineering.html ​Registration will close on March 10, 2021. A parent education panel will also be part of this event where parents can ask engineering students and professionals questions to help give them more insight on how to encourage young women in STEM. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to iage.swe.colostate.edu@gmail.com. Flyer_Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day 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. #SocietyofWomenEngineers #GirlScoutingatHome #GSCOevents #STEM #oldergirls #ColoradoStateUniversity #Communitypartnerships #GirlScoutsatHome #EngineeringDay #communitypartners

Submitted by Brownie Troop 75989 Northern & Northeastern CO Lafayette Brownie Troop 75989 from Lafayette celebrated World Thinking Day by displaying their peace pledge and the pinwheels for peace they made in Lafayette Old Town. They are planning to further build peace by using some of their cookie money to buy healthy foods for Sister Carmen Community Center 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. #GlobalGirlScouts #NorthernampNortheasternCO #2021WorldThinkingDay #SisterCarmenCommunityCenterFoodBank #WorldThinkingDay #lafayette

Submitted by Jessica Holbrook Northern & Northeastern CO Fort Lupton This last year has hit our community hard, as it has all over the world. Our community is usually getting together in so many ways, but we still have not started back up with events yet. In an attempt to show some love to our community, Lizzy came up with a Cookie Scavenger Hunt. She bought five packages of cookies, packaged them up in case of bad weather, and left a note saying “Congrats on finding these cookies! I hope you have a great day! Lizzy”. We then picked five spots in our community to drop the cookies. She posted live videos with clues and then posted pictures of where the cookies were dropped. She had so much fun coming up with the spots, clues, and watching for when people found the cookies. The smiles on everyone’s faces was priceless. This was something innovative that Lizzy came up with after watching a show with her dad. She took charge of the project with gusto! 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. #NorthernampNortheasternCO #2021NationalGirlScoutCookieWeekend #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #NationalGirlScoutCookieWeekend #FortLupton

Update as of March 15, 2021: There has been SO much excitement surrounding Girl Scouts of Colorado’s Virtual Spring Break program, that we have extended the deadline until April 1! This will still give you plenty of time to participate in three activities to earn your patch. We have also added some new programs! April 8 at 5:30 p.m. – Puerto Rico Experience All Girl Scouts can get a flavor of the island of Puerto Rico, a U.S. territory with an identity all its own. Learn what makes islanders thrive, some of the local language, how to make a traditional snack, and how to make a kite, which is a favorite Puerto Rican pastime. A supply list will be sent before the event. April 11 at noon – Italian Experience This virtual experience for all Girl Scouts will take you on a journey through the beautiful country of Italy.  Inspirato’s local destination team is excited to take you to some of Italy’s famous monuments, review some of the nation’s favorite local dishes, and cover the rich heritage this beautiful region of the world has to offer. A supply list will be sent before the event. Are you missing your Spring Break vacation plans? We’ve got you! Girl Scouts of Colorado is hosting a full month (March 15 – April 18, 2021) of on-the-go program activities to give you that Spring Break vibe from the comforts of home. Your registration will include a limited edition GSCO Virtual Spring Break Vacation patch and access to a virtual travel brochure with information on how to attend each program and activities to do on your own time! Girl Scouts should plan to complete at least three activities to earn their patch. Here’s a list of just a few of the activities: Live and Recorded Events: March 15- Virtual Spring Break Kick Off March 19- Travel Trivia Night March 22- Let’s Make Unicorn Slime March 30- Make a Travel SWAP April 1- Packing Tips April 5- Relaxation Night April 9- Stretch it Out April 12- Play Loteria April 14- Plan Your Next Adventure April 15- Photo Editing a Travel Photo More events to be added as we get closer to the event! Events by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and other Girl Scout councils (unsure if recorded) March 5- Goose Game at Our Chalet March 15- Pax Lodge Birthday Celebration March 17- Patreon Saints of Great Britain and London March 18- Explore our Chalet March 24- Namaste at Sangam March 27- Oahu Ilima Island Crest Patch We will also include a list of Anytime Activities for girls to explore and count towards their number of activities! Note: Girl Scouts can select the programs they would like to participate in. Some programs may have an additional cost associated with them established by the program partner. Girl Scouts must be registered by Thursday, March 11 to have access to the programming and receive a patch. https://gscolorado.formstack.com/forms/gsco_s_virtual_spring_break_vacation_2021 Questions? Email Program Director Emily Speck at Emily.Speck@gscolorado.org. 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. #2021VirtualSpringBreakPatch #VirtualSpringBreakPatch #SpringBreakPatch #GirlScoutingatHome #GirlScoutsatHome