Girl Scout Week is just around the corner (March 7 – 13, 2021)! Each year Girl Scouts across Our Movement participate in activities to make the world a better place and show their Girl Scout pride. While we might not be as hands-on in the community as previous years, there are still lots of ways that your Girl Scout can celebrate. Share the 2021 Girl Scout Week Proclamation with leaders in your city/town, county, etc. and have them officially declare Girl Scout Week. Also, check out our list of suggested activities or download a calendar to hang-up at your house. Sunday, March 7 – Girl Scout Sunday Wear your Girl Scout uniform to worship. Talk with your Girl Scout sisters to connect with a local place of worship. Host a Girl Scout Cookies party or virtual cookie booth after worship. Talk about how Girl Scouts has helped you be a leader in your community. Want to do more? Check out this resource for suggested activities and services. Monday, March 8– Go-Getter Set a goal to achieve a big objective. Is it to start a Highest Awards project, start a new routine, or maybe get straight A’s? Create a plan to work hard to make it happen. Learn a new skill. Practice a skill that will help you explore something you’ve always wanted to try. Maybe even earn a badge while you’re at it! Use the Badge Explorer to find one that you would like to earn. Create a motivational mantra. Create a saying to help you get back up and try again when you fall down. Tuesday, March 9 – Innovator Solve a problem in a creative way. Girl Scouts innovate to find unique solutions. Find an imaginative solution to an everyday or community problem. Cadettes, Seniors, and Ambassadors can participate in the Cookie Box Innovation Challenge with Arrow and design a prototype that addresses a problem in our community and beyond by using Girl Scout Cookie packages and other recycled materials. Learn more. Invent something new. Think outside the box and find a new way to do something. Create a work of art. Choose your favorite type of art and make a masterpiece. Visit a local gallery to see how other artists are innovators in their work. Wednesday, March 10 – Risk Taker Do something new. Girl Scouts explore the world around them. Push your boundaries and do something you’ve never done before. Make a promise to stop saying “can’t.” Think about the times you’ve said “I can’t do (something)”. Write a note to remind yourself to take safe risks and try. Break the mold. Be the first person you know to try something. Share the experience with your friends and family. Thursday, March 11– Leader Be a role model. Lead younger girls in celebrating Girl Scout Week. Learn more about Juliette “Daisy” Gordon Low. Discuss how Girl Scouts started and who “Daisy” was in her community. Friday, March 12- Girl Scout Birthday and Girl Scout Jumu’ah Show your Girl Scout pride! Show your schoolmates your love and support of Girl Scout sisterhood by wearing your uniform. Wear your Girl Scout uniform to worship. Talk with your Girl Scout sisters to connect with a local place of worship. Want to do more? Check out this resource for suggested activities and services. Saturday, March 13 – Girl Scout Sabbath Wear your Girl Scout uniform to worship. Talk with your Girl Scout sisters to connect with a local place of worship. Want to do more? Check out this resource for suggested activities and services. 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. #2021GirlScoutWeek #GirlScoutWeek #GirlScoutsatHome

Submitted by Marley W. Metro Denver Broomfield We sold Girl Scout Cookies both virtually and at booths. We stayed safe by using hand sanitizers often, wearing masks, and asking customers to maintain a six-foot distance. With some of the money we earn, we are redesigning the children’s space at a local 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. #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #MetroDenver #Broomfiled

Thank you to everyone who entered our contest for “Best Cookie Video.” We are so impressed by the creativity and enthusiasm of all of these cookie-bosses. Now, it is time to rally your friends and family to vote! All of the entries have been uploaded to the GSCO YouTube Channel and are part of the playlist: Best Cookie Video Contest 2021. If you like a video, simply click the “thumbs up” icon beneath it. The video that receives the most “thumbs up” by February 24 at 9 a.m. wins! First Prize: 200 Cookie Credits Second Prize: 100 Cookie Credits Third Prize: 50 Cookie Credits 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 #BestCookieVideocontest #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookievideocontest #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookiecontests

Submitted by Jamie Buck Northern & Northeastern CO Boulder County This year, Junior Troop 76907 decided not to do in-person cookie sales.  We really love selling cookies, though, so we asked ourselves two questions: How can we show our support and provide encouragement to people who have been hit especially hard by the pandemic? How can we safely get cookies to traditional booth customers, who may not know a Girl Scout, while earning money to support our troop goals and activities? As we answered these questions, we created Project EncourageMINT, a Girl Scout cookie team that welcomes help from any troop in Boulder or surrounding towns.  We set two distinct goals for Project EncourageMINT to: Collect 1,000 packages of donated cookies for healthcare workers, food banks, and others especially impacted by the pandemic Offer contactless home delivery to customers who order Girl Scout Cookies online Collecting 1,000 packages of Girl Scout Cookies for our Hometown Heroes is certainly an ambitious goal, but we felt that making the effort is a good way for us to offer “encourageMINT” where we can.  Donating cookies let’s us say “Thank You!” to healthcare workers who are putting themselves at risk, working extra long hours, and for some, being the only in-person support for patients who are scared, lonely, and struggling to survive.  And donating cookies let’s us say “Hang in there” to the families facing food insecurity.  It’s heartbreaking to hear that one in six Americans is facing food insecurity, now that pandemic closures and changes in how business is done have caused so many to lose income.  We’ve also chosen some other organizations as Hometown Heroes, to represent groups that are also heavily impacted, but receive less attention and support. Last year, our troop collected 150 packages of donated cookies for our Hometown Heroes.  This year, we’ve already collected 331 donated packages, and we’re just getting started with our public outreach, so we’re feeling like our 1,000 package goal is achievable.  We’d like to thank all of our customers who donate cookies to support our Hometown Heroes, either in addition to buying cookies for themselves, or instead. We built the Project EncourageMINT website from scratch using Google Sites. Customers can then click the “Order or Donate” button to be sent to our Digital Cookie site (which is provided by Girl Scouts of the USA and customized by our troop), enter a number of packages of cookies that they’d like to donate in the “Donate” box near the bottom of the screen, and pay for them with a credit or debit card.  At the end of cookie season, we will choose a variety of cookies for our Hometown Heroes and deliver them.  We’ve chosen several Hometown Hero organizations, and we offer a survey on our Project EncourageMINT website so customers can let us know which organization they’d like to receive their donation. Of course, lots of people look forward to eating Girl Scout Cookies themselves!  Whether people are motivated to buy by the delicious cookies, available only for about a month each year, or by knowing that they’re supporting girls as they learn, have fun, and help others, we wanted to make sure they’d still have the opportunity to buy cookies this year, even if they couldn’t find cookie booths where they normally do.  Girl Scouts of Colorado added the option in the Digital Cookie platform for customers to order cookies online, and have girls deliver the cookies to them later.  That’s great for people who know a Girl Scout, and get her invitation to order.  But, what about booth customers?  We decided that we could ask businesses to put up signs, sending customers to our website, so they could order cookies and pay online, and we would deliver. But, our troop only has six active girls, and hopefully our signs would be seen by customers all over the Boulder and Flatiron Crossing Mall area.  Would we really be able to deliver to everyone who orders?  We decided to have a “delivery day” every three days.  This way, we could group orders by location, instead of running out to the same neighborhood for one order at a time, day after day, saving time and gas, and minimizing our environmental impact.  We found software we could use to import all of our order addresses, map them, and divide them into manageable delivery routes.  Each route would be assigned to a girl-parent delivery team, who would pick up the cookies (unless they already have enough in their own inventory), deliver them, and receive credit for selling those cookies.  Customers can expect to have their cookies dropped off by their door two to five days after they place their order, which gives us time to get the cookies to delivery teams.  The more we get the word out about Project EncourageMINT, through signs at businesses or through other means, the more sales we’ll have, and the more delivery teams we’ll need.  So the more the merrier; we invited all the troops in Boulder, Superior, Louisville, Erie & Lafayette to join us, and included an open invitation on our website for other Girl Scouts in the area to join us too. We know that many customers buy cookies because they want to support the Girl Scout that they meet face to face, but we hope customers will buy cookies online this year, because we’re still doing Girl Scouts, just virtually.  When schools shut down last March, our troop started meeting every week on Zoom instead of every other week in-person, giving the girls a way to stay connected and have something fun and productive to do.  To finish our Agent of Change Journey, we organized and ran a food drive for Sister Carmen, which took place in early August.  We created a video to promote the food drive and educate people about the demand for food for special dietary needs at food banks.  We also earned the Gardener badge for fun.  At the end of summer, we earned most of the EcoCamper badge at an outdoor, in-person, masked, and socially-distanced badge workshop run by troop parents, the only in-person meeting or event we’ve had since March 2020.  In the fall, we started the aMUSE Journey, which is about roles girls and women play, and about stereotypes.  For our Bronze Award project, we created a video for our town’s Advisory Committee on Environmental Sustainability (ACES), advocating for the creation of pollinator gardens in town parks and open spaces.  We look forward to working with ACES this spring to help get the gardens established.  And that brings us to cookie season… Although we haven’t been selling cookies in-person this year, we’re still learning new things, building skills we’ll use throughout our lives, and earning money to have fun and help others.  We invited a marketing director, who is also a troop leader and troop cookie manager for another troop, to one of our Zoom troop meetings, and learned key ideas to keep in mind when creating promotional materials.  The girls in the troop used Google Slides, clip art from Little Brownie Baker, and Creative Commons licensed images to create the Project EncourageMINT promotional materials.  They customized their own Google Sites web pages, adding text, images, and links.  They created QR codes that point to their web pages, and put those on their personal door hangers.  After printing door hangers to invite our neighbors to buy cookies, we looked at the costs of the door hangers and sales they generated, and decided that we’d be better off using other strategies to reach additional customers.  How’s that for graphic design and business experience for fifth graders? Each year, we decide how we’ll spend the cookie money we earn, always choosing something to do for fun and something to do to help others. This year, we’re hoping to be able to go cabin camping late in the summer, with ziplining, horseback riding, crafts, swimming, and more. If it’s still not safe to stay together this summer, we’ll try for a winter trip and adjust our activities. To help others with our cookie money, we’d like to buy a laptop for learning for a student living at a shelter in Denver.  Doing school from home is hard, no matter what. Without the right device, it can be nearly impossible to keep up. Even after everyone is back in school in-person, laptops will still help kids be able to do research and homework, and be better prepared for life in this digital age. We’ll set aside 20% of our cookie proceeds, after expenses, towards laptops for learning, which we’ll donate through Bridging Tech in March. As you can see, Girl Scout Cookies fund amazing experiences, and provide great opportunities for learning.  Girl Scouts are encouraged to innovate, as we have this year, to support our community and help keep everyone safe. 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. #ProjectEncourageMINT #BoulderCounty #NorthernampNortheasternCO #2021GirlScoutCookieProgram #cookies #GirlScoutCookies #GirlScoutCookieProgram #HometownHeroes

Black history, achievements, and contributions to society should be celebrated every day, yet throughout history these have been overlooked or misrepresented. The designation of February as Black History Month aims to illuminate and celebrate the achievements of Black Americans and the impacts they have on shaping our culture and society. In honor of Black History Month, Girl Scouts of Colorado’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee compiled a list of resources that focus on supporting and celebrating Black History in Colorado in February and beyond. Events Celebrating Black History Month Learn through creativity! Register for a selection of workshops (in-person or virtual) facilitated by Black business owners. These workshops are great for families. Black History and Desserts is being taught by GSCO Placement Specialist Nicie Smullen, who also owns Wicked Ambitionz/Sweet Creationz: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10c0c4fafac2caafdc70-have Virtual Black History Month Events: https://www.denver.org/blog/post/black-history-month/ Visit History Colorado’s “African American History in Colorado” online exhibit: https://www.historycolorado.org/african-american-history-colorado-online-exhibit Colorado State University Black History Month Programs: https://baacc.colostate.edu/programs/cultural-programs/black-history-month-programs/ Celebrate Black Stories “Black Women Who Made History,” a community project by Girl Scout Troop 70179 of Boulder: https://sites.google.com/bvsd.org/women-who-made-history/home What does Black History Month mean to kids? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lzt3gFgYVYk Learn about Josephine Holloway, the first Black Girl Scout troop leader: https://gsmidtn.org/about-us/josephine-holloway/ Meet Olivia J. Hooker, the first Black woman in the Coast Guard: https://storycorps.org/stories/olivia-j-hooker-pioneer-and-first-black-woman-in-the-coast-guard/ There is a growing movement to locate places in Colorado where historic events happened, but were never recorded: https://www.cpr.org/2020/08/30/colorado-history-african-american-lgbtq-women-suffrage/ Learn about the story of Colorado’s historic all Black settlement: https://www.5280.com/2020/06/dearfield-the-story-of-colorados-historic-all-black-settlement/ Support Black Owned Businesses and Artists The Black American West Museum and Heritage Center promotes an understanding of the role that African Americans played in the settlement and growth of the western Untied States through its collections, programs, and exhibits. GSCO Customer Care Specialist Eleise Clark-Gunnells is a board member, docent, reenactor, and long-time advocate for the museum: https://www.bawmhc.org/ One of Colorado’s newest Black-owned business is Tattered Covered Bookstore. Check out some of their events: https://www.tatteredcover.com/event Speaking of bookstores, are you searching for something new to read? Check out this list of books by Black, Brown, and Indigenous authors: https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/134693.Best_Books_Written_by_BIPOC_Authors Want to start supporting local Black-owned businesses, but aren’t sure where to start? Follow these links to discover businesses in your area, as well as Denver and Colorado Springs: List of Black-owned Business in Denver: https://303magazine.com/2020/06/black-owned-businesses-denver/ List of BIPOC businesses in Colorado Springs: https://www.visitcos.com/things-to-do/our-community/bipoc-businesses/ Locate Black-owned businesses in your area: https://www.supportblackowned.com/ Minority Business Office Directory: https://oedit.colorado.gov/minority-owned-businesses Additional Resources Regan Byrd is a Denver-based diversity trainer and organizer. She offers online trainings for anyone who is interested in exploring more about equity. https://www.reganbyrdconsulting.com/events The Colorado Diversity Council is committed to fostering a learning environment for organizations and employees to grow and leverage their knowledge of diversity. http://www.coloradodiversitycouncil.org/events/ 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. #2021BlackHistoryMonth #GirlScoutingatHome #Diversity #BlackHistoryMonth #Equity #GirlScoutsatHome #andInclusion

Registration for the Outdoor Adventure Club Magic Sky High Ropes and Climbing events opens on Thursday, February 11, 2021 at 9 a.m. On April 10 or April 11, OAC girls will spend a full day at Magic Sky Ranch participating in high adventure activities. Half the day will be spent at the high ropes course and the other half of the day will be spent climbing at the cliffs near the lake. Register and learn more using the links below: Saturday, April 10: https://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/en/events-repository/2021/april10_oac.html Sunday, April 11: https://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/en/events-repository/2021/april11_oac.html For more information about the Outdoor Adventure Club (OAC) and future events, check out these links: OAC website: https://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/en/outdoors/outdoor-adventure-club.html OAC FAQ page: https://girlscoutsofcolorado.wixanswers.com/en/article/outdoor-adventure-club-faqs OAC Registration FAQ page: https://girlscoutsofcolorado.wixanswers.com/en/article/outdoor-adventure-club-registration-faqs Questions? Email 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. #OutdoorAdventureClub #MagicSkyRanch #GSCOevents #outdoorprograms #OAC

How can you take action for equality? Girls in grades 6–12 are invited to join Girl Scouts of the USA, Little Brownie Bakers, and The David and Lura Lovell Foundation for an engaging chat with inspiring women, including corporate leaders and National Gold Award Girl Scouts on Saturday, February 20, 2021 from 11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. MST. Hosted by Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors (grades 9–12), this virtual event—Diversity, Inclusion, and You: Girls Making a Difference—will lift up people who advance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) to make the world a better place. Register now: https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5094800845194282000?source=Executive+Essentials Panelists will discuss how they have furthered DEI in the workplace and in their communities. They will talk about their efforts to end violence against Indigenous women, expand the inclusion of people with disabilities, increase the visibility of the LGBTQ+ community, combat food deserts, and address menstrual stigma. Girls who attend will: Learn about careers that are focused on advancing DEI Think about and gain inspiration for their own Take Action projects or Girl Scout Gold Award projects Learn—and be able to ask questions—about issues related to DEI Questions for the guest speakers are welcomed in advance and will be considered for the live Q&A segment of the event. Please submit your questions with your registration. Unable to attend live? Not to worry! Register now and you’ll be able to view the playback when it’s available. Note: In order to be responsive to girls’ needs, some discussions during this panel may focus on subjects that may be considered sensitive in nature. 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 #GSCOevents #GSUSA #AwesomeGirls #GirlScoutsatHome

As part of their project to earn the Girl Scout Silver Award, Cadettes Maddie A. and Sophie J. from Troop 70179 in Boulder created a coloring book to celebrate the stories of ten Black women! In honor of Black History Month, they’ll be distributing more than 2,000 FREE copies of “Black Women Who Made History” to schools and businesses, and it is also available on their website to download. In addition to the coloring book, their website also features videos of girls from their community reading the stories of the women featured in the coloring book. “We have witnessed people around our community racially profiling and it is not okay. Our friends have taken the time to educate us about their experiences and we hope to educate others. We believe that through education we can make the stories of these women into everyday knowledge and broaden the narrative. The stories of these historic women deserve to be everyday knowledge,” the girls wrote about their project. The Silver Award is the highest honor for Girl Scouts in middle school. This project started as two girls doing their Silver Award project, but it turned into a community project because we had the support and help from so many like YOAB, Boulder NAACP, BVSD, our friends, our graphic designer Hannah Tuell, Lexmark who printed free copies, and a local Black woman-owned printing company, Creative Solutions. On Monday, February 8, 2021, the girls were interviewed about their project by Reporter Amy Bounds of the Daily Camera. You can read the article here. The girls were also interviewed by Reporter Ashley Michels for a story on Channel2 Daybreak on Thursday, February 18. You can watch it here. 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. #2021BlackHistoryMonth #ColoringBook #BlackWomenWhoMadeHistoryColoringBook #SilverAward #BlackHistoryMonth #NorthernampNortheasternCO #GirlScoutSilverAward #boulder #somemediacoverageofGSCO #GirlScoutSilverAwardproject

The International Women and Girls in Science Day Panel Discussion with the National Renewable Energy Lab is February 11, 2021 at 4:30 p.m. Join the discussion with seven panelists from across NREL’s research areas. They will be discussing being a woman in science and the path to get there. This virtual program is through Microsoft Teams. RSVP to: Meghan Pearson Meghan.Pearson@nrel.gov STEM Education Specialist | Communications Office National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden International Day of Women and Girls in Science Panel Discussion v2 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. #2021WomenandGirlsinScienceDay #WomenandGirlsinScienceDay #GirlScoutingatHome #GSCOevents #STEM #Communitypartnerships #GirlScoutsatHome #communitypartners

What did you do for your Gold Award project? I researched and learned about the homeless veteran population to create a website full of information on this population. This website included resources on the population, resources for the population, as well as interviews with veterans (both homeless and not). I also created a website and lesson plan for the juniors and seniors at Grandview High School. This lesson plan included the video and a brochure on the importance of learning about this population as well as researching and educating themselves on issues. My website link is: www.projecthomefront.wix.com/homeless-vets How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience? Measurement of my project can be seen through the analytic data of seeing the amount of people who’ve seen and participated with my website, as well as looking at the video that I gave the upperclassmen. The video measurement is found through more analytic data, by looking at the views of the video, and the interest by the upperclassmen in wanting to continue their education on this topic and others. They learned about the extremely difficult transition that veterans go through. And while the issue of the transition to civilian life can’t be solved without building an organization or through legislation, with the public knowing and understanding the difficulty, strides can be made. As people learn about an issue and the root cause of an issue, then the government or organizations have no excuse for not knowing why solutions aren’t working or how to approach the problem. Education on the population and on how important educating yourself on an issue is when you want to help solve that problem. I also measured the impact of my project by looking at the amount of views my website gets, my YouTube video gets, how many shares my Facebook post gets, and how many donations of food and clothing items I receive. My website has its own analytics part to the webpage, so I can see how many people have viewed it and interacted with it. As of January 15, 2021,   my website has been viewed by 94 people from all over the country and my YouTube video has 32 views. Through the analytics for the website, I can see how the viewers got to my website and many went due to having the direct link, some came through the Girl Scout Gold Award blog post I wrote, and all the rest came through other ways. This could be through searching for it or getting the link through my YouTube link. As for donations,  as of January 4, I have donations of food and clothing items coming in. People have purchased from the Amazon wishlist link I set up and also through just buying items and giving them to me to give to the VOACO (Volunteers of America Colorado) location. How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement? I have sustained my Gold Award project, Project Homefront, by getting signed letters of commitment from the teachers through Grandview High School saying that they will show my lesson plan and video to their students next year. This continuation commitment will allow for more students to learn about the homeless veteran population and learn about how important it is to educate themselves. Both these topics are the main issue I address in my Gold Award project and therefore my project will be sustained. As a part of my website, I included a comment section that will allow for people to add new resources and stories as they came across my website. The website will also be a sustainable part of my website as it is on the internet for years to come. What is your project’s global and/or national connection? To achieve my national-global connection, I sent emails to fourteen VOA contacts from around the nation. I sent them my website and asked if they would link it to their local VOA website. This way if anyone in their area was on their website was searching for information on homeless veterans they would have the opportunity to click on my website to get some information. In my email I made sure to say that if I had reached the wrong person to ask for this favor to then email me back who would be the correct person to contact. I listed my website in the email and said that even though the project was aimed for people in the Denver Metro area that if people in their area wanted to add to the website then they could do so through the comment section at the bottom of the website. The VOA contacts I emailed were: VOA Los Angeles, VOA Sacramento, VOA Northern California, VOA Northern Nevada, VOA Carolina, VOA Florida, VOA Indiana, VOA Michigan, VOA Montana, VOA Ohio, VOA Tennessee, VOA Texas, and  VOA West Virginia. All these contacts specifically offered a  “Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program” which is why I singled them out as they were connected to the homeless veteran population like I and my project were. Another national link for my Gold Award project, Project Homefront, is my website’s national outreach. From the analytics given by my website I am able to see that people all over America have seen and interacted with my website. While my project stems from the growing Colorado homeless veteran population, many of the resources and topics that the veterans mention apply to the homeless veteran population from every part of America. Based on the map analytic I can see that my website has been seen in 11 different states, including Colorado. This wide reach shows the national link that Project Homefront has. In another attempt to add to the national link and appeal to people from all over the nation I added informational instructions on one of my padlets on my website. This padlet gave resources and information on homeless Veterans for the different locations around Colorado. And on the first area of the padlet, I included some instructions for anyone who wanted to find out about the homeless veteran population in their own area. I wanted to make sure that if people from out of state came across my website that they would be able to find out information on the veterans in their area. On this informational list, I included key terms and phrases for people to put into their search engine. I told them to search things such as: Homeless Veterans _____ (your area), Volunteers of America _____ (your city/location)– then click on homeless veterans tab, and veteran percentage of population in ____ (your area) then factor in the homeless number. All these searches would lead people to links and resources that would give them information on their own local homeless veteran population. What did you learn about yourself? What I learned about myself during this experience is that I can push through anything, that being able to adapt is incredibly important, and how to express my thoughts. I can remember how I was just getting started on my Gold Award project, Project Homefront, when we were told that we were no longer going to school and we were to stay in our homes. I was depending on the social aspect of connecting with people for every part of my project. Having to stay inside and not coming in close contact with anyone really halted my plans. However, even with this large shift in general life I found a way to move through it. I no longer could physically interview and meet people, so instead I set up Zoom meetings and phone calls. I learned the best way to search for information through the internet. I pushed through the restrictions. These changes even pushed me to do something I never thought that I would have to do: create a website. No one in my family had done anything similar, so I was truly on my own, but this didn’t scare me. In fact it made every small victory an amazing accomplishment in my mind. I can still remember the first time that I added a link and it worked, the first time I added a text box, figured out how to upload stories and pictures. Working through a platform I had never used before I found the successes in a time when I could have rolled over and quit. Throughout COVID-19, I also learned how important adaptation is. With refusing to give up on the homeless veteran population, I found how success isn’t how you finish, but how you adapt with the changes. With every struggle and obstacle comes a chance to become stronger. I learned that the importance of others growth and success would force me to change and adapt more than any personal reason. The idea that without my project people wouldn’t know about the rising homeless Veteran population in Colorado, that these Veterans in need could possibly walk into a food bank and walk out just as empty handed as they walked in made me change any doubts into motivation. Throughout the summer of COVID-19, overpriced toilet paper, and shelter in place orders, I worked to possibly be able to provide a better day for one veteran or Grandview High School student. I learned that I could work for hours and just have one success and that would be a better feeling than any “A” that I had received on any test. I learned what drives me: the want to bring a better day, hour, minute, or second to someone who needs it. By working on Project Homefront, I found that anything I set my mind to I could accomplish. And by being able to adapt to the changing world around me I found what drives me. Additionally, I learned how to use my voice to express my thoughts. With everything moved online, I wrote so many emails that I couldn’t even count them on both hands. With each email my professionalism and articulation of thoughts grew. I learned how to balance respect and urgency in my emails and communication. Being able to convey the importance of the need that the homeless veteran population took a while. I learned what were the correct words when speaking about the population as well as what are the most important statistics to include to get the recipients attention. I also learned the best way to inform the public on the population. When creating a website for the general population I had to appeal to all ages. This meant increasing the font size for those with eyes that don’t read as well, but also being engaging for audiences with a shorter attention span. In making sure that I communicate all the important information, I found new ways to group resources and statistics. This made the website much easier to understand and navigate. I also learned how to pass on information to upperclassmen high school students by showing information in an appealing fashion. When I created a script for my video/documentary, I knew I needed to keep my target audience in mind. They are 16 to 18-year-olds who are obsessed with the short and sweet life social media. In knowing this and keeping it in mind, I was able to create a video that would keep them engaged while giving them the information that I wanted them to know. This took many rewrites, but also took talking to an outside perspective. Learning that my idea was too structured and that students would not want to sit through an hour long documentary, so to choose the most important information for the students to know. All of these experiences that I had through making my project will set me up for success for the future communications I will have. How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future? Earning my Gold Award will impact my future because it has shown me how much I can do if I just put my mind to it. This year showed no mercy with me starting my project with the assumption that I could learn about this population through volunteering and speaking in-person with the veterans, but COVID-19 created an obstacle no one was expecting. Even though it meant that my project became confined to my computer, I pushed through and was able to help the homeless veteran population get the recognition they deserve and teach the students the importance of their education. I will continue to use the perseverance and hard work that got me through my Gold Award to help me through whatever I do in my future. 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 career because it was a way for me to independently create a change and a better world. Throughout Girl Scouts, I’ve learned how important it is to be a person that creates the world better. Even if it is in a small way such as leaving a location better than you found it or giving up my seat to an elderly person; with my Gold Award I was able to create a change on a larger scale. Not only could my impact be seen in my target audience, but it could also be seen throughout my community. Seeing this outcome really not only changed the way I view my years of community service through Girl Scouts, but it has changed my view on the world I will soon join as I continue my academic education as well as my education on the people in need around me. 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 go-getter as I strived to change the view on education on issues as well as the perception of a population. Thinking of the homeless veteran population as “homeless” brings the connotation of drug addicts, alcoholics, and people living in the bottom of society, yet what these veterans truly are is “unhoused”. Through my Gold Award, I was able to change my view and my website readers’ view on this population. This is something that I could have only discovered in myself through choosing to complete my Gold Award. By learning more about this population and discovering that these people who have served our country so bravely and so selflessly are experiencing and fell victim to homelessness, they are unhoused. By changing this simple word we change the view we have on this population: if they are unhoused then they can be helped by being given shelter, but if they are homeless then they are beyond the help of the rest of the population. By bringing this change of thought and perception to my target audience I was also able to bring up the topic of education. That even though social media provides a connection to friends and family around the globe that might have been out of reach in other generations, it is still the job of the people and of the young students to educate themselves properly on issues. The character limit on social media sites is too small to be able to provide the full story on any situation, and the sooner students learn that the sooner problems they want to solve can be solved. The emotion-filled words that show up on Facebook and Instagram also come with an algorithm that shows the interests of the person on the other end of the phone. The phenomenon of interest bias is built into every social media platform and to believe that this isn’t true just adds another issue to solve. Both these ideas were brought forth through my Gold Award project: Project Homefront. These nuances brought a level of confidence and work ethic that I had never had to use before. My Gold Award brought to life the fire to convince people to have confidence in themselves without losing their confidence in others, so that we can face the issues that surround us starting with the veteran population who are experiencing homelessness. And this go-getter attitude will influence my life till I take my last breath. **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 #Centennial #GoldAwardGirlScout #Veterans #GirlScoutGoldAward #MetroDenver #TakeAction #GrandviewHighSchool #CherryCreekSchoolDistrict

Girl Scouts of all ages are invited to a “Meet an Expert” session with Commander Suzette Freidenberger with the Grand Junction Police Department on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. MST. Register now: https://gscolorado.formstack.com/forms/meet_an_expert_police_operations_commander_webinar_04_07_2021 Suzette will talk about how she got into law enforcement, started her career working in dispatch, and attended the Law Enforcement Academy. She worked her way from a patrol officer to a commander and will talk about what it’s like to work in a male-dominated career field. She will also talk about how women in this line of work bring a different and positive spin to law enforcement and how her job is challenging, rewarding, and exciting. After the presentation, Girl Scouts will have an opportunity to ask questions live in the chat box. When registering you are telling us you will be logging in LIVE! Our guest will prepare based on registration numbers, so please make sure you log in on time. The program will be recorded and posted to the GSCO YouTube channel. Do not register if you plan to watch the recording. We will use Zoom to host this program. All information on how to join online or via phone will be emailed out to registrants the day before the program. Each individual participant should be registered so we can track participation. Please do not share the information on how to join with others who have not registered. Registration will close Tuesday, April 6. Questions? Email aimee.artzer@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. #GirlScoutingatHome #GSCOevents #police #GrandJunction #GirlScoutsatHome #Meetanexpert #WesternColorado #GrandJunctionPoliceDepartment

International Women’s Day 2021: Women in National Security Register for FREE! March 8, 2021 ~ 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. MST Live broadcast from the Denver Center for Performing Arts International Women’s Day (IWD) celebrates the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. March 8 has been the global date for IWD since 1914 when women across Europe held rallies to campaign against the war and to express women’s solidarity. Since 2013, WorldDenver has hosted Denver’s premier International Women’s Day celebration. The event continues to expand, with over 800 people participating. Every year thousands of events are held to inspire women and celebrate their achievements, but also to highlight areas where work remains to be done in business, politics, education, health and combating gender-based violence. 2021 IWD Program Featuring: Lauren Bean Buitta Lauren Bean Buitta Lauren Buitta is founder and CEO of Girl Security. Lauren began her career in national security in Chicago, IL in2003 as a policy analyst with the National Strategy Forum, a nonpartisan national security think tank. In 2009 while attending law school, Lauren launched her consulting firm, Stele Consulting, which advised clients on urban security and policy challenges. In 2016, Lauren recognized both the continued underrepresentation of women in national security and the need for a more intersectional approach to security. In response, she launched Girl Security – a first of its kind model designed to empower girls in national security through practitioner-designed learning, while cultivating a future workforce of women decisionmakers. Lauren is a former Fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2003), Truman National Security Project(2006), American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security (2012) and Chicago Council on Global Affairs (2017). She has authored articles, reports and book chapters on national security, foreign policy, and public policy. She is the mom of two amazing earthlings. Honoring: Janine Davidson, Former Air Force pilot and Undersecretary of the Navy, Current MSU Denver President Expert panelists: Moderator: Barbara Faulkenberry, Major General (ret.), US Air Force Susan Helms, Five Time Astronaut, Lieutenant General (ret.), US Air Force Kate Smith, Captain (ret.) U.S. AirForce, Attorney Heather Ruhlman, Master Sergeant, US Air Force Opening by Native American Women Warriors Learn more: https://worlddenver.org/our-events/iwd.html 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. #GirlScoutingatHome #GSCOevents #GirlScoutsatHome #2021InternationalWomensDay #InternationalWomensDay