Explore the outdoors with Catamount Institute’s (740 W Caramillo St, Colorado Springs, CO 80907) trained naturalists on Saturday, October 10, 2020 and earn a badge at the same time! Come for the morning or afternoon or both! Brownie badge options: Eco Friend, Hiker, and Earth and Sky Junior badge options: Animal Habitats, Outdoor Art Explorer, and Geocache $10 per girl per session Session One: 9 – 11:30 a.m. Session Two: 1 – 3:30 p.m. Register now: https://www.catamountinstitute.org/scouts/ This is not a drop-off program. All Girl Scouts must attend with her parent, guardian, or troop leader. Girl to adult ratios must be met. Pack a picnic lunch if you plan on staying all day. 40963104_catamount_scout_day10102020 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 #CatamountInstitute #Communitypartnerships #communitypartners #PikesPeak

During the 2020 Fall Product Program, Girl Scouts of Colorado will have a drawing to win the giant-sized, pygmy three-toed sloth – our program mascot! This year, there is a new twist to the contest too – girls can qualify to enter the drawing in multiple ways and increase their chances to win the giant plush sloth! Below are the different ways to qualify for entering the drawing: Girls who have renewed their membership by Sept. 30, 2020 and who participate in the 2020 Fall Product Program – One drawing entry. Girls who sell 15+ magazine subscriptions – Two drawing entries. Girls who reach the level of $650+ in *combined sales – Three drawing entries. Girls do not need to meet each criterion to enter the drawing. How to Enter: Girls only need to complete the giant plush sloth drawing form once and check off the criteria they have met. Criteria will be verified by GSCO staff. Each criterion that’s met could mean up to six total entries in the drawing! *Combined sales can be any combination of online and/or in-person sales. Contest Entry Deadline and Drawing: Girls must complete and submit form by the deadline: Friday, December 11, 2020, 11:59 p.m. https://girlscoutsofcolorado.formstack.com/forms/2020_sloth_contest_entry_form Contest drawing will be on Wednesday, December 16, 2020. Note: We cannot ship the giant plush sloth. The winner will need to schedule to pick it up from the nearest GSCO office. About Our Mascot: Today’s small tree sloths, like the pygmy three-toed sloth, are directly related to the long extinct giant ground sloths – large, lumbering beasts that lived in the Americas during the Ice Age. There are fewer than 100 pygmy three-toed sloths left in this world. They are on the critically endangered list because of destruction to their habitat, which is mangrove forests, on Escudo de Veraguas, a tiny island off the east coast of mainland Panama. Having the pygmy sloth as the 2020 mascot helps to bring awareness to conservation efforts, and to inspire Girl Scouts to make a difference in the world by helping animals who are endangered species. To read more about ways in which people are helping pygmy three-toed sloths, go to: https://www.zsl.org/conservation/regions/americas/pygmy-three-toed-sloth-conservation Questions about the contest? Call Girl Scouts of Colorado customer care at 877-404-5708 or 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. #GiantSlothContestDrawing #2020GiantSlothContestDrawing #cookies #2020FallProductProgram #FallProductProgram

Submitted by GSCO Membership Connection Committee (MCC) Calling all Girl Scout Volunteers! This year’s annual Leadership Summits are going virtual. We have some great training sessions lined up that include Clique-Proofing Your Troop, Virtual Troop Meetings 101 (which will provide tips on running virtual meetings), and Virtual Ceremonies and Traditions to name a few. Girl Scouts of Colorado’s Membership Connection Committee (MCC) will also be hosting a virtual roundtable. Join the Membership Connection Committee to learn more about maintaining the membership voice in Girl Scouts of Colorado. MCC members will be joined by other Girl Scout leaders to host “How to Lead Today – You are Not Alone!” Ideas will be shared on how troops are meeting despite the unique circumstances to help answer your questions and motivate each other. Part of the roundtable discussion will include what has worked and what hasn’t. A sampling of the panel will include leaders that represent the following backgrounds: Younger girl troop Older girl troop Multi-Level troop Newer troop leader Leader of troop that has earned a highest award during the pandemic Together, we will brainstorm tips on keeping leaders and girls engaged and successful. Join us at one of the Leadership Summits. Dates are September 10 at 7 p.m., or September 19, September 26, and November 7 at 10:30 a.m. Attendees are asked to register online at https://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/en/events/event-list.html and there is no cost to participate. Learn more about MCC, have your voice heard, and engage with other volunteers across the state to brainstorm! 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. #VolunteerNews #GirlScoutingatHome #GSCOevents #MembershipConnectionCommittee #MCC #GirlScoutsatHome

We are excited to welcome you back to the Girl Scouts of Colorado Retail Shop with scheduled shopping hours. Customers can now reserve a 30-minute slot. Girl Scouts of Colorado puts everyone’s safety and health first. A maximum of four customers are allowed in the shop at one time. Please continue to be respectful of recommended guidelines of six-feet physical distancing. Face masks are required at all times during your visit. Due to safety concerns, returned merchandise is not being accepted until further notice. 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. #COVID #COVID19 #GSCORetailShop #retailshop

Sign up for our Badge Series program in October 2020 to earn badges related to civics. Girls will have the chance to earn two civics badges that encourage them to explore the structure of our democracy, learn about voting, and how they can be an active member of their community. We will kick-off the month on October 5, with leaders receiving their content in gsLearn and girls accessing the courses on our new gscoHQ! Login information for girls will be emailed on October 5. Badges for this month are: Daisy: Good Neighbor, Democracy for Daisies Brownie: Celebrating Community, Democracy for Brownies Junior: Inside Government, Democracy for Juniors Cadette: Finding Common Ground, Democracy for Cadettes Senior: Behind the Ballot, Democracy for Seniors Ambassador: Public Policy, Democracy for Ambassadors Leader Registration: https://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/en/events-repository/2020/badge_series_october.html Questions? Email GirlExperience@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. #BadgeSeries #Civics #GirlScoutingatHome #GSCOevents #GirlScoutsatHome #2020BadgeSeries #badge #Civicsbadges #badges

Meet Scout and Sylvia, the Pygmy three-toed sloth mascots for the 2020 Fall Product Program! A small and large plush sloth are two of the rewards for the 2020 Fall Product Program. Scout sloth is earned at the $350 level, and Sylvia sloth at $750. To see all 2020 Fall Product Program girl rewards, check out the order card posted on our website. Remember all rewards are cumulative. Facts about the Pygmy three-toed sloth: There are two different types of sloths, two-toed and three-toed. Of the three-toed sloths, there are four living species: Brown-throated sloth; Maned sloth; Pale-throated sloth; and the Pygmy three-toed sloth. The Pygmy three-toed sloth is the smallest of the three-toed sloths and was only recognized as a distinct species in 2001. Pygmy three-toed sloths can only be found on the Isla Escudo de Veraguas, off the coast of mainland Panama. Pygmy three-toed sloths can extend their tongues 10 to 12 inches out of their mouths. The sloths move incredibly slowly and mainly live in red mangrove trees. They can stay up in the trees for as long as seven days and usually only descend to the ground to urinate and defecate. These sloths are considered critically endangered due to habitat destruction. Humans cutting down the red mangrove trees in which they live, making it hard for these sloths to survive. There are less than 100 Pygmy three-toed sloths left in the world. Sloths are great swimmers and can hold their breath underwater for up to 40 minutes. Pygmy three-toed sloths primarily feed on the leaves on the red mangrove trees in which they live. The sloths outsmart their predators by relying on camouflage provided by the algae that grows on their fur; this aIlows them to blend in with the mangrove trees, making it hard to spot them. The average Pygmy three-toed sloth is 20 inches long and can weigh between 5.5 lbs – 8 lbs. To learn more facts about sloths and the efforts to save them, you can visit the websites below: https://www.kidssavingtherainforest.org/savethesloths.html https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/sloth http://www.theslothinstitutecostarica.org/saving-sloths-together/ If you have questions about Fall Product Program or need assistance, please contact GSCO Customer Care. Call 1- 877-404-5708 or 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. #FallProductProgrammascots #2020FallProductProgramMascots #Scout #cookies #2020FallProductProgram #sloth #Sylvia

In a time that is full of unprecedented stress and anxiety for so many of us, we could all use the healing power of Mother Nature. Join the Girl Scout Network in partnership with The North Face from 1- 2 p.m. EST on Tuesday, September 22, 2020 for an exploration of the mental wellness benefits of getting outside, as well as the importance of creating space for everyone to experience the power of the outdoors. Adults and high school girls (Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors) are all welcome to join us for this special live virtual event! Panelists Kim Moore Bailey, CEO of Youth Outside Maureen Beck, Professional Climber I Ling Thompson, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications, Trust for Public Land Moderator: Lauren Guthrie, Vice President of Diversity and Inclusion, VF Corporation Register now: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4488715947669510670?source=Campfire+Chat+Landing+Page_CC0922_Website_08272020U 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 #VolunteerNews #seniors #GirlScoutingatHome #GSCOevents #GSUSA #oldergirls #Ambassador #GSUSACampfireChat #GirlScoutsatHome #CampfireChat #TheNorthFace #senior #ambassadors #volunteers

Be yourself. That might be the only rule that our 12-year-old punk rocker protagonist, Malú, wants to follow. Conform to dress codes? She’d rather dye her hair green. Try to be popular at school? She’d rather start her own rad band. Malú is sassy, irreverent, creative, and full of moxie. She loves pizza, skateboarding, and stealing her mom’s new magazines to make cool zines. Read up and rock out with our marvelous misfit as she learns to make her own rules. Join Girl Scouts of Colorado on September 10, 2020 at 4 p.m. for Cadette Book Club as we discuss “The First Rule of Punk” by Celia C. Pérez. Please read the book in its entirety before the book club and come prepared with your brilliant thoughts, poignant questions, and outstanding opinions. Register Here: https://www.girlscoutsofcolorado.org/en/events-repository/2020/cadette_book_club_vi_84369321.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. #Cadette #GirlScoutingatHome #GSCOevents #Cadettes #Cadettebookclub #GirlScoutsatHome #CadetteBookClub2020

Submitted by Joanne Kappel, Executive Director, The Child Rescue Foundation, Inc. Please direct all questions to childrescue97984@aol.com. Girl Scouts in Colorado are invited to participate in the annual Teddy Bear Project and Blanket Drive organized by The Child Rescue Foundation, Inc. More than 176,000 items have been donated to date! The 2020 goal is to collect 10,000 plush animals in any size, shape, or color for children in crisis. Review the information listed below,  the PDF linked here, and send all questions to childrescue97984@aol.com. More information can be found online: http://cr-foundation.org/wordpress1/annual-calender/tbp-teddy-bear-project/ Statistics for thought: Safehouse Denver serves 10,000 women and their children annually. In Denver alone, police report responding to more than 6,000 domestic violence calls annually with more than a third involving children who witness violence. The Gathering Place (a shelter for women and children) reports serving between 130-300 women and children nightly. In Northwest Denver, one school system reports having roughly 500 homeless children that they service and care for. COVID-19 Updates for Collections Please make sure your amazing Girl Scouts have washed hands and wear masks while collecting, tagging, and bagging all plush animals. If possible, running small lots through dryer on high heat (check to make sure that animals can withstand that without melting) and add a sanitizer. New is better, but we do accept slightly used. Please make sure in sorting that you examine each donation for tears, missing parts, and dirt or smudges. Those items cannot go through at all this year. If possible, after your final tagging party and each bag is closed tightly, quarantine items for two weeks and label each bag with the date quarantined. We are doing these safety measures to let the public know we care and are practicing care and safety at every turn. This year, we will have ten receiving sites only, and we will have a positive confirmation on those sites by October 15, 2020. Thank you for understanding and wanting to make a smile appear on faces that may be struggling or sad at this difficult time! We appreciate you! Review all instructions on how to participate and action steps in the PDF above. November 16, 2020 is the final day for delivery. Direct all questions to childrescue97984@aol.com. More information can be found online: http://cr-foundation.org/wordpress1/annual-calender/tbp-teddy-bear-project/ 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. #TeddyBearProject #BlanketDrive #Denver #MetroDenver #COVID19

Did you miss our G-TEAM TV Hangout? Want to have a chance to discuss the first episode of G-TEAM TV with your troop or girl? Use this discussion guide: Icebreaker: Allarie, Ella, and Isabel got to know one another by talking about the animated characters they relate to. Which animated character do you connect with? Or, if animation isn’t your thing, who is your “shero”? State of Mind—Mental Health The world has experienced a lot of uncertainty during the COVID-19 global pandemic; what are some ways you cope with uncertainty? What are some ways that girls can fight loneliness? Alexis Jones Interview What does the word “community” mean to you? Alexis went on the reality TV show Survivor to amplify her program, I Am That Girl. What’s something you’re passionate about, and what’s something bold that you could do to draw attention to this issue? Alexis’s piece of advice to girls is to have the audacity to love yourself. Why is it bold or daring to love yourself? How can you practice confidence and self-love this week? Alexis described herself as loving, curious, and adventurous. Serena said she was also curious, as well as caring and flowing. How would you describe yourself on three words? How do you envision yourself being involved in Girl Scouts after high school? Joining a Campus Girl Scouts group, volunteering, or something else? There are many ways to stay connected. Girl Scouts Around the World Which World Centre would you like to visit, and why? What do you know about the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts? What interests you about Girl Guides and Girl Scouts around the world? Do you feel part of a global community of girls? Why or why not? Did your Girl Scouts love these topics? Why not take it further with these activities: Celebrate your sisters. Sharing sisterhood is a part of the Girl Scout Way Badge at every grade level. You can earn part of this badge while connecting with and empowering your Girl Scout sisters! Be a leader. Is sisterhood your passion? Go deeper with Girl Scout Journeys, like aMaze! for Cadettes or GIRLTopia and the Mission: Sisterhood for Seniors. Take a virtual Trip. Want to learn more about the World Centres? Research each center and start planning your adventure! (Search “World Centre” in the month of May on our calendar to review recordings of tours.) Develop your “survivor” skills, like Alexis Jones. Try out the Girl Scouts at Home videos to learn first-aid with the Cadette Trail Adventure Badge or make a stove with the Senior Adventure Camper Help your community. Connect with others who might be feeling lonely by participating in Girl Scouts’ letter-writing service project. Prefer to have this as a pdf? We’ve got your covered, download this resource here. Questions? Email  GirlExperience@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 #oldergirls #GTEAM #GirlScoutsatHome #Instagram #COVID19 #GTeamTV

Submitted by Lori Major Northern & Northeastern CO Berthoud Natalie, Gracie, and Cate are from Troop 74087 in Berthoud and they felt that their school needed to feel more welcoming. So, they created inspirational quotes to put around their school. With the help of Berthoud citizens, the girls were able to make the quotes more professional looking. Throughout the process of creating the quotes, they ran into some difficulties, but were able to overcome them. Along the way, they learned how to use the Girl Scout Law and come together as a team. For this project to be sustainable, they are passing on the murals and knowledge to the troops coming into the middle school, so they are able to take care of the projects they already did. The girls had to persevere through the four to five-hour long days to be able to complete their project. The Silver Award that we chose needed a lot of patience and focus to complete in the year we did it. We gained teamwork and learned how to cooperate with your teammates. Cate learned how to make phone calls. Natalie learned how to speak and communicate with figures of authority,  send emails, and budget our money. Gracie wrote our script for the phone calls. The project will stay up as long as other troops take care of it. We made a connection between teachers and learned the complications of putting up a mural. 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 #SilverAward #NorthernampNortheasternCO #SilverAwardGirlScout #GirlScoutSilverAward #SilverAwardGirlScouts #TakeAction #TurnerMiddleSchool #Berthoud

What did you do for your Gold Award Project? For my Gold Award project, I first implemented a self care club at my high school to healthily address rising levels of stress amongst my peer group. Because the end of the year was cut short, the club was not able to fulfill all of its original goals, so I adjusted my self care club to a project that I titled, “Processing a Pandemic.” I took the information I learned about mindfulness and personal care and shifted it to a lens of societal care, which drove me to lead intentional Zoom conversations with high school seniors about processing the period of COVID-19 and what it means to grow up during this time. How did you measure the impact of your Gold Award project made on your target audience? For my self care club, I gave club members a pretest that measured their awareness of self care, their understanding of mindfulness and their calmness level before the club, and then, I had them take a post test with the same questions in order to track their growth. For my Processing a Pandemic project, I had participants of the conversation take a survey detailing what they learned and their takeaways from the calls. How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement? With both of my projects, I created and dispersed written final products that detail the key learning that was accomplished through my projects. For my self care club, I created a PDF with self care tips that will be used by my greater community. For my Processing a Pandemic project, I created an outline to the Zoom calls that will be used as a future lesson plan for different organizations, and I published a piece called “Pandemic Wisdom: Five Lessons Learned From High School Seniors.” What is your project’s global and/or national connection? I was able to include greater connections through dispersing my written pieces through the national Girl Scout community. Additionally, a component of my self care club was a social media presence that gained a national following. What did you learn about yourself? I learned so much about myself from this experience. Most importantly, I learned how to be honest with myself about how to persevere when things did not go as expected due to Coronavirus. Further, I was able to adopt many leadership traits like distributing responsibilities and asking for help. How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future? I plan on using my Gold Award experience as a reference for creating a project that addresses an issue I’m passionate about and seeing it through. I will use these skills to become a social innovator in the future. Also, I intend to put my Gold Award on my resume to help with my post-college job search! Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience? I have been a Girl Scout since kindergarten, so earning the Gold Award was a lovely culmination of years of experience that felt as though they were training me and leading me to pursue a big project such as this. Also, I was able to use my connections from my Girl Scout troop to further my project, showing how important and useful Girl Scouts has been in forming lasting friendships! How did earning your Gold Award help you become a G.I.R.L. (go-getter, innovator, risk-taker, leader)? I think my Gold Award helped me become an innovator. When COVID interrupted my original plans, it was a wonderful opportunity to go back and get creative and figure out a good way to move forward in new circumstances. I think innovating with projects like this is an important sign of flexibility and adaptability that ultimately lead to success. **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 #selfcare #GeorgeWashingtonHighSchool #GoldAwardGirlScout #Denver #GirlScoutGoldAward #Coronavirus #MetroDenver #COVID19 #TakeAction