Leader to Leader - Working Towards the Girl Scout Silver Award

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As a Girl Scout Leader, we all hope that our Girl Scouts go on to accomplish amazing things… not just in Girl Scouting, but in life. One of those amazing things a girl can accomplish is earning her Bronze Award, Silver Award, and/or her Girl Scout Gold Award. They may not be simple, but they are rewarding experiences for every Girl Scout. With my older Girl Scout Troop just completing their Silver Award and beginning to work on their Gold Award, I felt compelled to share some tips with other leaders who may be thinking about working towards the Silver Award with the girls in their Troop. Enjoy!  –Anna Lenz, Girl Scout Leader

Tips for Helping Your Girls Earn Their Silver Award

  • When  my Cadette Troop began working on their Silver Award, I had each girl create a binder for their project. This binder held all of their research material, time line, log of hours, and whatever materials, correspondence and photos they had for their project. This will come in handy if they are going on for their Gold Award. It’s a great resource to bring to the Gold Award Interview.
  • Have a clear understanding of the difference between a Community Service Project and a Take Action Project. A Take Action Project looks at the root of the problem and tries to find long-term solutions that will have an impact even after your initial work. Try having your girls take this Take Action Quiz so that they get a better understanding of Take Action Projects.
  • When the girls are deciding on their Silver Projects, make sure they pick something that is age appropriate for them, and something that is meaningful to them. If they have a personal connection to what they are working on, it won’t feel so much like work and it will be fun.
  • GSUSA’s guidelines suggest that the girls can work as an individual or in a small group, but I highly recommend they do the project as an individual or with one other girl max. EACH girl in the group will need to put in at least 50 hours on the project, and that gets hard to do with more than one girl. Working as an individual will also prepare the girl if she decides to work towards her Gold (The Gold Award will have to be done as an individual, not as a group)
  • Some Associations host ceremonies for their girls who are earning the higher awards, some don’t.  Even if your Association doesn’t do a ceremony, you as the Leader should have a celebration for the girls to acknowledge a job well done. The GSNC Resource room has great information and sample ceremonies for you to follow.

Good Luck!


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