It’s here! Today is officially International Day of the Girl Child, an observance created by the United Nations to emphasize girls worldwide and bring awareness to challenges and opportunities for girls around the globe. It’s a day to celebrate ALL girls and their incredible potential – as well as what they’re already doing – to change the world.
Our celebration kicked off early with Girl Scouts Change the World, a virtual event sponsored by the LEGO® Group, on Saturday, October 9. With over 10,000 girls, leaders and more registered to attend, our event included amazing stories from Girl Scouts around the country, along with exciting guest appearances, including LEGO Brickmaster Amy Corbett and incredible artist (and Gold Award Girl Scout) Dana Tanamachi, who created an incredible piece of art just for the event!
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| Original Artwork by Dana Tanamachi |
Girl Scouts can do amazing things, including earning the Girl Scouts' highest awards. After learning the basics of becoming a world-changer as Daisies and Brownies, Girl Scouts can take action in big ways as they earn their Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards. In 2021 alone, over 50,000 Girl Scouts earned one of these prestigious awards!
Looking to get started? Prepare for inspiration overload from Girl Scouts all over the country who made the world a better place this year.
Bronze Award Girl Scouts
Girl Scout Juniors (grades 4 - 5) earn the Bronze Award by teaming up with other girls to make a difference in their towns.
To promote inclusion in their community, Myla, Zachara, Clementine, and Emma created peace poles welcoming students in all the shared languages at their school.
Troop 41169 created a beautiful “inclusion fence" to celebrate diversity in their community.
Emily saw her local lake area full of trash and took action by researching the issue and pitching a cleanup proposal to the city council.
Olivia, Arabella, and Dana built six bridges to make local bike trails more accessible for riders.
Find more Bronze Award stories by following #gsBronzeAward.
Silver Award Girl Scouts
Cadettes (grades 6 - 8) earn the Silver Award by researching an issue, making a plan to address it, and then taking action to improve their communities.Ruth developed a music therapy program for senior residents in a memory care/assisted living center.
To address period poverty, Lauren and Annalise collected over 75,000 donations of sanitary pads for their local middle school.
Libby and Charlotte built a little diverse library in their town and stocked it with over 200 books written by and about people of color.
Using recycled materials, Maggie welded a rocket-shaped little library for her elementary school.
Follow #gsSilverAward to read more stories!
Gold Award Girl Scouts
Seniors and Ambassadors (grades 9 - 12) earn the Gold Award—the highest achievement in Girl Scouting—by developing and carrying out lasting solutions to issues they are passionate about in their neighborhoods and beyond.Despite the challenges of a global pandemic, 3,500 Gold Award Girl Scouts invested over 350,000 hours in their projects this year! Over the past 10 days, we’ve been celebrating the 2021 International Day of the Girl theme of Technology Trailblazers by highlighting stories of Gold Award Girl Scouts who used their digital leadership to change the world.
Vonesha’s project, S.T.E.A.M. on Wheels, supplied mobile laptops and program kits to give students the tools they need to succeed in her homeland of India.
Maddi launched her Halftime, Halfway: Women Empowerment in Sports podcast featuring interviews from over 30 female sports professionals to inspire athletes around the world.
Gold Award Girl Scout Maddi Inspired Female Athletes from GirlScoutsUSA on Vimeo.
For her Gold Award, Grace created Step by Step Tutoring, a nonprofit organization that provides virtual student-led financial tutoring to children in need.With her Voice 2 Victims project, Katie provided educational resources and created a community-wide event that led to the donation of mobile phones to connect victims to help during domestic emergencies.
Alanis created Soul to Speak, an online public speaking program full of blog posts, virtual sessions, and other confidence-boosting resources to help kids speak up and be heard.
Lillian improved a critical resource for elderly members of her community: she digitized the delivery process for an essential meal service that provides over 750 meals each day.
To share the stories of refugees and immigrants, Ulaina created a podcast, Invisible Borders, featuring heartfelt personal accounts and enlightening research on some of today’s most pressing issues.
Himani started Save the Girl Child, an organization dedicated to ending female gendercide and empowering girls through healthcare and education. When in-person meetings weren’t possible, Himani adjusted her science and reading curriculum into virtual classes to keep 150 immigrant girls in her community on track to meet their goals.
KaLa turned lunchtime conversations with her friends into social change by creating the Social Justice Club at her high school. Her club initiated impactful student-led projects promoting real change through social media activism and beyond.
Breanna gave her bee project wings with virtual events linked with Latino Conservation Week, promoting awareness about the importance of conservation of these critical species through workshops and Q&A sessions with bee experts.
The pandemic didn’t stop Alice from writing, directing and debuting her play. She launched online performances as a resource for students that destigmatizes mental health issues.
Gold Award Girl Scout Alice Tackles Mental Health Issues Through Theater from GirlScoutsUSA on Vimeo.
Follow #GSGoldAward on social media to hear more stories throughout the year.Get involved and become a world-changer and with Girl Scouts!
Feeling inspired and ready to dig in and change the world, too? At Girl Scouts, we believe ALL girls have the power to make a difference. If you’re new to Girl Scouts, it’s not too late to sign up and get started with a local troop.
If you're already a Girl Scout, contact your council to learn more about earning your highest awards.