Looking Ahead to the...
New Girl Scout Leadership Experience
The New Girl Scout Leadership Experience is:
- The new design for what girls do in Girl Scouts
- Set to launch in Fall 2008 with full implementation by 2010
- Based on the three keys to leadership: Discover, Connect, and Take Action
- Girl-led, based on “learning by doing” and “cooperative learning”
- Integral to the Girl Scout mission of building “girls of courage, confidence and
character, who make the world a better place”
What is a “Leadership Journey?”
A leadership journey is the exciting new way Girl Scouts is moving from singleinterest
badges to a series of themed activities focused on building specific
leadership skills. Journeys generally run from six to eight sessions and can
be customized by girls and volunteers. In partnership with girls, volunteers
can add outings, celebrations, and explorations that suit the journey’s theme
and the girls’ interests. Journeys can be stretched over a Girl Scout year or
done over the course of a few weeks or months. While journeys offer plenty of choices for girls, the facilitator guides will provide volunteers with a roadmap to help them plan their leadership journeys. These easy to follow guides offer
volunteers the basics and know-how to facilitate a journey, along with plenty
of additional facts and ideas. Everything you need to take a journey is included in the facilitator guide.
Wondering what to do right now?
Don’t worry! Training will be coming this summer and fall on how to use the Leadership Journeys. Existing Girl Scout
books and awards will remain available even after the launch of the new materials in Fall 2008 so everyone has plenty
of time to transition. But why put it off? Jump in and discover the fun!
- Get the conversation going. Ask Girl Scouts what leadership means to them. And tell everyone: Girl Scouting is and
always has been first and foremost about leadership development for girls! Dig out all of your 2006-2007 Leader
magazines, learn more and spread the word.
- Live the Girl Scout Leadership philosophy. Engage girls in activities that develop their unique skills and values
(Discover) to team up together (Connect) and make a difference in the world around them (Take Action).
- Spread the excitement. Talk to girls about the new programs that will be coming. Let them know how the age
levels will be changing and how they will be moving up faster than before. Imagine the power of the Girl Scout
experience when 2.6 million girls and nearly 1 million adult volunteers speak in one voice about what Girl Scouting
does: Leadership! What kind? The kind that makes the world a better place.
