GENERAL INFORMATION

The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn. It is indicative of your commitment to the Girl Scout movement and to your community. Earning the Silver gives you the chance to show that you are a leader who is organized, determined, and dedicated to improving your community.

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PREREQUISITES TO WORKING ON

THE GIRL SCOUT SILVER AWARD

Girls must have:
* Completed the Fifth Grade and be registered as a Girl Scout Cadette
* Completed one Girl Scout Cadette Journey

Fulfilling the requirements for the Girl Scout Silver Award starts with completing one Girl Scout Cadette journey. Each journey you complete gives you the skills you need to plan and implement your Take Action project.

After you have completed your journey, 50 hours is the suggested minimum time for earning your Girl Scout Silver Award. These suggested hours are a guide.  You can start by planning the time in chunks and dividing it up into steps.

Giving girls the opportunity to explore and strive toward lasting change is a great learning experience that stays with them—even if the end result is not all they hoped for. For example, if Cadettes on the aMAZE journey decide to advocate for a new board of education policy that would benefit girls, it would be wonderful if that policy were adopted. But even if it is not, what the Cadettes did was important: They spoke up and networked, and now they understand what it takes to influence change.

• Girls can identify community needs. To have an effective Take Action project, girls must first find out what the community needs.
  

• Girls are resourceful problem solvers. Girls will learn how to identify the root cause of the issue they choose to address. In addition, girls will undoubtedly face roadblocks during their projects, which means they will need to come up with creative ways to solve the problems that arise.

 

Note: A root cause is the origin of the problem. Take Action always attempts to identify the root of a problem, instead of simply addressing the symptoms.

• Girls advocate for themselves and others, locally and globally. As they learn about the issues in their community and work to solve them, girls stand up for issues they believe in, influence policy, and identify ways to continue their project goals into the future.

• Girls educate and inspire others to act. Girls educate others about issues that are important to the community and inspire others to act.

• Girls feel empowered to make a difference in the world. Girls develop leadership skills and use the knowledge they gain through their experiences to improve their community . . . and the world!

Like so many other areas of Girl Scouting, Take Action increases in complexity from the youngest grade levels to the oldest. At the Girl Scout Cadette level, a girl is expected to understand the difference between a quick fix and a long-term solution; independently think through steps of an action plan; speak out for themselves and others; tailor messages to various audiences; provide/receive input from community members on community issues

Here are some things to keep in mind before you begin the process:

1. A girl must have completed 5th grade to begin working on the Silver Award and registered as a Girl Scout Cadette.

2. Girls may work on the Silver Award as a single Girl Scout or in a group of 4 Girl Scouts or fewer.

3. If the project is done as a group, each girl must complete a minimum of 50 hours and be responsible for a specific part of the project and evaluate her own unique contribution to the project and group.

4. Girls may not begin their Silver Award project until a Cadette Journey has been completed.

5. Silver Award projects are approved by your Silver Award Advisor. Once your advisor has approved your final report, please submit that report to the GSLE Program Specialist in your Program and Learning Center’s office.

6. All requirements, including the project itself and all paperwork must be completed by September 30th of the beginning of the girl's 9th grade school year.

7. Final reports must be received by March 1st at your local Program & Learning Center for them to be reviewed/approved in time to be included in that year's cluster celebrations.

• We cannot guarantee that there will be pins and certificates available for projects received after that date or that they can be included in the ceremony. 

• If troops/girls submit their final report after the deadline, they will be eligible to participate in the following year’s ceremony.

• If you choose to have your own ceremony, please allow 2-4 weeks for project approval. Certificates and pins will be available after that time

NOTE: The guidelines for earning the Girl Scout Silver Award have been updated over the years to reflect current GSUSA program materials.

The current requirements were introduced in 2009 to align with the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. Projects earned in 1990, 2000 and even 2010 may not meet today's standards

Sustainability Power Point

See the Resources Section of the GSK website for Volunteer Essentials, Safety Activity Checkpoints and the Blue Book of Basic Documents 2012 or your Girl Scout Troop/Volunteer Advisor

Click on the words below for more details about these topics:

Copyrights
GS Photo Release/Photography Materials Release & Customization Guidelines
Sample Photo Releases  
Red flags

MONEY and the Girl Scout Silver Award Project

Remember that in Girl Scouts,  girls cannot ask for donations.

• You can describe your project to others, write a letter or create a PowerPoint presentation, but an adult has to do the actual “ask” and sign any documents

Need more than $250.00 in cash or materials?

• consult with Chief Development Officer Jennifer Wilcox before making the ask

 

Progression of Take Action - Example

Service vs. Take Action PowerPoint

Silver Award Ceremony

Our Silver Award honorees are celebrated by family, friends, volunteers, staff, and special guests at regional events. To qualify for participation in the regional Ceremony, girls must meet the March 1 deadline for submitting their final report.

2014 CEREMONIES:

Cluster One Ceremonies –

• Owensboro, Saturday, May 10, 2014

• Paducah, Sunday, May 18, 2014

Cluster Two Ceremony – Sunday, May 4, 2014
Cluster Three Ceremony – Friday, May 23, 2014
Cluster Four Ceremony – Saturday, May 17, 2014

Guidelines, Paperwork and Other Resources

                                                                   

Silver Award – Guideline for Cadettes
Silver Award - Final Report
Silver Award – Adult Volunteer Guide

Other Resources

Girl Scouts Highest Awards - Frequently Asked Questions

Girl Scout Highest Awards At A Glance

Girl Scout Silver Award - Information (GSUSA Website)

Benefits of Earning the Girl Scout Silver Award

Adult Roles/Volunteer Position Descriptions

Silver Award Parent

Silver Award Troop Leader

APPLY NOW FOR THE 2014
PRUDENTIAL SPIRIT OF COMMUNITY AWARDS!

You might win a cash prize, a trip to Washington, D.C., and a chance to inspire other young people to get involved in volunteering. The application deadline is November 5.

Applicants must be

• in grades 5-12 as of November 5,

• a legal resident of any U.S. state or Washington, D.C.,

• engaged in a volunteer activity that occurred at least partly during the 12 months prior to the date of application, and

• submit a completed application to the Girl Scouts of Kentuckiana (Attention Terri Tock) by November 5, 2013.

For details, go to their website: http://spirit.prudential.com/view/page/soc/14830

Brief description of Prudential Spirit of Community Information

Still need inspiration? Click on Map It below to find Silver Award projects submitted to GSUSA.

 

 

9/30 of the year the girl enters ninth grade is the deadline to complete the Silver Award

3/1 of the year the girl wishes to participate in the council-sponsored regional Awards Presentation Ceremony

Cluster 1
Paducah/Bear Creek and Owensboro/Pennyroyal Program and Learning Centers
AREAS: 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26    
    Questions?  Ashley Levine, GSLE Program Specialist
    E-mail: alevine@gskentuckiana.org
    Phone: 270-908-4656 or 888-771-5170, ext. 12111

Cluster 2
Bowling Green/Caveland & Elizabethtown/Heartland Program and Learning Centers
AREAS: 4 5 6 16 17
    Questions?  Sally Wolf, GSLE Program Specialist
    E-mail: swolf@gskentuckiana.org
    Phone: 270-495-4095 or 888-771-5170, ext. 15333

Cluster 3
Louisville/Metro Program and Learning Centers
AREAS: 9 10 11 12 13 14
      Questions?  Danica Van Volkenburg, GSLE Program Specialist
      E-mail: dvanvolkenburg@gskentuckiana.org
      Phone: 502-276-9733 or 888-771-5170, ext.  24700

Cluster 4
Louisville/Metro Program and Learning Centers
AREAS: 1 2 3 7 8 15
      Questions?  Terri Tock, GSLE Program Specialist
      E-mail: ttock@gskentuckiana.org
      Phone: 502-276-9732-or 888-771-5170, ext. 22900