Girl Scout Silver Award

Congratulations to Jamie, Jill and Stephanie for achieving this award! And many thanks to Gayle for helping the girls reach their dreams! You did it! Be proud!

This is the highest award you can earn as a Cadette Girl Scout. It recognizes your efforts in a range of Girl Scout and community experiences as well as your commitment to working to better your life and the lives of others.

The first four requirements of the award ask you to build your skills, explore career possibilities, increase your leadership skills, and make a commitment to improving yourself. you can do them in any order, but they must be completed prior to the fifth requirement, the Girl Scout Silver Award Project. You should work closely with your adult adviser in the completion of all the requirements.

Review Safety-Wise and council guidelines on activities you can participate in as a Girl Scout, particularly those related to fund raising. If you plan to work with other girls on Silver Award activities, remember that each girl must have specific responsibilities that allow her to learn and grow. Requirements begun prior to being a registered Cadette Girl Scout may not be applied to this award.

Requirements

1. Earn three interest project patches related to the project you will do for the Silver Award. It is important that the interest projects you choose correspond to your goals for the Silver Award. It does not matter, however, when you actually completed a particular interest project (provided you were a registered Cadette Girl Scout). You should work closely with your Silver Award adviser to determine which interest projects correspond to your Silver Award.
2. Earn the From Dreams to Reality patch or complete five career activities from any of those that appear in Interest Projects for Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts. You may do several activities from one interest project or choose among several.
3. Earn the Cadette Girl Scout Leadership Award or Leadership Interest Project patch.
4. Earn the Cadette Girl Scout Challenge.
5. Design and carry out a Girl Scout Silver Award project.

The Girl Scout Silver Award Project

This project builds upon your accomplishments in Girl Scouting and represents your personal action plan for helping others. The project should be done in or outside of Girl Scouting and must reflect some aspect of community service. If the project is done within Girl Scouting, you must reach out to the community in some way - for example, by calling on people outside Girl Scouts as resources, doing something that reaches girls who aren't Girl Scouts, or affecting something that is used by people other than just Girl Scouts.

The Silver Award project has five steps. Your project, including planning and execution, should take a minimum of 30 hours. The actual implementation of the project should take from 7 to 10 hours. Obtain a copy of the Cadette Girl Scout Silver Award Report Form from your council office to keep a record of your Silver Award work. Fill it out completely and keep a copy for yourself and your adviser.

Review Safety-Wise for do's and don'ts. You should work with your Girl Scout council on any project that will impact Girl Scouting or Girl Scout property. As with any other project, you must have approval if you plan to raise funds or solicit donations.

The following steps will help you organize and carry out the Girl Scout Silver Award project:

Step 1:    Decide which values, experience, and skills you would like to put into action through the Silver Award project.

Step 2:    Decide on a project that will use your personal strengths to help others. You can work with your school, the community, a religious group, or Girl Scouting.

Step 3:    Identify the people with whom you will work: Those who will help and guide you, those who will work with you, those whom you hope to help. Be sure to include a Girl Scout leader or another adult from your council.

Step 4:    Create a timeline and a budget, if necessary. If you work with a group, divide jobs and set up a way to ensure that everyone is on track.

Step 5:    Carry out your plan. This final step of your project should total at least seven hours. This may be done all on one day or divided into segments. When you have completed your project, write a brief evaluation. Share the evaluation with your adviser and council representative.