Girl Scout Leadership Experience
Discover + Connect + Take Action = Leadership

The Girl Scout Leadership Experience engages girls in discovering self, connecting with others, and taking action to “make the world a better place.” 

Discover, Connect, and Take Action are the three keys to Leadership.

Discover: Girls understand themselves and their values and use their knowledge and skills to explore the world.

Connect: Girls care about, inspire, and team with others locally and globally.

Take Action: Girls act to make the world a better place.

In Girl Scouting, we add discover to connect and take action . . . and it all equals leadership. All Girl Scout experiences are intentionally designed to tie to one or more of the 15 national leadership outcomes, or benefits, categorized under the three keys to leadership.

The national outcomes that Girl Scouts of Wisconsin – Badgerland Council fulfills through our Girl Scout program are:

Discover:
 
    Girls develop healthy relationships.
    Girls promote cooperation and team building.
    Girls can resolve conflicts.
    Girls advance diversity in a multicultural world.
    Girls feel connected to their communities, locally and globally.

Connect:

    Girls can identify community needs.
    Girls are resourceful problem solvers.
    Girls advocate for themselves and others, locally and globally.
    Girls educate and inspire others to act.
    Girls feel empowered to make a difference in the world.

Take Action: 

    Girls develop a strong sense of self.
    Girls develop positive values.
    Girls gain practical life skills.
    Girls seek challenges in the world.
    Girls develop critical thinking.

 

Get Ready . . . Take the Journey!!

It is so exciting for Badgerland Council to be implementing the NEW Girl Scout Leadership Experience and the journey approach to programming. The Journey Series provides a fresh and engaging approach to leadership development which is fun and functional. 

Journeys provide an important foundation for each level in Girl Scouting for girls and volunteers.  Each Journey Series book is crafted specifically for the girls’ age level as well as reading and activity levels.  All the leadership keys of Discover, Connect, and Take Action along with the Girl Scout processes of Girl Led, Cooperative Learning, and Learning by Doing are woven through each journey 

The journeys have been created to provide meaningful experiences centered on the three keys to leadership for all girls.  Awards girls earn mark their achievements. Girls move through the journeys at their own pace and have fun “learning and earning" as they go.

Finally, the Journey Series books were “girl-led,” a vital component of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.  Girls across the nation have provided valuable input over the past several years on everything from favorite activities to Girl Scout history.  

The first Journey Series which debuted in 2008 is “It’s Your World - Change It.”   This series introduces younger girls to community action and service while challenging older girls to speak up and out and develop their own voice, become advocates for issues that matter to them.

 

Quick Overview of It’s Your World – Change It!

 

Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden      (KG-1st grade)

In this journey for kindergarteners and first-graders, a favorite pastime—gardening—meets the Girl Scout Law. The result is a storybook world of flowers and little girls who, together, do great things. Girl Scout Daisies will especially enjoy meeting the colorful, global characters who teach them to live the Girl Scout Law. The adult “how-to” guide offers Garden Story Time tips, key ideas for garden projects, and all the Girl Scout history and traditions needed for an adventure starring Amazing Daisy, a new flower friend for Girl Scout Daisies.

Brownie Quest         (2nd – 3rd grade)

What are the most important keys for a Girl Scout to own? This quest, which has second- and third-graders traveling along two colorful trails—one they can enjoy on their own and one they explore with their Girl Scout group—answers that question in a very special way. Along the Quest, Girl Scout Brownies will meet three new friends and a bright and shining elf—in a brand-new Brownie story meant to inspire their own Take Action Projects. The accompanying adult guide offers all the tips needed to create and maintain a sense of fun and mystery along the entire Quest. Instructions for a Brownie Brainstorm, Brownie Team Trade, and other activities ensure a quality and fun time for the girls.

Agent of Change         (4th – 5th grade)

Power. In this journey, there’s a whole spiral of it waiting for Girl Scout Juniors. The journey is filled with ceremonies and circles, real-life heroines, and special new characters, including the fashion-savvy spider named Dez. Along the way, girls learn how their own power combines into team power and then moves out to become community power (kind of like how Dez weaves her web from the inside out). The journey’s centerpiece is a comic story of girl heroines who will inspire the Juniors as they take action to improve their own community.

aMAZE          (6th – 8th grade)

Life is a maze of relationships and this journey has Girl Scout Cadettes maneuvering through all its twists and turns to find true friendships, plenty of confidence, and maybe even peace. The adult guide offers tips for talking about relationship issues with girls, and pointers for understanding Cadettes’ development and creating a safe, welcoming space.

GIRLtopia          (9th – 10th grade)

Girl Scout Seniors know the world is not ideal. This journey is their chance to imagine a perfect world—for girls. They’re invited to create their vision as an art project—in any medium they choose. Then they’ll take action to make their vision a reality. Leaders, after all, are visionaries!

 

Your Voice, Your World: The Power of Advocacy     (11th – 12th grade)

How often have you seen something that really needed to be changed and wondered,
“Why isn’t someone doing something about that?” This journey gives Girl Scout Ambassadors a way to be that someone—an advocate with the power to start the first flutter of real and lasting change. While creating their own “butterfly effect,” they’ll gain an array of skills—such as networking, planning, and learning to speak up for what they believe—that will benefit them as they prepare for life beyond high school.