Completing a Journey and a Take Action Project helps prepare Girl Scouts for pursuing even greater achievements, including the Bronze, Silver or Gold Award.
In addition to earning badges, troops and Juliette Girl Scouts may choose to participate in a Girl Scout Journey. A Girl Scout Journey is an extended engagement with a topic that culminates in a Take Action project to make the world a better place. Journeys are created specifically for leadership development. Once you choose a Journey topic that interests you most, you’ll identify a problem, design a solution, and put a plan into action. Along the way, you’ll find inspiration, challenge yourself, earn awards to put on your uniform, and, of course, have a great time.
Completing at least one Journey and Take Action Project is a prerequisite for the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Award—the highest honors in Girl Scouting. The experience of completing a Journey and Take Action Project is essential for preparing Girl Scouts to pursue Highest Awards, as Girl Scouts will learn how to identify a problem, design a solution, put a plan into action and practice being a leader.
What is a Take Action Project?
Take Action Projects encourage Girl Scouts to develop a project that is sustainable. That means that the problem continues to be addressed, even after the project is over. Take Action Projects are different from community service projects. Community service projects are usually done for the community, address an immediate need, and have a short-term impact. They often are one-off projects and take less time to plan (Think: making tie blankets for the humane society, picking up litter during Earth Day, etc.). Take Action Projects are done with the community and have lasting impact (Think: starting a recycling program at a school, opening a new volunteer-run food shelf, etc.). Girl Scouts work to address the root cause of an issue, like factors that cause or contribute to the problem, and gain skills and leadership experience along the way. Take Action Projects complete a Journey by allowing Girl Scouts to use their leadership skills to address real issues.
What Journey paths are available?
There are three types of Journeys for each program level: Classic, Outdoor and S.T.E.M. Your Girl Scout(s) should pick the Journey topic(s) that interests them most!
- Classic Journeys
- It’s Your World—Change It!
- It’s Your Planet—Love It!
- It’s Your Story—Tell It!
- Outdoor Journeys
- Includes paths for all ages and Program Grade Levels
- S.T.E.M. Journeys
- Think like a Citizen Scientist (K-5)
- Think Like an Engineer (K-12)
- Think Like a Programmer (K-12)
How do we get started on a Journey and Take Action Project?
You can find resources to complete the Journeys as activity plans in the Volunteer Toolkit (VTK) or as printed materials in the council or online shop. Girl Scouts River Valleys also offers Journey events for individual Girl Scouts and troops to complete most steps of the Journey Award—Check out our Event List.
We completed a Journey! What are the Highest Awards, and how do we get started?
The Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards are the highest, most prestigious awards a Girl Scout can earn. Each award gives Girl Scouts the chance to make their communities and the world a better place. Girl Scouts will choose a community issue they feel passionate about, identify its root cause, and address the issue with a creative, sustainable, and measurable solution that makes a lasting impact! Highest Award projects are Take Action projects that have an even greater impact, which is why completing a Journey and Take Action project help prepare a Girl Scout to start a Highest Award project. Visit Highest Awards for the prerequisites, guidelines, requirements, and steps for completing the Bronze, Silver, or Gold Award.
Want more training? Check out the Journey 101 training in gsLearn!
Still not sure where to start? Feel free to contact us for extra guidance!
