Gold Award January Newsletter

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the mark of the truly remarkable— proof that not only can she make a difference, but that she already has.

Gold Award Girl Scouts are the dreamers and the doers who take “make the world a better place” to the next level. She’s driven, passionate, and optimistic. She’s the leader of tomorrow today. Essentially? She’s you! Read on to find out how you can become a Gold Award Girl Scout.

Pursuing the Girl Scout Gold Award?

Over the last year we’ve been busy creating resources to support girls going Gold. We couldn’t be more excited to announce that we’re ready to rollout these resources including: •

Girl Scout Gold Award Orientation (required online training)

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Refreshed GoGold (required for submission as of 2/1/2020)

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A Girl’s Guide to Going Gold

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Reworked Girl Scout Gold Award Workshop

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Virtual Office Hours

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Updated GS-NCCP Gold Award Webpage

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Girl Scout Gold Award YouTube Videos

Turn the page to learn more!

INSIDE THIS ISSUE Orientation ............................ 2 GoGold .................................. 2 A Girl’s Guide to Going Gold .. 3 Gold Award Workshop ........... 4 Virtual Office Hours ................ 5 GS-NCCP Webpage .............. 5 GSUSA YouTube .................. 6

Girl Scout Gold Award Online Orientation You read it right, we now have an online training to provide you with foundational knowledge about going Gold! This training module is the necessary, read required, first step for girls on the road to tackling the Gold Award. Because we know you’re busy, we felt an online module was important to your success.

Ready to learn more? Visit the council’s Gold Award webpage.

Parents/caregivers and co-leaders are encouraged to view the online module to gain helpful information about the Gold Award requirements as well as the submission and approval process.

We highly recommend that you complete the online training module and attend a Gold Award workshop, where you will receive a copy of A Girl’s Guide to Going Gold.

As of January 1, 2020, girls pursuing the Girl Scout Gold Award (submitting a proposal after December 1, 2019) are required to complete our Girl Scout Gold Award Orientation. It’s packed with great info and available online!

NEW! We believe that GoGold is easy to navigate and helps girls efficiently and effectively capture their Take Action project. That’s why …

Beginning February 1, 2020 all Girl Scout Gold Award proposals must be submitted via GoGold.

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This is where you’ll find resources, documents, council forms, and the Girl Scout Gold Award toolkit that includes items such as a standards of excellence tracking sheet, tips for going Gold, planning guides, and best practices to guide you through each step of your Gold Award. GoGold even provides you with resources to help you stay organized and keep everything in one place! And the best part–it’s available all day, every day! Get started at GoGold.

Enhancements include: • Mobile-ready. Easily access your application on smartphones and tablets, along with computers.

• Re-designed dashboard and menu that tracks your progress and keeps your status up-to-date.

• An interactive mind mapping tool to help you to identify root causes of your chosen issue and conduct further research.

• Digital verification from your troop leader and project advisor before you submit your proposal and final report.

Girls who submit a proposal on or after 2/1/2020 should submit their proposal and final report via GoGold. Girls who submitted a proposal prior to 2/1/2020 have the option to submit their final report via GoGold (preferred) or via paper submission. Contact your committee liaison for guidance and paper forms, if needed.

Gold Award Girl Scouts: Represent our most successful and engaged—and happiest—Girl Scout alumnae.

We’ve put together a robust resource called A Girl’s Guide to Going Gold. This guide walks you step-by-step through the Gold Award process from writing a winning proposal to submitting a gold-worthy final report.

Need help differentiating between a community service project and a Take Action project or need a better understanding of how to build your team? Have questions about money-earning or grant writing? Need a checklist to be sure you’ve completed all the requirements? We got you covered! Some of the additional topics include: •

Benefits of Going Gold

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7 Steps to Gold

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Budget Planning Guide

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Opportunities for Gold Award Girl Scouts

Have more positive attitudes about themselves and the lives they lead.

73% strongly feel they are competent and capable in the activities that are important to them, compared with 52% of nonalumnae.

Are more satisfied with life and optimistic about the future. 89% are optimistic about their future, compared with 76% of nonalumnae. 98% are happy with their life, compared with 87% of nonalumnae.

A Girl’s Guide to Going Gold complements the Gold Award Orientation and the Gold Award workshop, which is why you’ll receive a copy of this resource when you attend a hands-on workshop. Alternately, you can print a copy from Girl Scouts—North Carolina Coastal Pines Gold Award webpage.

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DID YOU KNOW? Gold Award Girl Scouts: Are confident and have strong selfworth Have time management down Serve as role models for other girls Know firsthand how to make the world a better place Know their way around goal setting Tackle issues they’re passionate about— issues with local and/ or global implications Partner with members of their communities to take action, resulting in sustainable impact

Collaborate with and learn from adult mentors and project advisors … which can set them up for success in life!

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Girl Scout Gold Award Workshop So you’ve completed the online orientation and you’re looking to take a deep dive into the Gold Award process, perhaps even bounce some ideas for a Take Action project off a Gold Award committee member or a staff member. The Gold Award workshop is the perfect place to really dig into your Gold Award!

Each workshop is facilitated by a Gold Award committee member or GS-NCCP staff member and designed to provide a hands-on experience for girls going Gold. We’ll take you through steps 1-7 of the Gold Award process utilizing GoGold and our sample community issue. New to mind mapping, no worries! We’ll mind map our sample issue to help you get your feet wet. Got questions about ensuring sustainability or tracking measurability, both critically important to your project? We’ll tackle both of these topics as well as establishing a global impact. Go ahead, bring all your questions!

Workshops are hosted throughout the year across our footprint.

Visit the Activities tab to register for an upcoming workshop.

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1/21/2020, 7-9pm, 214 Park Avenue, Creedmoor, NC

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2/24/2020, 7-9pm, 6375 US-70, New Bern, NC

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3/26/2020, 7-9pm, Raleigh Service Center

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4/20/2020, 7-9pm, 1101 S 8th St, Lillington, NC

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5/20/2020, 7-9pm, 75 Library Dr, Hampstead, NC

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6/23/2020, 7-9pm, Goldsboro Service Center

You are encouraged to establish your GoGold account prior to attending a workshop. This will allow you time to familiarize yourself with the GoGold platform and generate solid questions.

A Girl’s Guide to Going Gold complements GoGold and the Gold Award workshop, which is why all registered girls will receive a copy of the guide when they attend a Gold Award workshop.

We feel that girls are best prepared to go Gold when they complete the online orientation, attend a Gold Award workshop, and utilize A Girl’s Guide to Going Gold as a major point of reference.

Virtual Office Hours Hit a roadblock? It happens, you’re smooth sailing and all of sudden you have hit a snag in developing your winning proposal.

Request a 15-minute time slot to discuss your project ideas, timeline, budget or really anything that pertains to the Girl Scout Gold Award. Virtual office hours are a unique opportunity for girls (as well as parent/caregivers and troop co-leaders) to call in and get their questions answered by a member of the Girl Scout Gold Award committee or council staff member.

The expertise of the Gold Award committee is just a phone call away!

Take advantage of our virtual office hours at your convenience.

Girl Scouts -North Carolina Coastal Pines If you haven’t visited the GS-NCCP Gold Award webpage in awhile you should definitely stop by (click the link above). We’ve updated the webpage to be a one-stop shop for all your Gold Award needs including the Gold Award orientation, a downloadable link to A Girl’s Guide to Going Gold, a link to request your 15-minute virtual office hours, access to GoGold, as well as, a link to the GoGold FAQ. While you’re there, checkout our newly released Gold Award compilation video highlighting the accomplishments of several recent Gold Award Girl Scouts. Looking for a little more inspiration? In addition to the compilation video you can hear from thirteen GS-NCCP Gold Award Girl Scouts about their projects, successes and challenges.

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Girl Scout GoldGold Award Coaching YouTube GSUSA Girl Scout Award YouTubeon Videos In these new videos, the 2019 National Gold Award Girl Scouts speak directly, girl-to -girl, sharing their best practices, and focusing on how they actually did their Gold Awards.

The first Gold Award video is now available for girls to view on the GSUSA YouTube page. This video reviews the five key elements of a successful Gold Award and what those really mean for Girl Scouts.

Bookmark this channel and visit it often, more Gold Award videos coming soon!

We’re with you every step of the way! The Gold Award program director coordinates Girl Scouts–North Carolina Coastal Pines Gold Award program and works closely with the Gold Award Committee. Have general Gold Award questions?

Need help with GoGold? Contact the Gold Award program director.

Program Director Gabriel Williams

gwilliams@nccoastalpines.org 919.600.6349