The Gold Award is the highest honor earned by a select group of Girl Scouts who have demonstrated superior leadership, organization and a higher commitment to community service. This year, Gold Award projects covered a range of issues, from anti-bullying campaigns and protecting the environment to tutoring and promoting healthy behaviors. The Gold Award is highly regarded by colleges and universities, the U.S. Armed Services and employers.
On May 6, 2012, at the In Your Honor ceremony at Trinity Washington University, the Girl Scout Council presented 221 Girl Scouts from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia with the Gold Award.
Trinity Washington University President, Patricia McGuire, delivered the keynote address at In Your Honor. Trinity Washington University has a longstanding partnership with the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital. According to McGuire, “Girl Scouting plays a valuable role empowering girls and young women. We established the Trinity Girl Scout Scholarship program in 2002 to encourage generations of girl leaders to pursue their dreams through education.” Read her full remarks here >
Throughout the history of the scholarship programs, 90 Girl Scouts have benefited and received a total $724,500 directly from the Trinity Girl Scout Scholarship program and an additional $1.16 million in other Trinity grants.
Trinity Washington University awards the following merit scholarships and grants to active Girl Scouts who meet the university’s academic requirements and who choose to attend Trinity Washington University.
In addition, 16 graduating high school seniors were selected after an extensive interview process, to each receive a Girl Scout Gold Award Scholarship of $1,000 to assist with college expenses. The following Girl Scouts are recipients of the 2012 Girl Scout Gold Award Scholarships:
Rachel C., Great Falls, VA
Dorean C., Washington, DC
Melissa H., Arlington, VA
Natalie H., Alexandria, VA
Alison J., Rockville, MD
Catrina J., Silver Spring, MD
Ilana K., Rockville, MD
Kayla K., Washington, DC
Leah M., Silver Spring, MD
Forum S., Woodbridge, VA
Christine T., Alexandria, VA
Bethany Anne W., Stephens City, VA
Makeaka W., Gapland, MD
Madison W., Washington, DC
Madison Y., Dumfries, VA
Anne Z., Winchester, VA
Girl Scouts who have been accepted into the College of Arts and Sciences receive the following awards:
- Successfully completed Gold Award: $5,000 annually.
- Successfully completed Silver Award: $4,000 annually.
- Active participant in Girl Scouting: $3,000 annually.
“We are proud of the powerful legacy the Gold Award Girl Scouts are leaving on their community,” said Lidia Soto-Harmon, Chief Executive Officer, Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital. “I am confident that these girls will be powerful agents for progress and change. They are our brightest hope for the future.”
All of the Girl Scout Gold Award projects are documented in the 2012 Award Yearbook. View online > or download PDF >
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May 9, 2012 at 1:32 pm
The Most Reverend Katharine Jefferts Schori and Bishop Onell Soto
The Girl Scouts 100th Anniversary Interfaith Service was held at the Washington National Cathedral as a celebration of the rich faith traditions Girl Scout sisters share from various faith communities. We honored Girl Scouts who earned the new My Faith, My Promise religious recognition. Learn more about the Interfaith Service here.
The Most Rev. Katharine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop and Primate, The Episcopal Church, spoke at the event. Here’s an excerpt from her speech:
A hundred years! Happy birthday, Girl Scouts! I became a Girl Scout more than 50 years ago, and what I remember of those early years has made a big difference in my life, as I hope it has for you. Learning to identify birds, or how to plant trees, tie knots, or build a fire, are important skills that teach us about the world around us. So are the things we learn in Scout troop or by going to camp. We meet girls from different cultures and backgrounds, we try different foods, and we learn to live together in community. I still remember the strange and wonderful peanut butter and honey sandwiches I ate at Girl Scout camp at age 7, and crying when I had to go home at the end of the week!
The skills of living together in community are the most important thing we learn – those gifts of character like dignity and respect, and helping others. A flight attendant on the plane yesterday asked me what I was working on, and when I told her, she said, “I was a Girl Scout, and so is my daughter.” You can meet them everywhere! Having courage and a sense of responsibility to help people do make the world a better place. Those gifts of character make life worth living.
Click to read her full speech >
Download the program (PDF) | Watch the full service webcast online >
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April 30, 2012 at 12:06 pm
Juliette Gordon Low, in a portrait that hangs at the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC
The White House announced that President Obama is posthumously awarding the Presidential Medal of Freedom to the founder of Girl Scouts, Juliette Gordon Low. The Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the United States, recognizes individuals who have made “an especially meritorious contribution to the security or national interests of the United States, world peace, cultural or other significant public or private endeavors”.
[via Girl Scouts blog]
This marks a special moment in our history, for it was Daisy Low and her remarkable vision of “something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world” that set in motion a movement—the Girl Scout Movement. How fitting that this singular honor should come in 2012, almost exactly 100 years after she gathered those first 18 Girl Scouts. Today, there are 59 million of us who have worn the Girl Scout uniform or been part of Girl Scouting in some way. All of us owe Daisy Low a debt of gratitude, and we should rejoice at the news that her indelible contributions to the lives of girls will be recognized by a grateful nation when the President formally presents the award in late spring.
Juliette Gordon Low, as all of us in Girl Scouting know, was a great and visionary woman, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to her enduring legacy and the place Girl Scouting holds in the fabric of the American experience.
- Anna Maria Chavez, CEO of the Girl Scouts of the USA
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April 27, 2012 at 4:53 pm
Excerpts from Lidia Soto-Harmon, CEO, Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital Annual Meeting, April 14, 2012 Remarks
It is amazing to be part of an organization so steeped in tradition. Juliette Low said, “Ours is a circle of friends, united by ideals”. When you combine the fun and friendship with the ideals of service and leadership you help build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place.
We expose girls to a wide range of skills and pleasures in life. We help them experience achievement through earned awards but we also help them learn how to relax through team building activities and nature. We help them grow through service and personal challenges, but we also give them silliness and fun through songs, sleepovers and pizza parties. We promise to continue “enhancing their professional portfolios” while teaching them to try new things and to discover their own sense of joy.
We further the mission of leadership in each girl program we run. Just as Juliette Gordon Low encouraged girls to prepare for future roles as professional women and for active citizenship, we help young women become leaders in every industry. We teach them that the world is open to them and that we need them to make their mark.
To read Lidia Soto-Harmon’s remarks from the Annual Meeting, click here.
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April 17, 2012 at 12:03 pm
The K12 and Girl Scouts I Want to Rock the Mall YouTube Contest is sponsored by K12 Inc., America’s leader in online learning for students in grades kindergarten through 12. Girl Scouts, this is your chance to win a free trip to Washington, DC to sing on stage at Girl Scouts Rock the Mall!
Girl Scouts: we want you to create an original song about your Girl Scout experience and upload a video of yourself performing the song on YouTube. The winner will perform on stage at Girl Scouts Rock the Mall: 100th Anniversary Sing-Along on June 9, 2012!
I Want to Rock the Mall is a YouTube contest especially for Girl Scouts sponsored by K12 Inc., America’s leader in online learning for students in grades kindergarten through 12. Write an original song expressing what it’s like to be a Girl Scout, record it on video and upload it to youtube.com/gsrockthemall. All entries must be posted on YouTube by April 20, 2012.
There are lots of chances to be a winner!
- Grand prize: One Girl Scout will be selected as the overall winner. She, along with a chaperone, will receive a free trip to Washington, DC to perform on stage at Girl Scouts Rock the Mall: 100th Anniversary Sing-Along in front of an expected audience of over 200,000 Girl Scout friends, family and alumnae. Click here to read the full rules.
- Runners-up: Nine runners-up will receive a Girl Scouts Rock the Mall T-shirt, the opportunity to be recognized on June 9 at the event, and one powerspeak12 foreign language course powered by K12.
- K12 Voter’s Choice Award: The winner of the K12 Voter’s Choice Award will receive one powerspeak12 foreign language course powered by K12 and one Color Nook. Read full rules. | Learn more.
Click here to view all entries so far!
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April 5, 2012 at 12:08 pm
By Lidia Soto-Harmon, CEO Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital
The Girl Scout Story—
100 years of leadership
A century after the first International Women’s Day, it is fitting that Girl Scouts here and around the world are celebrating not only the centennial of International Women’s Day, but the story of the Girl Scouts who on March 12, 2012 will celebrate their 100th anniversary!
The stories of women’s struggle and achievements are an integral part of our collective history. When you learn about women’s courage and tenacity throughout the centuries, you realize the strength many had to exhibit in order to create a better world for their families and children. Women’s stories provide us with essential role models. And role models are genuinely needed to help us face the extraordinary challenges still facing women and girls today.
Did you know that we have the largest generation of young women ever? There are more than 850 million girls and young women ages 10 -24 alone. And the Girl Scouts provide an opportunity for a safe place for many of these girls to learn about courage, character and confidence.
The core of everything we do at Girl Scouts is to prepare girls with leadership skills. We empower our girls to lead at every moment, everywhere.
Today, as we celebrate our 100th Anniversary milestone, I share with you insights from our history as I walk you through the rich legacy of Girl Scouting.
It all began with a phone call from an incredible woman, our founder: Juliette Gordon Low, who after learning about the “guiding movement” in England said, “I’ve got something for the girls of Savannah, and all of America, and all the world, and we’re going to start it tonight!” On March 12, 1912, Juliette Low gathered local girls to register them for the first troop in the United States.
Can you just imagine what life was like for girls 100 years ago?
- Women were not allowed to vote
- Women had to submit to laws when they had no voice in their formation
- Women had no property rights, usually fathers or husbands had these rights
- Women were not allowed to enter professions such as medicine or law
- Women had no means to gain an education since most college and university would not accept women students (exceptions being institutions like Sweet Briar College.)
It would take eight more years, until August 1920, before all women in the United States would even have the right to vote. Girl Scouts have played an important role in transforming attitudes towards women, and even the very way girls see themselves!
Juliette Gordon Low believed that all girls should be given the opportunity to develop physically, mentally, and spiritually. Her goal was to bring girls out of isolated environments and into community service and the open air. Girl Scouts hiked, played basketball, went on camping trips, learned how to tell time by the stars and studied first aid. Unlike other organizations, from its inception, Girl Scouts has been organized and run exclusively by women, for girls and women.
This is our rich legacy, and as we mark our 100th anniversary we respect and continue our proud traditions, committed to building an even better future by facing the challenges and expanding the opportunities for girls today.
Happy Girl Scout Birthday, Happy Women’s History Month, Happy International Women’s Day!
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March 8, 2012 at 5:25 pm
Today, Monday, March 5, 2012 the Washington Post Style section– front page features an article about Girl Scouting–A Century of Girl Scouting. Online you can post your favorite Girl Scout photo and share some of your memories. What a great way to kick-off our 100th celebration. Go here to read the article.
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March 5, 2012 at 1:22 pm
2012 is officially the Year of the Girl.
Read all about the launch of ToGetHerThere – the largest advocacy and fundraising cause dedicated to girls’ leadership in the nation’s history: ToGetHerThere is a Hit! (via Girl Scouts of the USA Blog).
GSCNC Girl Scouts attended the event on Capitol Hill. Click here to see pictures from the event.
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February 7, 2012 at 10:07 am
From the Desk of Diane Tipton
President, Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital
Girl Scouts: What We Stand For
We are aware of ongoing campaigns to discredit the reputation of Girl Scouts and distract us from our mission of building girls of courage, confidence and character. Misinformation is passing as fact, and therefore, as the President of the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital, I think it is important to share with you the truth of where we stand on several sensitive issues.
The Girl Scout organization does not take a position on abortion or birth control and these topics are not part of the Girl Scout program or our materials. We believe these matters are best discussed by girls with their families. Girl Scouts of the USA and the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital does not have a relationship with Planned Parenthood. We do not distribute or allow Planned Parenthood to distribute materials at our meetings. And, contrary to rumors, we do not make donations to this group. The fact is that as a charitable organization we do not make donations to any other organization. Please visit our Annual Report to see the money raised by corporations, grants, government agencies and SHARE contributors, supports our girls, volunteers, programs and camps.
Girl Scouts of the USA is one of the 145 Member Organizations of WAGGGS, which promotes mutual understanding and cross-cultural opportunities for girls around the world. There is value for Girl Scouts of the USA being a part of this global initiative for girls. However, the WAGGGS program is separate from our Girl Scout program, and your Girl Scout membership dues and cookie sales proceeds do not support WAGGGS. All dues collected from Girl Scout members are used to pay for services directly delivered to Girl Scouts in the USA and girls involved in USA Girl Scouts Overseas, our program for American families living abroad. 100 percent of the proceeds from the cookie sale stay in our Council to provide opportunities for all the girls we serve.
Our Council has not dealt with requests from families of transgender youth. Our focus remains on girls in kindergarten through 12th grade where, in an accepting and nurturing environment, and with the support of dedicated volunteers and parents, Girl Scouts gain the opportunity to test and build their potential as leaders. We continue to inspire girls with the highest ideals of character, conduct, patriotism and service so that they may become happy and resourceful citizens.
Girl Scouts is the largest organization dedicated to serving all girls with over three million members nationwide and nearly 90,000 members here in the Greater Washington Region. Since 1912, we have a proud history of developing girls’ confidence and inspiring leadership—all in a wholesome environment. Girls discover their potential, have the opportunity to learn by doing, earn awards and recognitions, while gaining important leadership experiences.
We think that the best way to evaluate the Girl Scout program is not by hearsay, but by becoming an active part of our organization. We rely on committed volunteers; moms, dads and caring adults like you, who recognize the significance of girls’ leadership, friendships and future. We welcome you to join Girl Scouts, volunteer and stay involved in building girls of courage, confidence and character.
Thank you,
Diane Tipton
President, Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital
For additional information, please read the Girl Scouts of the USA FAQ page.
Thank you for your interest. The comment period on this blog is closed. If you have questions or comments please email: gstruth@gscnc.org. Thank you.
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January 22, 2012 at 4:58 pm
Bob Madigan, WTOP’s Man About Town, recently did a couple of stories on Girl Scout Cookies.
Click below to listen:
What Can a Cookie Do?
Girl Scout Cookies go on sale
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Bob Madigan – WTOP’s Man About Town
“WTOP Radio’s Man About Town” Bob Madigan has been with WTOP Radio for 18 years. For most of that time, he has been covering the “Good” “Positive” news of Washington. You can email Bob at bmadigan@wtop.com or follow him on Twitter.
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January 3, 2012 at 11:53 am
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