Girl ScoutsCelebrating 100 years

Girl Scouts has a rich history of empowering girls to help

improve their communities. Since 1912, Girl Scout groups

throughout the country have participated in community

service projects addressing everything from caring for

animals, baking for troops, serving senior citizens to

improving the environment. Community service projects

such as tending a local garden at a school or church can be

completed in one day. Other endeavors, such as adopting

grandparents through the Silver Lining program can span

multiple visits throughout the year. Whatever the group

decides to undertake, girls learn the benefit of giving back

to the community.

Join us in Celebrating 100 Years of the Highest Honor in Girl Scouting

Starting in 1916, the best and brightest undertook

projects that improved their communities—and the world.

The Golden Eaglet insignia, the highest award in Girl

Scouting from 1916 to1939, marked the beginning of a long

tradition of recognizing the extraordinary efforts of

extraordinary girls. From 1940 to 1963, the Curved Bar

Award was the highest honor in Girl Scouting. From 1963

to 1980, the highest award was called First Class. And

since 1980, the Gold Award has inspired girls to find the

greatness inside themselves and share their ideas and

passions with their communities

The Girl Scout Gold Award is a national award and a

personal challenge that girls choose to pursue, aspiring to

transform an idea and vision for change into an actionable

plan with measurable, sustainable and far-reaching

results. As a registered member pursuing the Girl Scout

Gold Award, girls will be leaders by bringing their

demonstrated leadership skills to a community outside Girl

Scouts (all Gold Award Take Action projects must be done

outside the Girl Scout organization), working with other

organizations and community partners in the community;

Be a project manager by taking the initiative and the

responsibility for developing, completing and leading an

effective Gold Award Take Action Project, practicing

professional skills like networking, budgeting, financial

accountability and written, verbal and oral communication

skills, addressing the root cause of a well-defined and

researched issue, defining and reaching measurable

goals with a project team (i.e. community partners,

community leaders, project advisor, project volunteers),

create new relationships with community partners to bring

sustainable and measurable change, working within clear

parameters and guidelines defined by GSUSA to meet

their goals, developing and demonstrating leadership skills

through service-learning, advocacy and addressing

community issues.

Golden Eagleof Merit

The 1913 handbook, How Girls Can Help Their Country,

lists the Silver Fish as the highest award in Girl Guiding. To

earn this award, a girl had to “win” twenty specific badges.

Interestingly enough, some of the required badges, such

as Fire Brigade and Florist, were never offered in the

American program. The fish was an English award given

as a token of appreciation on behalf of the Girl Guide

movement. Lord Baden Powell suggested the emblem.

It represents a salmon swimming up a river, overcoming

waterfalls, boulders and other obstacles to reach a quiet

place to spawn. The award was an honorary award for

adults who had helped the movement. Juliette Low

received her award in May 1919. Only three women in

the United States received this award.

1916

1919

Juliette Low instituted the Golden Eagle of Merit to replace the originally noted Silver Fish. To earn it a Girl Scout had to earn 14 proficiency badges chosen from a list of 17 specified badges. National headquarters provided special application forms for girls to submit to the National Standards Committee for approval.

The Rally, Girl Scout monthly magazine began in October.

First time cookies made and sold to raise money to finance Girl Scout troop activities. Oklahoma held its bake sale in the school cafeteria.

The United States enter World War I. The Girl Scouts volunteered their services, working hospitals, staffing railroad station canteens for transporting servicemen, growing vegetables, selling bonds, and collecting peach pits for use in mask filters.

World War I ends.

1916

1917

1919

Golden Eaglet

“The five requirements for winning the Golden Eaglet are character, health, handicraft, happiness and service, and that

others will expect to find in our Golden Eaglets a perfect specimen of girlhood: mentally, morally, and physically.”

-Juliette LowThe American Girl November 1923

1919

1939

The Golden Eaglet Requirements were the same as the Golden Eagle of Merit. The Golden Eaglet was simply a name a design change to the award.

Requirements increase. A Girl Scout was now required to have earned 21 proficiency badges, 15 of which were from a specified list of 17 badges (Athlete, Bird Hunter or Flower Finder or Zoologist; Child Nurse, Citizen, Cook, Dressmaker, Economist, First Aide, Health Guardian, Health Winner, Homemaker, Home Nurse, Hostess, Laundress, and Pioneer).

Medal of Merit added to the requirements.

A letter of commendation was to be submitted in place of a Medal of Merit due to difficulties and strict rules regarding the Medal of Merit.

Juliette Low dies, January 17 1927.“ You are not only the first Girls Scout, but the best Girl Scout of them all.”

The Golden Eaglet was discontinued.

1919

1920

1922

1926

1927

1938

First Class

1939

1940

Highest award for Intermediate Girl Scouts

Badge Requirement: Home Nurse, First Aid, Homemaker and 2 others from a selected list (Child Nurse, Health Winner, Laundress, Cook, Needle Woman, or Gardener).

To earn this award, a Girl Scout should also know how to cut and sew a simple garment, set a table properly, walk a mile and be able to describe landmarks and objects along the way so that another could follow the path, wash and dress a child 2 years or younger, and train younger girls.

14 licensed bakers were available for the Girl Scouts. The troops were able to pick from 2 or 3 bakers to get their cookies from.

Cookie Mints (Thin Mints) introduced.

1938

1940

Curved Bar

1940

1963

With the addition of 4 more badges, Curved Bar became the highest award in Girl Scouting. It was designed to meet the needs of a girl who wanted something definite to work on after she had become a First Class, but before she was old enough to join a Senior Girl Scout troop.

Pearl Harbor was bombed on December 7, 1941

National Home Safety Campaign.

Food Shortages during wartime. Temporarily discontinued cookie sales.

Requirements changed to tie more closely with the specific interests of the Senior Girl Scout program. They were based on groups of badges from different fields(Agriculturist, Ambassador, Business Woman, Child Nurse, Docent, Entertainer, Flier, Forester, Homemaker, Nurse, Nutritionist, Play Leader, Sailor, and Voyager).

New groupings were introduced (Arts, Curved Bar in Citizenship, Curved Bar in the Out of Doors, andCurved Bar in Homemaking).

1940

1941

1945

1946

1947

1953

First Class

1963

1980

With the change in requirements, the First Class award became the highest award in Girl Scouts again. A Girl Scout was required to earn badges from the Arts, Home, Citizenship, Out of Doors, Health & Safety, International Friendship; and earn 4 Challenges in Social Dependability, Emergency Preparedness, Active Citizenship, and the Girls Scout Promise.

Action 70 formed. This was a nationwide effort to help overcome prejudice and build better relationships among persons of all ages, religions, and races

8 new Challenges added as options. A Girl Scout could achieve the First Class award three ways (4/12 Challenges and 6 Badges, 7 Challenges, or the previous requirement).

1963

1969

1972

Gold Award

1980Gold Award introduced and became the highest award in Girl Scouting. It can only be achieved by Senior Girl Scouts.

A Girl Scout must previously achieve the Silver Award: An award design for the Cadette Girl Scouts but could be earn by a Senior Scout. A Girl Scout was to chose from 5 leadership situations through which she could use and develop her own leadership skills. She was to spend 25 hours on one or a combination of the given leadership situations.

Complete 4 interest project paths.

Challenge of Living the Promise and Law was focused on goal setting, making commitments and translating values into action as a step into living one’s own future aspirations. A service project was to be completed.

From Dreams to Reality required a Girl Scout to spend a day at work with someone who had a job in which the girl was interested, discussing job responsibilities; research two fields in which woman are not the majority; and interviewing 3 mothers with salaried positions to learn how they balance their job and families.

Gold Leadership Award.

Submit a letter 8 months before planned completion date.

1980

1987From Dreams to Reality became the Career Exploration Pin

A special service project was added in the requirements.

The Silver Award was no longer required.

After the application for the service project was submitted to the Council Gold Award Committee, the Girl Scout is to have an interview with the committee before she can begin her 50 hours of work.

Requirements changed so that a Girl Scout was only required to achieve the Gold Leadership Award, the Gold Career Award, the Gold 4B’s Challenge, create a Gold Award Project that was to be submitted to the Council Gold Award Committee followed by an interview (50 hours of work & 15 hours of planning) and an evaluation of the experience.

1987

2004

20162016 The Girl Scout Gold Award represents the highest achievement

in Girl Scouting, recognizing girls who demonstrate extraordinary leadership through remarkable Take Action projects that have sustainable impact in their communities-and beyond. It is recommended that 80 hours be dedicated to a Gold Award Take Action project.

Did you know?• Gold Award recipients spend between one and two years

on their projects.• The average age of Gold Award recipients is 17.• In nearly 100 years, one million girls have earned the

Gold Award or its equivalent.• Gold Award recipients who join the armed services enter

at one rank higher than other recruits.• University research indicates that adding Gold Award to a

college application is a critical element in the admissions-decision process.

Today, the requirements for applying to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award include: • Be in 9th, 10th, 11th, or 12th grades• Be a registered Girl Scout Senior or Ambassador• Have completed two Senior or Ambassador Journeys OR

have earned the Girl Scout Silver Award and completed one Journey

2015 Girl Scout Gold Award Celebration

AlumnaeStoriesJanice “Jay” Johnson first donned the Girl Scout Brownie uniform as an elementary schooler in the 1940s in Hampton. She enjoyed being a Girl Scout because it gave her opportunities to be with her friends, travel around Hampton on troop field trips and go to camp. As she grew older and gained more opportunities, Girl Scouts became a more meaningful part of her life. She got to explore places beyond her hometown, including traveling to a national Girl Scout center in Wyoming, where she met girls from all over the country and had her first truly, multi-cultural experience.

For Johnson, the culminating experience of her time in Girl Scouts was earning the First Class Award in 1956. Now known as the Girl Scout Gold Award, the First Class Award was the highest award a girl could earn in Girl Scouting. Although Johnson and her fellow troop members all began working on the prerequisites for the award together, only Johnson fol-lowed through and earned the award.

“Our troop leader informed us about the requirements to earn the award, and it was up to us to pursue completion,” Johnson said. “Since I was the only one pursuing First Class, I spent a lot of time conferring with my leader about each requirement and its successful completion.”

After earning the First Class Award and completing her years as a Girl Scout Senior, Johnson went away to attend Wilson College in Pennsylvania, where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in psychology, and later, a master of arts degree in guidance and counseling from Hampton Institute. “Girl Scouts was the only organization in my childhood and young adulthood where I had positive interracial relations with other girls and adults,” Johnson said. “Those experiences influenced my choosing to go outside the norm and attend an integrated college.”

Johnson reconnected with Girl Scouts and worked as a field director, responsible for membership and program, in Baltimore and Hampton. From there, she joined the staff at Girl Scouts of the USA. Her experience in membership and management led her to the position she is most proud of—executive director of the Girl Scouts of Western Re-serve in Akron, Ohio.

Following her role as a professional Girl Scout, Johnson returned to her home on the Virginia Peninsula and worked for the City of Hampton, where she was involved in Hampton’s Citizen Unity Commission and the Hamp-ton Coalition for Youth. She also spent six years as chairperson of the board of directors for Virginia Organizing and has been a dedicated Girl Scout volunteer over the years.

Johnson recognizes the important role that Girl Scouts played in shaping her character. For Johnson, being a Girl Scout boosted her confidence, which later allowed her to handle difficult work environments. It also intro-duced her to a variety of people, which put her at east when working with diverse groups of volunteers during her career. She also gained important leadership and organizational skills while earning the First Class Award.

Across the nation, less than six percent of eligible Girl Scouts have earned the highest award in Girl Scouting, adding Johnson to an elite group of female leaders across the country with the honor.

Janice “Jay” Johnson

AlumnaeStoriesAs the executive director of the Suffolk Art League, Linda Bunch encounters a myriad of tasks and challenges on a regular basis. She may go from hanging artwork on a wall at the Suffolk Art Gallery to meeting with a new volunteer or planning out logistics for the next juried exhibition. Coordinating, managing and planning are all a part of her leadership role at the Suffolk Art League, and she attributes her abilities to prioritize projects and plan ahead to an important motto she learned as a Girl Scout—“Be prepared.”

“Through my work at the Suffolk Art League, I have been able to provide cultural and artistic opportunities for so many people,” Bunch said. “Knowing how to share responsibilities while being sure to accomplish my tasks is something I learned through my Girl Scout experiences.”

Bunch joined Girl Scouts as a second grader in Chuckatuck, now part of Suffolk. Her troop met at a local church, and Bunch has fond memories of camping. She fondly recalls canoeing on the Nansemond River and spending weeks away at Camp Matoaka. She formed tight bonds of

friendship as a Girl Scout and developed a wide array of crafting skills that she still uses today when working with youth groups through the Suffolk Art League.

For Bunch, the culminating experience as a Girl Scout was earning the First Class Award. Now known as the Girl Scout Gold Award, the First Class Award was the highest award a girl could earn in Girl Scouting. Looking back, Bunch recognizes the key role that the volunteer leaders of her troop played in supporting her journey to earn the award, helping to make sure she had worked on all the necessary badges along the way.

“To girls that are working towards their Gold Award today, I would advise that they know what is expected of them and what requirements they need to complete from the start,” Bunch said. “Also, they should be sure to enjoy their experiences as a Girl Scout and the friends they make. The friendships and the memories are what are most important.”

To earn the award, girls—then and now— identify a problem in their community and take action to create and implement a sustainable solution. Nationwide, less than six percent of eligible Girl Scouts have earned the highest award in Girl Scouting.

Linda Bunch

The day that Sarah Buck was recognized for earning the Girl Scout Gold Award was a busy, but memorable, one. It was the end of an eventful senior year of high school, her brother’s birthday and the day of her senior prom. None of these events, however, could pull her away from the Gold Award ceremony—a significant moment both in her Girl Scout career and in her personal leadership journey.

Buck’s Girl Scout experience had begun 10 years earlier when she joined the organization as a second grader in Virginia Beach. She has fond memories of the summers she spent at Girl Scout camp, the community service projects she took part in to make a positive difference in her community and the tight bonds of friendship she formed with her fellow troop members. She also learned important lessons in financial planning as she saved her cookie profits and money she earned from babysitting to be able to go on summer trips with her troop. As she got older, being a role model to the younger girls became special to her.

For Buck, earning the Gold Award was the accomplishment that she was most proud of as a young adult. Throughout high school, she watched as

some of her peers left Girl Scouts, and she made it her goal to stay a part of the organization and earn the highest award. She was determined to not let outside influences interfere with her goal.

“I had a lot going on as a senior in high school—planning for prom, graduation and college,” Buck said. “The Gold Award was a lot to take on, but it was well worth it. I had a great support system with my troop leaders, and I accomplished the award with a great group of girls.”

Since earning the Gold Award, Buck received a bachelor’s degree in communications studies from Virginia Tech and has worked in management and public affairs careers. She says that she always includes her Gold Award on her resume and that it has always been a discussion point at job interviews.

“Being a Girl Scout helped me be a better student, friend, employee and productive citizen,” Buck said. “In Girl Scouts, I learned the importance of time management, goal setting, effective communication, building relationships and giving back. Being in Girl Scouts also helped me confidence and self-esteem.”

To today’s high school Girl Scouts, Buck advises that they commit themselves to the organization and follow through to earn the Gold Award. Looking back, she sees that the reward was well worth the effort for earning the award and that the process of earning the Gold Award prepares girls for the future. Most of all, Buck recommends that girls enjoy being a Girl Scout. The fun, friends and adventure are what it’s all about.

Sarah Buck