I received a postcard about six weeks ago that was an invite to the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia Council-wide Awards event. The postcard actually listed a half dozen different locations across the state, where the Awards would be presented at the same time on the same day. Interesting concept. A way to recognize lots of people, both scouts and volunteers for their efforts, without anyone traveling a great distance.
Since many councils across the US have merged, the area of the Historic Georgia council now covers two-thirds of the state. From Columbus, Macon, Augusta: everything south to the Florida line, and that upper east corner of the state. It is a combination of three different councils, apparently an effort to conserve financial resources and theoretically to make the staff more effective and efficient. Somewhat questionable, but a debate for another time. The local event was to be at St. Mary's Road UMC on Sunday, May 4.
The older scouts, who have been working on projects that provide community service, receive well -deserved recognition for their time and effort at the Awards events. Scouts decide on projects that will provide needed support to various segments of their community, set goals for fulfilling those needs and plan how to best achieve their goals. The younger scouts work in groups, with fellow troop members, while older girls work individually, to meet their goals. Award levels are Bronze (younger scouts) Silver and Gold.
With Great Reluctance, I will say that the Gold Award is comparable to the Eagle Award in the world of Boy Scouting - but I know the young women who achieve their Gold are truly without comparison. The time, effort, focus, devotion, determination it takes to plan and complete their projects demonstrates their organizational skills, maturity, capability to make needed contacts within the adult community, ability to learn and master new skills, and finally success as they receive the highest Award the GSUSA bestows.
They do this: goal setting, and achieving, devoting and documenting many hours of their time, in addition to all the other things that keep teenagers busy: school, social activities, family life, church participation. That's pretty impressive, don't you think?
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