Core Strategy

A key part of the New Girl Scout Leadership Experience is the leadership journey, a coordinated series of activities grouped around a single theme and delivered over a set period of time. Each journey is tied to some of Girl Scouts' 15 national outcomes for girls, as defined in the Girl Scout Leadership Model. These outcomes are integral to the three leadership keys, Discover, Connect, and Take Action (PDF, 8.3MB).

This year GSUSA will be rolling out one leadership journey for each grade level. These initial journeys invite girls to explore a specific leadership theme for their level. Subsequent journeys will layer on more multidisciplinary content, like science and technology, healthy living, and the outdoors.

This first series of journeys, It's Your World—Change It!, is summarized below.

Welcome to the Daisy Flower Garden
In this journey for kindergarteners and first-graders, a favorite pastime—gardening— meets the Girl Scout Law. The result is a storybook world of flowers and little girls who, together, do great things. Girl Scout Daisies will especially enjoy meeting the colorful, global characters who teach them to live the Girl Scout Law. The adult "how-to" guide offers Garden Story Time tips, key ideas for garden projects, and all the Girl Scout history and traditions needed for an adventure starring Amazing Daisy, a new flower friend for Girl Scout Daisies.

Brownie Quest: Follow the Trails... of the ELF Adventure and the Three Keys
What are the most important keys for a Girl Scout to own? This quest, which has second- and third-graders traveling along two colorful trails—one they can enjoy on their own and one they explore with their Girl Scout group—answers that question in a very special way. On this quest, Girl Scout Brownies will meet three new friends and a bright and shining elf—in a brand new Brownie story meant to inspire their own Take Action projects. The accompanying adult guide offers all the tips needed to create and maintain a sense of fun and mystery along the entire quest. Instructions for a Brownie Brainstorm, Brownie Team Trade, and other activities ensure a quality and fun time for the girls.

Agent of Change
Power: In this journey, there's a whole spiral of it waiting for Girl Scout Juniors. This powerful journey is filled with ceremonies and circles, real-life heroines, and special new characters, including the fashion-savvy spider named Dez. Along the way, girls learn how their own power combines into team power and then moves out to become community power (kind of like how Dez weaves her web from the inside out). The journey's centerpiece is a comic story of girl heroines who will inspire the real-life Girl Scout Juniors as they take action to improve their own community.

aMAZE: The Twists and Turns of Getting Along
Life is a maze of relationships, and this journey has Girl Scout Cadettes maneuvering through all its twists and turns to find true friendships, plenty of confidence, and even peace. The adult guide offers tips for talking about relationship issues with girls, and pointers for understanding Girl Scout Cadettes' development and creating a safe, welcoming space.

GIRLtopia: Toward an Ideal World for Girls
Girl Scout Seniors know the world is not ideal. This journey is their chance to imagine a perfect world—for girls. They're invited to create their vision as an art project—in any medium of their choice. Then they'll take action to make their vision a reality. Leaders, after all, are visionaries!

Your Voice, Your World: The Power of Advocacy
How often have you seen something that really needed to be changed and wondered, "Why isn't someone doing something about that?" This journey gives Girl Scout Ambassadors a way to be that someone—an advocate with the power to start the first flutter of real and lasting change. While creating their own "butterfly effect," they'll gain an array of skills—such as networking, planning, and learning to speak up for what they believe—that will benefit them as they prepare for life beyond high school.

Also newly drafted are the following five tips, suggestions for guiding girl members and adult volunteers through the leadership journeys.

1. Customize!
Journeys provide "sample sessions" to give girls and volunteers ideas about sequencing experiences, discussions, and earning awards so that the "whole" feels like one big adventure. The adult books corresponding to the journeys contain many examples and encouragement to engage volunteers in creating the journey experience with girls. The journey will be much more fun and relevant as girls make it their own!

2. Stretch!
Sample sessions in the journeys have been created to show how it is possible to have a Girl Scout leadership experience in 6–8 gatherings. The journey books are filled with tips for how to stretch out the experience. As their imaginations take hold, girls will have many more ideas about how to extend the journey with guidance from volunteers.

3. Link!
Through the It's Your World—Change It! journey series, Girl Scouts at each level will be engaged in exploring some of the same themes. Are Girl Scout Ambassadors in the region interested in advocating together? Imagine every Girl Scout Senior in the region creating and exhibiting a unique vision for GIRLtopia. As Girl Scout Cadettes navigate the maze of relationship issues, what could they teach Girl Scout Juniors? What if Girl Scout Brownies link up on some of the steps of their quest? As Girl Scout Daisies in one area of the council engage in "growing something," how could they benefit from a family field trip to meet Daisies doing something similar in another area? These are just a few ideas of how expanding the connections Girl Scouts make will contribute to powerful journey experiences around the country.

4. Explore Stories!
Stories inspire girls (and adults!) to put values into action. The journey series engages girls in stories—real and fictional—of girls and women taking action in the world. Ultimately, girls will create their own stories on the journey, meeting new people and taking action in the world.

5. Leadership and You!
As a volunteer in Girl Scouts, your experiences—and your view of leadership—will be a driving force for the girls. Use the reflection exercises in your journey guide to think about the three keys to leadership (Discover, Connect, and Take Action) and how you can best apply them as you team up with Girl Scouts on their leadership journey.