| Gold Award | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | |||
| Owner | Girl Scouts of the USA | ||
| Created | 1980 | ||
The Gold Award is the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts of the USA, earned by Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts. Only 5.4% of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award. [1]
| Gold Award | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| | |||
| Owner | Girl Scouts of the USA | ||
| Created | 1980 | ||
The Gold Award is the highest achievement within the Girl Scouts of the USA, earned by Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts. Only 5.4% of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award. [1]
Girl Scout's highest award was created in 1916 and evolved over the years.
This award was a pin of an eagle with its wings spread, on a red, white, and blue ribbon. [2] [3]
In 1919 the name of the award was changed to the Golden Eaglet. Requirements for the award ranged through these years from earning 14 out of 17 specific badges, earning the Medal of Merit, earning a different number of badges, and the acceptance of a letter of Commendation instead of the Medal of Merit. The award emblem changed from the spread-winged eagle and ribbon to an eagle with half-furled wings and a "G" and an "S" on either side of its head. [2]
The founder of Girl Scouts, Juliette Gordon Low, wrote in November 1923: “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 Eaglet a perfect specimen of girlhood: mentally, morally, and physically.” [3]
In 1938 the Golden Eaglet changed to the First Class Award. [4]
This award was earned by Intermediate Scouts who had already earned the First Class Award and was a bridge to Senior rank. Because of the shortage of metal during WWII, at first the award was a curved embroidered patch worn on the uniform. In 1947, the Curved Bar pin was introduced. [5]
In 1963 the award reverted to being called First Class. [4] Requirements for earning the First Class Award changed over the 17 years it was offered. Beginning in 1963, Cadette Scouts were required to earn four Challenges, plus at least six badges in specific areas:
In 1972, eight new Challenges were offered:
The Scout was permitted to choose any four of the twelve Challenges.
In addition to the four Challenges, a Scout was required to earn at least one badge in each of six areas:
Alternately, from 1972 to 1980, a Scout could earn any seven of the twelve Challenges, with no badge requirements.
In 1980 the Gold Award was introduced. In 1990, National Council Session delegates approved a proposal which would keep the name of the Gold Award in perpetuity. [7]
Until 2004, requirements for earning the award were:
Once these steps have been met, girls use their vision for change for a service project, which requires a minimum of 80 hours of work in planning and actually completing the project. All of these hours must be completed by the Awardee, and though it is encouraged that the girl use troop members and others from the community to help her, their time spent does not count towards her 80-hour requirement. Plans must be developed with the aid of an advisor, then a project proposal must be submitted and approved by the girl's local council before starting the project, and a final report submitted and approved after the project's completion.
The Gold Award emblem is presented as a pin resembling an eight-pointed gold star with rays radiating from a central, polished trefoil.
Recipients of the Gold Award who enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces may receive advanced rank in recognition of their achievements. [8] [9] [10] Some universities and colleges offer scholarships to Gold Award recipients. Yearly, GSUSA selects ten girls to be National Young Women of Distinction based on their Gold Award projects.
The Gold Award is often compared to the Eagle Scout in Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America and General Billy Mitchell Award in Cadet Programs of the Civil Air Patrol.
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over 2.5 million youth.
Advancement and recognition in the Boy Scouts of America is a tradition dating from the inception of the Scouting movement. A fundamental purpose of advancement is the self-confidence a young man or woman acquires from his participation in Scouting. Advancement is one of the methods used in the "Aims and Methods of Scouting"– character development, citizenship training and personal fitness.
Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as simply Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, a year after she had met Robert Baden-Powell, the founder of Scouting.
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Scouts BSA is the flagship program and membership level of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for boys and girls between the ages of typically 11 and 17. It provides youth training in character, citizenship, and mental and personal fitness. Scouts are expected to develop personal religious values, learn the principles of American heritage and government, and acquire skills to become successful adults.
The Girl Scouts of the USA has six levels: Daisy, Brownie, Junior, Cadette, Senior and Ambassador. Girl Scouts move or "bridge" to the next level, usually at the end of the school year, when they reach the age of advancing. The Ambassador level is the most recent, having been added in 2011. They are considered in the appropriate level based on their grade on October 1, the start of each new Girl Scout year. There are exceptions for "special needs," but Girl Scouts who are "young in grade" have not been specifically considered. Each year of membership in Girl Scouting is represented on the uniform by a small, golden, six-pointed membership star with colored background discs which represent a level. Girl Scouts wear uniforms consisting of a white shirt and khaki bottom under the appropriate uniform item for their level: Cookie, a blue tunic or vest for Daisies, a brown sash or vest for Brownies, a green vest or sash for Juniors and a tan sash or vest for the older girl levels of Cadettes, Seniors and Ambassadors. All uniform tunics, vests, or sashes must include the American flag patch, council ID patches troop numbers, and a yellow, brown, green, or navy tab with the WAGGGS pin and the membership pin.
Cub Scouts is the section of Scouts Australia for boys and girls aged 8 to 11 (inclusive), often known simply as 'Cubs'. The Cub Scout section follows after Joey Scouts and is before Scouts. Cub Scouts wear a uniform shirt with navy blue panels, and yellow shoulders.
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The advancement program for Scouts participating in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America is symbolized by the earning of seven ranks. The advancement program is often considered to be divided into two phases. The first phase from joining to First Class is designed to teach the scout Scoutcraft skills, how to participate in a group and to learn self-reliance. The Scout badge is awarded when the Scout demonstrates a rudimentary knowledge of the Scouting ideals and program. Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class have progressively harder requirements in the areas of Scoutcraft, physical fitness, citizenship, personal growth and Scout Spirit.
The BSA Distinguished Conservation Service Award Program is a series of awards presented by the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for service in conservation and ecology. Created by William Temple Hornaday as the Permanent Wild Life Protection Fund Medal in 1915, the program is designed to encourage learning about natural resource conservation and the environment, teach sound stewardship of the natural resources and the environment, and recognize those who are outstanding in this field. After Hornaday's death in 1937, the program was renamed in his honor to the William T. Hornaday Awards in 1938 and officially became a BSA award program. In October 2020, after a review of Hornaday's life, the BSA changed the name of and significantly modified the program, stating that some of Hornaday's beliefs went "against the BSA’s values," and determined that "the conservation award should no longer bear his name in order to uphold our commitment against racism and discrimination."
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