Fourth and fifth grade Girl Scouts will begin to understand the power of teamwork as they take action in their communities as Agents of Change.  They begin their journey by creating a circle of fun and friendship that will culminate when they reach out into the larger circle of their community and create a take action project that addresses a need in their community.  During their journey, Girl Scout Juniors will reflect on the Girl Scout leadership philosophy as they discover, connect, and take action, spinning an ever growing web that represents their new found sense of power.
 
The main character in Agent of Change, is a spider named Dez, who offers motivation to the girls as they travel through their journey.  Dez is also the commentator of “SuperShelterMakers”, a comic-book story that will engage the girls in activities exploring the difference between one-time service and service that is long lasting.  There are many other stories in this book about girls and women throughout the world who have made a difference in their own communities.  This combination of stories will help girls understand just how powerful stories can be in helping people learn while inspiring them to do more.  The girls will also have the opportunity to create their own stories, using “superheroes” for inspiration! 
 
There are three junior recognitions, in the form of patches that girls may earn as part of their journey: 
 
The Power of One is earned when girls:

• Discover and share the story of a forgotten woman or girl who made a difference.
• Develop their “power log” to discover their own strengths and power to help change the world.
• Discover what the Girl Scout Law and true heroines share.

Girls earn the Power of the Team by:

• Creating a “supergirl” story, comic, or TV script during which the character adopts a community situation and makes a long-lasting change.
• Making a team decision for a community take action project that involves connecting with community members to solve a problem.

The Power of Community Award is earned when girls:

• Take Action on their plan by joining with others to start making a change in their world.
• Reflect on their accomplishment and celebrate!

The patches are circular and build on each other - the second patch fits around the first and the third patch fits around the second – resulting in one circular patch.
 
The Agent of Change girl’s book is filled with colorful, fun sections that will help girls:

• Understand what the word “community” really means
• Brainstorm possible community issues
• Create a take action plan
• Organize their take action project team
• Plan creative celebrations to mark their progress during the journey

The How to Guide Girl Scout Juniors on Agent of Change leader’s guide provides seven sessions that include:

• Session Goals
• Instructions for activities that relate to the goals
• List of supplies
• Directions for any necessary advanced preparations
• Sample questions to help spark discussion, decision-making, and reflection
• Suggestions to “keep it girl–led”
• Tips to modify the journey to include “detours” for trips, crafts, etc.

The chapter, You and Your Groups of Girl Scout Juniors, covers the following topics: understanding junior-age girls; tips on creating a quality experience for girls; Girl Scout history, traditions, and ceremonies; health, safety & well being tips; information to help leaders understand the importance of leadership, including a section to reflect on their own perspective of leadership.
 
Agent of Change is an exciting, innovative resource that will inspire Girl Scout Juniors to team up with others to make changes in their communities that will lead to making the world a better place!

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Join our Girl Scout Cadettes as they experience a maze of possibilities while exploring their personal relationships.  Life is full of mazes – twists and turns, dead-ends, and U-turns are encountered daily.  Some of what we encounter is fun, other is confusing. And when you’ve successfully maneuvered your way through one maze, another one usually awaits you!  Girls traveling on this journey will find tips and strategies for developing healthy relationships and long-term friendships.  As with all of the Journeys, the end product will be a Take Action Project that will focus on a widening circle of people, to increase peace one interaction at a time. 
 
Along their journey, Girl Scout Cadettes will use the three keys of leadership Discover, Connect and Take Action. The girls will discover their values and apply these values to relationships with friends; they will connect when they use those values to tackle obstacles to healthy relationships; they will apply what they learn by developing their take action project that will promote peace in the world.
 
There are three awards that may be earned along the aMAZE! journey:

The INTERACT AWARD recognizes a girl’s willingness to interact with others. 
It may be earned by completing three out of nine challenges.  These challenges require the girls to take small steps in developing positive interactions with peoplethey encounter in their daily lives.  Suggested activities include writing a note to a friend and telling them what they admire about them, or inviting someone new to join a group they belong to.

The DIPLOMAT AWARD honors a girl’s skill or tact in dealing with others.  To earn it, Girl Scout Cadettes will demonstrate how they have taught relationship skills to others.  This will be accomplished through a Take Action project that could include working with younger girls and using some of the many exciting activities in the aMAZE book to teach them the skills needed to be a “diplomat”.

During the course of their journey, girls will put together a “toolbox” filled with relationship tools that will help them create more peace in the world.  They can earn the PEACEMAKER AWARD at the end of the journey by reviewing their toolbox and making a commitment to use their tools throughout their lives to promote peace.
 
The three patches representing these awards are all rectangular in shape and fit together to form a cube. 

Additionally, the girl’s book includes awesome activities and personal assessment tools that will help Girl Scout Cadettes make wise choices when developing friendships and becoming a friend that makes a difference.  
 
There are seven sample sessions in How to Guide Girl Scout Cadettes Through aMAZE, the facilitator guide.  Each session offers discussion starters, scenarios, and coaching tips for assisting the girls as they work on the various activities in their books. Some of the topics included are:
·         Exploring the impact first impressions can have on a relationship
·         Understanding how stereotyping can affect relations
·         Acknowledging the hurtful behavior that can result from cliques
·         Identifying bullying behavior and learning how to address it
·         Learning to apply the Girl Scout leadership skills to their lives
·         Developing, carrying-out, and evaluating their Take Action project
·         Planning a celebration ceremony to mark their accomplishments
 
The facilitator’s guide also includes information about: understanding Cadette-age girls; tips on creating a quality experience for the girls; Girl Scout history, traditions, and ceremonies; health, safety & well being tips; information to help leaders understand the importance of leadership, including a section to reflect on their own perspective of leadership.
 
aMAZE! is an incredible resource that will help junior high girls navigate their way through personal relationships while working together to bring more peace in the world.  This is guaranteed to be a hit with both Girl Scout Cadettes and the adults working with them.

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Girl Scout Seniors will embark on a leadership journey that encourages them to look into the life realities of girls living all over the world.  During their journey they are asked to imagine what an ideal world would look like.  A world that would unfailingly respect the needs, values, and interests of people everywhere.
 
One step to completing this journey is to create a work of art to symbolize the ideal world. The journey concludes with a Take Action Project that could move the real world closer to the girls’ vision of the perfect world.
 
The girls’ book is divided into four sections with three of the sections based on the Girl Scout leadership keys:

• Why GIRLtopia sets the stage for the journey

• Discovering YOUtopia asks the girls to explore their ideal selves

• Connecting Toward GIRLtopia helps the girls explore how they care about and team with others.

• Taking Action on Your Vision lists the steps of a Take Action Project and the tools needed to execute their project.

During their journey, girls have the option of earning the Senior Visionary Award.  This award is earned by completing three steps:

1. Create It:    The girls create a unique vision and artistic representation of an ideal world, and then share it with others. Not all girls are fond of art projects; however, girls can complete a simple project, such as writing a poem and sharing it with friends.  Other girls may choose to do something more elaborate.  Each girl decides for herself how simple or complex her project will be.

2. Guide It:     Guide a mini-discussion or group activity that engages other girls in thinking about visionary leadership. This step builds on leadership topics presented in the girls’ GIRLtopia book, ranging from how to make decisions that are ethical to creating their own Girls’ Bill of Rights. 

3. Change It:  Do a Take Action Project that moves the world (or a community) one step closer to being ideal. The third step will help the girls develop a meaningful Take Action Project that will help them think globally but act locally on issues that concern girls. 

The facilitator guide, How to Partner With Girl Scout Seniors On GIRLtopia, includes eight sample sessions offering ideas on how to help the girls think globally, related activities, reflection questions for group discussion, optional scenarios, and coaching tips that will enhance the journey.
 
The GIRLtopia journey is a wonderful resource for Girl Scout Seniors to discover the different issues facing girls throughout the world and what steps they can take to address these issues to make the world, and their own communities, a better place for all people.

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