Integrity of Girl Scouts Highest Awards GSNNJ

We, the registered members of this council, request that you support the national grass-roots initiative to put the proposed amendment to the guidelines for the Gold, Silver and Bronze awards on the national docket for the next GSUSA National Council session in 2011.

"TO MAINTAIN THE INTEGRITY OF OUR HIGHEST AWARDS IN GIRL SCOUTING, THE GOLD AWARD, THE SILVER AWARD, AND THE BRONZE AWARD, THE PRE-REQUISITES TO EARN THESE AWARDS MUST BE COMPRISED OF PROGRAMS, ELEMENTS AND LOWER AWARDS THAT HAVE BEEN IN PLACE FOR AT LEAST 3 YEARS WITH BROAD USAGE AND ACCEPTANCE (50\% PARTICIPATION IN PROGRAMS) ACROSS THE APPROPRIATE GIRL SCOUT LEVELS (IE; OF JUNIOR, CADETTE, SENIOR OR AMBASSADOR PATHWAYS)."

RATIONALE:
The Girl Scout Gold, Silver and Bronze awards (hereby referred to as the Highest Awards) should represent our girls experience, growth and leadership development, along with their commitment to making a difference in our communities. They are the pinnacles of achievement for the girls actively working in and benefiting from the Girl Scout program.

Over the past decade, these award pre-requisites have been frequently changed, using untested or little used programs as requirements. This is not good for either the internal or external value of these awards. We need broad support from councils across the country to bring an amendment proposal to the table to ask the national council to require the stability of these requirements.

While the exact composition of the requirements falls to the purvey of operational decision, the need for stability belongs to the National Council who must help protect the value of the organization's brands. Just like the name "Gold Award" was fixed in perpetuity at a previous session, we believe the above amendment should be fixed at the 2011 session. This will allow GSUSA operating teams to change the requirements as they wish over time, but will protect the value of the awards from using untested or little used elements as requirements.

It should also slow the pace of change so that the guidelines are not constantly in flux making it difficult for professional and volunteer staff to administer with the girls.