Submitted by Dinah Campbell
Pikes Peak
Colorado Springs
Our Cadette troop earned their Archery badge at Cheyenne Mt. State Park Archery Range. The staff did a great job of keeping things clean and safe. They walked us through all the steps to teach us how to properly shoot the arrows, archery safety, and made it fun.
We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.
Submitted by Clemmer H., GSCO Media Star
Metro Dever
Highlands Ranch
Hi, my name is Clemmer! I earned the Democracy in Action badge. To receive this badge, there are five steps.
The first project I did was listen to a town hall meeting. Our county lets us call into the county commissioner’s meetings. This represents the first choice under Step One, Go to a city or town hall meeting.
For Step Two, I visited the state capitol. This represents option one, visit your state capitol building. I took a field trip with my friends and classmates and learned about the state’s history, so I was able to go back to the capitol with other friends and tell them what I learned.
Research representation. With help from an adult, I found out how many women are currently serving in the United States Senate and House of Representatives. There aren’t that many. We need more!!
I created a presidential trivia contest. How many presidents have won Grammy Awards? Which president was known for his love of jelly beans?
I talked to a judge. Find out everything you can about what they do. I found out why she choose her profession. I found out how the state courts work with the other two branches of government.
If you are a Girl Scout Cadette and want to do this badge, go for it! There are so many options to choose from!
We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.
The great thing about our country is we all can have different backgrounds, experiences and opinions, and still come together and work towards the common good. No matter the level of government – from your local school board to the Congress – people have to compromise – give up some things you want in order to support somethings someone else wants – in order to accomplish their goals. When you earn the Cadette Finding Common Ground badge, you will learn how governments do that – and how you can do it in your everyday life.
Step One: Get to Know Someone Different from You
Step Two: Make Decisions in a Group
Step Three: Explore Civil Debate
Step Four: Understand a Compromise
A compromise is an agreement where both people give up something they want in order to find the common ground where everyone gets a little bit of what they want. Do one or more of the following activities to learn more about compromise.
A Community Compromise. Learn about a compromise in your community, such as the dress code at your school, or the amenities in a new park or recreation center. Where did the two sides disagree at the beginning? What decision did they make in the end? What did each side give up to reach a compromise? How does this compromise affect your community and your life?
OR
A Family or Friendship Compromise. Think of a situation where you and someone in your household had to compromise to be able to live in peace. Use that situation and talk to an adult in your household about a compromise that made your family what it is today. Can you imagine a more positive outcome? Share your ideas with your family and see if you can effect positive change.
OR
A state or national compromise. Learn about a compromise that occurred in your state or at the national level. You can talk with your history teacher, local historian, elected official, or another who has expert knowledge in the compromise. Where did the two sides differ in the beginning? Where did they find common ground? What did each side give up to reach a reasonable agreement? How does this compromise affect your life? What other possible outcomes could there have been?
In the next step, you will learn how to find common ground through the process of mediation.
We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.
The great thing about our country is we all can have different backgrounds, experiences and opinions, and still come together and work towards the common good. No matter the level of government – from your local school board to the Congress – people have to compromise – give up some things you want in order to support somethings someone else wants – in order to accomplish their goals. When you earn the Cadette Finding Common Ground badge, you will learn how governments do that – and how you can do it in your everyday life.
Step One: Get to Know Someone Different from You
Step Two: Make Decisions in a Group
Step Three: Explore Civil Debate
A debate is a discussion between two people who have different opinions on any given topic. It is important to know how to draw on facts and logic to support your point of view. It is essential to stay calm. Ruth Bader Ginsburg said, “Reacting in anger or annoyance will not advance one’s ability to persuade,” and the point of a debate is to persuade others to your point of view. A great way to persuade others is to keep an open mind their point of view and to find common ground!
Choose one or more of the following activities
Watch candidates for elected office debate. It could be for any office – from your local school board to the U.S. Presidency. After the debate, discuss with your Cadette troop or your family the arguments on all sides, and whether the candidates found any common ground – or whether they were even looking. Where the candidates persuasive? Why or why not?
OR
Understand a famous debate in history. It might be a debate over the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s, or between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas in the 1860s. Find out why the debate was important to American history and who is considered the winner and why? Did the debaters find any common ground? Did they look?
In the next step, you will learn to understand how to compromise.
We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.
Submitted by Nancy Mucklow
Mountain Communities
Steamboat Springs
Cadette Troop 54538 explored poetry as part of the Outdoor Art Apprentice badge. At our virtual meeting, we each shared a haiku poem that we wrote with inspiration from nature. (Such risk-takers – sometimes it’s hard to share your creations/writing with others!)
We moved from haiku to creating a kind of cumulative poem together.
The form of this poem is called Exquisite Corpse. (Innovators because we adapted this to a virtual meeting format – we are realizing that so many things are easier when you can be in the same room with someone!)
There were no rules, just some guidelines to get us going and get inspired. Since the badge is Outdoor Art Apprentice, we started where we each had one line relating to nature. Line Two had a flower reference. Line Three was a line where a sound appeared and we finished with Line Four where we wrote something that made us think differently about our flower line or something that makes our flower line change or become untrue.
Here’s our poem. We titled it SNAZZY!
Time in the sunshine is grand.
There is a chill outside.
The cold is bitter to me.
Winter is when I thrive.
Springtime is my favorite season.
Tulips, Tulips everywhere!
Roses in vases
Roses blooming outside
The pedals are red.
Columbines popping up everywhere!
The buzzing of the bees fly through the air.
Birds chirping in the brisk air.
Tweet Tweet skitter the birds
Waves waving in the water.
The wind whooshes around.
Snow, don’t garnish the red tulips!
Thrones and Roses
I can feel the pokes as I pick the roses
Seasons changing, changing when they bloom like stars in the sky!
~Catherine, Elizabeth, Jacey, Tayla
As go-getters and innovators, we thought some families might like to do a family poem. If you want, you can follow some of our guidelines and ideas!
Family poem idea: Write a line on a piece of paper and pass it around for everyone to add on. Line one is spontaneous, whatever you want. Be inspired by the person before you.
Line Two refers to fun things outdoors.
Line Three refers to flowers.
Line Four refers to your favorite food.
Line Five refers to something about nature.
Line Six makes you think positive about camping!
Share your fun creation with others to brighten their day!
We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.
Earth Day is April 22 and Girl Scouts of Colorado’s Outreach Program team is helping Cadettes earn their Trees Badge. For Step One, we designed a treehouse. For Step Two, we want you to dig into the amazing science of trees.
On your next neighborhood walk, see how many different types of trees you can identify. If you have a cellphone or camera, take a picture of four to five different trees. You can also sketch the trees in a notebook or on some scrap paper. Bring your images home and see if you can find out what type of tree each was. Check out this website for help identifying trees: https://www.arborday.org/trees/whattree/ Once you’ve identified your trees, pick your favorite one and make a detailed drawing of all its parts and the creatures that may live there or use it.
We want to hear how your girl is using her Girl Scout skills by taking initiative, caring for the community, and Girl Scouting at home. She can send in her story here.