The Girl Scout Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards (also called “Highest Awards”) are the highest awards a girl can earn in Girl Scouts. These are awarded to Junior, Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador girls who display leadership while engaging in projects that benefit their communities.
Earning Highest Awards
For the most part, girls should be driving their own projects as they showcase the impressive leadership skills they have been honing. As a troop leader or Juliette mentor, your approach to supporting your girl’s Highest Award earning should be hands-off—you should act as their advisor.
Girls can visit GirlScoutsRV.org/Highest-Awards to help them navigate the process of earning their award. The following instructions serve to help you, their advisor, maintain checks-and-balances throughout your girl’s project.
Bronze Award (Juniors)
To earn the Girl Scout Bronze Award, Girl Scout Juniors plan and complete a project that makes a difference their community.
What Juniors Do
After completing a Junior Girl Scout Leadership Journey, girls will follow the Bronze Award Guidelines (Includes Final Report) to build a project team, explore their community, choose a project, create a project plan, implement their plan, and submit a final report to Girl Scouts River Valleys.
What You Do
As your girls follow the Bronze Award Guidelines, you will follow the Bronze Award Program Kit to help them find an issue they care about and prepare for their project.
Silver Award (Cadettes)
To earn the Girl Scout Silver Award, Girl Scout Cadettes demonstrate organization, determination, and dedication to improving their community.
What Cadettes Do
Girl Scouts will complete Silver Award Online Self Training OR attend a Silver Award Workshop available for sign-up through gsEvents.
Next, they’ll follow the Silver Award Workbook (Includes template for troop leaders and/or Juliette mentors for approval and final report.) to identify issues they care about, build a project team, explore their community, choose and develop a project, and get their project approved by their troop leader or Juliette mentor.*
After completing their Silver Award Take Action project, Girl Scouts will submit their final report to Girl Scouts River Valleys. Girl Scouts who earn their Silver Award will be invited to the River Valleys Highest Award Ceremonies celebrating their accomplishment.
Gold Award (Seniors and Ambassadors)
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouting. Generations of young women who have earned this award have made huge differences in their local and global communities.
What Seniors and Ambassadors Do
After earning their Silver Award and completing one Senior or Ambassador Girl Scout Leadership Journey OR completing two Senior or Ambassador Girl Scout Leadership Journeys, girls will complete the Going for the Gold Online Training (Temporarily unavailable for revisions) or attend an in person workshop.
Next, they will read the Gold Award Guidelines to brainstorm project ideas, choose an advisor (other than you!), and submit their proposal through Go Gold Online.*
After conducting a Skype interview with a Highest Awards Committee member to ensure their project meets the requirements, girls will implement their plan, then submit their final report through Go Gold Online. Once receiving final approval, girls who earn their Gold Award will be invited to the Girl Scouts River Valleys Highest Awards Ceremonies celebrating their accomplishment!
*Council approval is needed prior to beginning any Gold Award project. Girls wishing to do their Gold Award and are in twelfth grade need to submit their proposals by May 1 of their graduation year to ensure timely processing and approval of projects before they begin.
What You Do
Sit back and watch her shine!
Looking for more ways to help girls shine?
Become a member of the Girl Scouts River Valleys Highest Awards Committee. As a member of this committee, you will have a chance to mentor girls through their highest awards process to ensure their projects are the very best they can be. You’ll also be a highest awards expert in your community, educating other leaders, girls, and families on the benefits of Girl Scouts earning their highest awards. Learn more and tell us you are interested at GirlScoutsRV.org/Committees-Advisory-Groups.
