24 new badges unveiled by Girl Scouts

Published 1:51 pm Friday, July 31, 2020

Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians (GSCSA) and Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) have announced 24 new badges designed to help girls practice ambitious leadership in the crucial areas of automotive engineering, STEM career exploration, entrepreneurship, and civics, many of which remain male-dominated.

“In a year of unprecedented global change, our country’s need for strong, broad-minded, and decisive leadership has never been greater. Through new and existing programming, Girl Scouts equips the next generation of female change-makers with the breadth of knowledge, skills, and experiences they need to take charge and do good for the world, both now and in the future,” said Lucy Branam of Girl Scouts of the Southern Appalachians.

 The new Girl Scout badges include:

• Entrepreneurship (grades K–12).Girls develop an entrepreneurial mindset as they engage in age-appropriate exercises that help them create and pitch a product or service that solves a problem. They build their own business plan and think about topics like production, cost, profit, marketing, and competition.

• STEM Career Exploration (grades 2–8).Girls explore their career interests and connect them to STEM fields — particularly computer science, nature/environmental science, engineering, design, health, and agriculture — that can help them address the pressing issues of our time and change the world.

• Automotive Engineering (grades K–5).Girls learn about designing, engineering, and manufacturing vehicles, as well as the future of mobility. They design their own vehicles, test prototypes, learn about design thinking, create their own assembly line manufacturing process, and more.

• Civics(grades K–12).Girls gain an in-depth understanding of how local, state, and federal government works, preparing them to be voters, activists, and even political leaders.

“Now more than ever, it’s critical that we have strong leaders who can make informed decisions that make the world a better, safer place,” said GSCSA CEO Lynne Fugate. “During our current health crisis, the world leaders who have been among the most decisive and effective in addressing the pandemic have been women. With these new badge experiences in STEM, entrepreneurship, and the critically important subject of civics, Girl Scouts is continuing to build the transformational female leaders of today and the future and showing girls the power they have to truly change the world.”

Even through the lockdown due to COVID-19, Girl Scouting has not stopped! Since March, GSCSA has been providing virtual content that girls can enjoy at home. From virtual badge workshops to virtual tours of our camps, girls have been learning, earning badges, and having fun all from the safety of their homes.