• Journeys will provide an important foundation for each age level in Girl Scouting for girls and volunteers. Just by following a journey, members will be engaging in the New Girl Scout Leadership Experience (and practicing some Girl Scout traditions!). When the journey ends, girls and their volunteers can apply what they have learned to everything else they do in Girl Scouting.
• The journeys have been created to provide meaningful experiences centered on the three keys to leadership—for girls participating during a troop year and girls participating during shorter time periods. The “sample sessions” in the adult guides are intended not as a “set number of meetings” but to provide momentum and a road map for a “whole adventure” that has more impact than any one activity in the journeys.
• No matter how much time girls spend on a journey, the whole is always greater than any single part. When a Girl Scout journey comes to a close, girls and their adult volunteers will truly feel a sense of accomplishment. The awards girls earn on journeys mark their achievements—so let’s encourage everyone to take their time with the “learning and earning”! Plenty of tips in the girl and adult books provide suggestions for ceremonies and reflections to make earning the awards a more meaningful part of Girl Scouting.

What’s a Journey?

Journeys unfold through a sequence of activities and discussions that add up to one giant adventure. No matter how much time girls spend on a journey, the whole is always greater than any single part. When a Girl Scout journey comes to a close, girls and their adult guides truly feel a sense of accomplishment – and come to cherish the awards they’ve earned along the way.

Each Girl Scout grade level – including the new highest level, Ambassadors – will have the opportunity this fall to enjoy its own unique journey from the It’s Your World – Change It! Series. In these premier journeys, Taking Action has a starring role.

In each journey, fun and challenging experiences mingle in that special way that makes Girl Scouting unique from school and other extracurricular activities. Journeys reach to the core of Girl Scouting and its mission of girl leadership. They also dip back into beloved Girl Scout traditions – and take time to create new ones. Journeys also reach forward, with cutting-edge information and design.

Journeys invite girls to:

• Explore leadership the Girl Scout way (Discover + Connect + Take Action)
• Develop leadership skills they can use immediately and all their lives
• Reflect on their adventures and apply them to daily life

How do these journeys benefit girls?

Leadership journeys intentionally guide girls to be leaders in their own lives and as they grow. Experiences in each journey are tied to the three keys to leadership that are at the heart of the Girl Scout philosophy of leadership:

DISCOVER: Girls understand themselves and their values and use their knowledge and skills to explore the world

CONNECT: Girls care about, inspire and team with others locally and globally and

TAKE ACTION: Girls act to make the world a better place.

How will I know that girls in my group are benefiting from the journeys?

Each adult guidebook describes how the experiences in that journey tie into the national leadership outcomes. Fifteen national leadership outcomes, or benefits of the New Girl Scout Leadership Experience, were identified by GSUSA in tandem with youth development and education experts. Knowing these outcomes, and the “signs” of these outcomes in girls, makes it possible to see the impact you are having on girls’ lives. You will find the outcomes and their signs built right into your adult guide.