What are Journeys?

Journeys are the new GSUSA Girl Scout program curriculum that focuses our work with girls more intentionally on Leadership Development. Journeys do this by giving us guidelines for engaging girls in an 8-to-10 session “Journey” that puts the Girl Scout Leadership Experience into action. That means, by doing Journeys, girls Discover their values, Connect with others, and Take Action to make the world a better place. They also have fun along the way! Click here for more on the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.

Why Journeys?

As we approach Girl Scout’s 100th anniversary (in 2012), GSUSA’s goal is for us all to be working together to deliver a Nationally Consistent Leadership Experience for Girls. We achieve this goal by using Journeys as our core program curriculum, along with badge activities, events, and our great traditions to continue to provide a unique and richly-diverse girl-only experience. Click here to see the Journey Maps provided by GSUSA that give us some great ideas for blending Journeys and all our other great Girl Scout activities.

We strongly encourage you, if you aren’t already, to start using journeys in the fall. (Older girls beginning their work on Highest Awards will be required to do the journeys.) With Journeys at the core, we know that we are on track to achieve our long-term mission to Build Girls of Courage, Confidence, and Character who Make the World a Better Place.

How Do I Learn More?

The best way to start your learning journey is to grab a journey set (adult guide and girl book), sit back in your favorite chair, and browse. They are beautiful and contain some amazing activity content and a plethora of leadership tips. You will quickly see how they will guide us in delivering the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.

When you are ready for more, take the Facilitating Journeys and The Girl Scout Leadership Experience training (course #203). You can start with the self-study course, and then add the in-person course for a more interactive learning experience. For more information, visit our Training page.  And, check out our Journeys FAQs.

As you use the journeys, we would love to hear your experiences. Since so much of the journey is about the partnership between us adults and our girls, the exact course each journey takes will be unique. Tell us some of your ideas that worked well. And, tell us where you felt stuck so that we can put our heads together to offer suggestions for others embarking on the path. This is a new adventure for all of us, so together we will build a shared body of knowledge and a support network.

 Email us at programchat@girlscouts-ssc.org.