Welcome to Older Girl Scouting!

Welcome to Older Girl Scouting

Golden Gate Bridging is an event GSNorCal has held for the past 40 years for Juniors bridging to Cadettes. Beginning with walking across the Golden Gate Bridge, quite literally “bridging” from one level to another, girls enjoy trading handmade ‘SWAPS’ (Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere), playing games, earning badges, and learning more about what being an older girl scout has to offer. However, as many of these activities require in-person interaction, trying to recreate this fun environment for girls bridging this year was a challenge.

‘Welcome to Older Girl Scouting,’ was an event held on May 12, 2021 as a Virtual Bridging for Cadettes. More than 80 participants tuned in from all over California to learn about older girl opportunities. This event focused on showing new Cadettes fun opportunities available to them as older girl scouts. Additionally, this event was completely girl-led with Seniors and Ambassadors (girls in 9th -12th grade) as older girl experts, modeled after the different booths at Golden Gate Bridging. As one of the older girl leads, Jessica L., described it, “I loved being a part of the planning of this event. I know sometimes it is hard to find activities that you are interested in . . . this event was perfect to help introduce all these amazing events even I wish I knew about at their age.”

The opportunities showcased spanned from Robotics to the Higher Awards, from the Global Action team to the Lead the Way Committee, and many more. First, two representatives from the local Mariners troop - a sailing program for older girls - described getting hands-on STEM skills through operating power boats and sailboats while making lifelong friends with fellow crew members. Next, an older girl scout talked about the Speaker’s Bureau Club, where girls get to enhance their public speaking skills by taking part in various speaking opportunities. Girls from Teens Take Over and the Lead the Way committee presented next, showing how both clubs organized and moderate events for Girl Scouts, gaining valuable leadership experience in the process. Robotics was represented by a girl scout from Team Gynoid, describing their journey from a first year team to winning a trophy at State Championships, and the communication and problem-solving skills they learned through the process of building a robot. Last but not least, the Global Take Action team discussed how girls can ‘become advocates for important issues that impact girls ground the world,’ through taking action and raising global awareness.

Although Golden Gate Bridging did not happen this year, GSNorcal’s ‘Welcome to Older Girl Scouting’ event educated middle schoolers about the wonderful opportunities available to them. A 7th grade attendee from Troop 60629, Amina B., summed the event up quite nicely - “I loved the variety of activities that were presented here, and I learned a lot about what being a Cadette has to offer!”