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Girl Scout Service Unit 660
(San Tan Valley, Florence, Coolidge, Arizona)
 
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What is a Take Action Project


Take Action

What is Take Action?
Girls will create and carrying out a Take Action project with every Journey that they complete.  Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards are all Take Action projects.  
 

Overview of Take Action
Take Action is designed to elevate traditional Girl Scout community service projects from meeting an immediate need to advocacy projects that make change happen.  Girls identify a cause they feel passionate about, and with advocacy and action, make a change. 
Some community service projects address an immediate need in the community: girls organize a book or clothing drive, paint walls to cover up graffiti, or hold a one-time march or fair to highlight a community problem. Although these projects address a need in the community, they do so for only a short period of time.

A Take Action project picks up from where a short-term project leaves off. For example, the girls organizing the book or clothing drive could make their project a Take Action project by holding the drive annually and getting a sponsor to advertise and organize it every year. The girls who painted the walls to cover up graffiti can create a club that travels around the city painting beautiful murals on buildings that have been defaced. And the girls who held the march or fair could expand the event to include community artisans and make it an annual gathering. For each project, girls can publicize and get people in the community to come out and support. They can even get community leaders involved.
When girls pursue Take Action projects, they take time to identify and understand the root cause of the issue they are addressing. Girls also must make sure that each project is sustainable and that the impact is measurable. Because these two words are nebulous and difficult to define, take the time to define each with participants.

Measurable: The success of the project can be determine based on the number of people the project helped, the number of people who were involved, any reduction in the community’s need, and other concrete numbers.

Sustainable: Girls must make arrangements (such as collaborating with community leaders and/or organizations; building alliances with mentors) to ensure that the project creates lasting change and is not a one-time event.


Take Action encourages girls to think bigger and to address problems in such a way that they do not reoccur. And, perhaps most important, a girl’s Take Action project changes the world in a meaningful way.

Girls can identify community needs. In order for girls to start working on their award projects, they must first find out what the community is in need of. Girls also learn how to identify the root cause of the issue they choose to address.

Girls are resourceful problem solvers. Undoubtedly, there will be roadblocks along the way, which means that girls will need to come up with creative ways to solve the problems that arise.

Girls advocate for themselves and others, locally and globally. As they learn about the issues in their communities and work to solve them, girls stand up for issues they believe in, influence policy, and identify ways to continue their project goals into the future.

Girls educate and inspire others to act. By spreading the word about their experiences, girls educate others about issues that are important to the community and inspire others to act. This approach cannot help but have a positive effect on their communities.

Girls feel empowered to make a difference in the world. Girls develop leadership skills and use the knowledge they gain through their experiences to improve their community…and the world!

Below are the seven steps to a successful Take Action Project:

  • Map It: Investigate community needs and problem causes
  • Plan it: Prepare a Take Action plan
  • Do it: Act “with” the community
  • Think About I: Reflect on the project’s impact
  • Advocate it: Demonstrate the importance of the issue to others
  • Be Proud of It: Celebrate the accomplishments
  • Keep It Going: Think about how the project could be sustained

Need some Take Action Ideas?  Take Action Guides (borrowed from GS River Valley Council)

River Valleys’ work to simplify the troop planning process is ongoing. As we continue to develop activity plans and Take Action projects, please use the below samples and reformat based on your girls’ interests and ideas. The samples are designed to be completed over multiple meetings.

Take Action projects are designed to get girls motivated and excited to make an impact in the world.


Daisy Girl Scouts

Daisy: Grades K-1

Brownie Girl Scouts

Brownie: Grades 2-3

Girl Scout Ambassadors

Senior + Ambassador: Grades 9-12

Attachments
Icon File Name Comment  
GS Define take_action_sessions.pdf Activities to teach scouts about Take Action Projects vs Community Service  

Girl Scouts Forever Green: Community Action Proje


Looking for a Journey Environmental Take Action Project on one of the following topics? 

Air:  Indoor air quality and Outdoor air quality

Waste Management:  Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Water:  Improve water quality

Energy Conservation:  Buildings and Transportation

Green Spaces:  Create green spaces or improve existing green spaces.

Each topic contains project examples, ideas on how to measure your project's impact, and many resources to help you design and implement your project. 

 See attachment for the complete booklet.
Attachments
Icon File Name Comment  
GirlScoutsForeverGreenProjectGuide.pdf Girl Scouts Forever Green Environmental Take Action Project Ideas  

Mix It Up! Take Action Activites


Taken from Mix It Up: 
the goal of Mix it Up! Guiding Middle School Girls to Success is to give girls opportunities not only for real-life applications of financial literacy and science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) activities but also find their voice, challenge themselves, make friends, and have fun.

Take Action Activities
http://www.girlscouts.org/mixitup/TakeAction.asp

Activities that lay out a framework for creating an action plan using the skills learned through the Financial Flair and Science and Tech Trek Activities

Click on links below to go to activity sections or click on
PDF link to print activity guides and worksheets

Activity 1: What's the Issue?
Girls think about how to apply skills learned from the Mix it Up! activities to make a difference in the world around them.  Mix it Up activities help Middle School girls learn about 
Volunteer Guide (PDF); Activity Handout 1 (PDF),
Activity Handout 2 (PDF)

Activity 2: Vision and Defining
Girls define the goal of their Take Action project and what action steps they will take.
Volunteer Guide (PDF); Activity Handout (PDF)

Activity 3A: Shaping the Plan
Girls work together, research, and seek answers to questions as they create the specifics of their Take Action project.
Volunteer Guide (PDF); Activity Handout/Worksheet (PDF)

Activity 3B: Taking Action
Girls carry out their action plan.
Volunteer Guide (PDF)

Activity 4: Reflect and Celebrate!
Girls reflect on their experience.
Volunteer Guide (PDF)