Starting today, Southern Arizona Girl Scouts can earn badges in cybersecurity, environmental stewardship, space science and beyond.
The 30 new badges, released by Girl Scouts of the USA, "deliver the twenty-first century skills that girls today want and need," said Debbie Rich, the CEO of the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona, in a prepared statement.
The environmental stewardship badges, now available for girls in kindergarten through 12th grade, are especially pertinent to Tucson, said Jessica Malordy, the communications coordinator for the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona.
"Tucson is already an outdoorsy place, and it's great to show our girls this has been a tradition as long as Girl Scouting has been around, but now we really have badges and curriculum that prepare the girls to be environmental advocates and protect the planet," Malordy said.
Any Tucson Girl Scout can make a go at the new badges. Just check out the Badge Explorer.
New badges for kindergarten through fifth graders include environmental stewardship, cybersecurity, space science and mechanical engineering. Sixth through twelfth graders can now pursue badges in robotics, college preparation and environmental stewardship, according to press materials.
There are also two new journeys: Think Like an Engineer and Think Like a Programmer. Journeys tend to focus more on taking action in the community, Malordy said.
"We're excited because it's always exciting to offer girls more opportunities," Malordy said. "It's great to be able to roll out some of the badges which are completing the full suite of topics we started to address last summer for younger girls. ... It's exciting to begin to offer new programming around topics super relevant to girls today. We couldn't have offered cyber security in 1965."
If you know a girl interested in joining Girl Scouts, or if you're interested in volunteering, visit girlscoutssoaz.org for more information.
