The Girls Scouts is once again doing what they can to help broaden the interests of young girls. The organization just introduced 24 new badges girls can now earn, in areas of automotive engineering, STEM career exploration, entrepreneurship, and civics, many of which remain male-dominated
Among the new badge categories:
- Entrepreneurship (grades K-12) – These badges will feature exercises that help girls create and pitch a product or service, build their own business plan, and consider things like production, cost, profit, marketing and competition.
- STEM Career Exploration (grades 2-8) - To encourage women to get into STEM fields, the badges are focused around areas such as computer science, nature/environmental science, engineering, design, health, and agriculture. They will also help girls address important issues of our time and change the world.
- Automotive Engineering (grades K-5) – Girls will learn how to design, engineer and manufacture vehicles, and even get to design their own, test prototypes and more.
- Civics (grades K-12) - These badges provide an understanding of how local, state and federal government work, motivating girls to be voters, activists, and possibly political leaders. They will also research laws, their creation, voting, the electoral college and more, and be encouraged to meet their local leaders.
Of course thanks to the coronavirus getting Girl Scouts together is harder than ever, but that doesn’t mean the good work they do for girls has to stop. In fact, the Girl Scouts have made free self-guided activities available digitally to the public through Girll Scouts At Home. It provides online videos, activities, and special live virtual events so girls will be able to engage with the badges and topics while home. There’s also a other resources open only to members that can help girls earn badges and rewards while home.
Source:Girl Scouts