Girls who participate in Challenge and Change will work with a team of other youths, family and community leaders and volunteers to carry out a plan for community improvement. In addition, each group will receive funds to help complete the project.
Challenge and Change: Challenge Yourself, Change the World is a teen leadership program. The program teaches middle and high school girls:
- to design and lead projects that create positive change in their own community
- real-world experiences that build skills of leadership
- problem-solving
- social entrepreneurship
The next period for Challenge and Change will go from August 2012-July 2013.
Girls will take part in the Challenge and Change Leadership training. Girls learn skills like how to identify problems, define solutions, gather community resources, implement a plan and lead a team. They also learn more about themselves, make new friends and discover more about their communities. By the end of the training, the girls have created a detailed plan for community action. After the training, girls return to their communities and apply the skills they learned and begin to implement their plan.
Examples of previous projects include:
- Building a skate park for a community
- Starting a community recycling program
- Starting a doggie daycare program
- Starting an Internet café in the community
To participate girls must:
- Live in a rural community with a population of less than 10,000
- Be able to identify a project advisor or adult volunteer to guide the team through the project development
- Complete the Challenge & Change training/curriculum
- Involve friends, family and community leaders in carrying out the project
- Be able to complete a project and expend all funds by July 31, 2013
For more information, please contact Michelle Johnson at 314.592.2344 or mjohnson@girlscoutsem.org.
Read about how girls are making a difference through Challenge and Change
Funding for Challenge and Change generously provided by:
Girl Scouts of the USA and U.S. Department of Agriculture