WHat is the bronze award?
The Bronze Award is the highest honor that a Junior Girl Scout can earn.   It is a 20-hour Take Action project, usually completed with a team of Girl Scout Juniors.  Take Action projects address the root cause of a community issue through direct action or advocacy. 
WHo can earn it?
It can be earned by registered Girl Scouts in the 4th-5th grade or equivalent.
What ARE THE PRE-REQUISITES?
Prior to beginning the Bronze Award, Juniors must complete a Junior-level Journey, including the Journey Take Action project. Junior Journey Take Action projects follow the same steps as the Bronze Award, but are smaller scale projects.
Why do you need to complete a journey first?
During the Journey, the Juniors plan and carry out a Take Action Project (TAP) addressing an issue covered during the Journey.  Think of the Journey TAP as a practice Bronze Award because it follows the same steps as the Bronze Award.   
The main difference between the Journey TAP and the Bronze Award are:
  • The Journey Take Action project has no hour requirement.  The suggested hours to spend on the Bronze Award project is 20 hours per Girl Scout.
  • ​The Journey Take Action Project addresses an issue covered in the Journey.  For their Bronze Award, they can choose any issue.
Great Bronze Award Examples
We have gathered some great Bronze Award project examples to inspire you HERE.

GSUSA Bronze Award Resources
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  • GSUSA BRONZE AWARD GUIDE
  • JUNIOR GIRL GUIDE
  • GSUSA BRONZE AWARD ADULT GUIDE
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The GSUSA Bronze Award Guide is the place to start the Bronze Award. It is designed as a resource for Junior Girl Scouts to use to plan their Bronze Awards.
​The GSUSA Bronze Award Guide is found in the Junior Girl Guide or you can download below. 

_bronze_award_gsusa.pdf
File Size: 1067 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

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The GSUSA Bronze Award Guide is found in the Junior Girl Guide. 


The Guide to the Bronze Award is designed for Junior Girl Scouts to use.  The Adult Volunteer guide is written for adults. It contains great tips on guiding your Juniors while keeping it girl-led.

bronze_award_adult_guide.pdf
File Size: 176 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

The GSUSA guides above are the best place to start, but here a few more tips for successful Bronze Awards.

​Do a good journey Take Action Project
 A Junior Journey Take Action project is a practice for the Bronze Award.  It is the same steps on a smaller scale.  Keep those steps in mind when you help them plan their Bronze Award.
  • ​Make sure they pick an issue they truly care about. 
  • Ensure that each Junior has an active role in the project.
  • Challenge the Juniors to reach outside their comfort zones.
  • Include education and advocacy to go beyond community service. 
Learn the difference between Community Service and Take Action Projects
​A community service project is a one-time thing or a short-term fix.  Examples are collections, volunteering at an event, fixing or beautifying things, and filling food boxes. Community service is wonderful, but the need will still be there next month when the donated items are gone or more food boxes need to be filled.
​A Take Action Project meets a need in the longer term by addressing the cause through direct action or education. When they Take Action to earn their Bronze Award, the Junior Girl Scouts find an issue or community need, figure out what they could do to "fix" it, decide who they need to reach out to or help, and advocate for their issue. Click here for more information and examples. Click here  for an interactive quiz to see if you understand the difference!
Help the girls to identify what they care about
When Juniors create a Journey Take Action project, they have a limited choice of topics. 
For their Bronze Award, they are free to choose whatever topic they like. This can be overwhelming.
How do you help them choose?
  • Expose the Juniors to topics through field trips and small service projects.
  • Think back on activities that you have done that the girls enjoyed.
  • Ask the girls the following questions:
    • If you had 25 volunteers, where would you send them and why?
    • ​What problem do you see in your community that you wish someone would solve?
    • What do you know more about than other people that you could teach?
    • What do you think is unfair that people should know about?
Look at the topics that they identify in their reflections. Have them brainstorm which ones they could tackle and have the most impact. 
Look for the "spark" when the girls get to certain topics. When they find the one they want, the girls should be excited about it.
Make sure the girls know what they are doing and why it matters
Ask your Juniors the following questions:
  • Why did you pick this idea?
  • Why does this idea matter?
  • Who will this idea help?
  • ​What can we do to make a difference? How will we know that we did?
  • What result do we hope to have?
​ SUSTAINABILITY  AT THE BRONZE AWARD LEVEL
​At the Bronze Award level, "sustainability" means educating others  or  adding a "pay it forward " component. 
Bronze doesn't need to be sustainable in terms of someone taking over the project. Only the Gold Award requires that level of sustainability. ​