Getting Started with the National Leadership
Program through Journeys
The Girl Scout program is based on the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE),
in which girls Discover themselves, Connect with others, and Take Action to
make the world a better place—all within the safety of an all-girl environment.
Girls take the lead, learn by doing and learn cooperatively.
At the core of the GSLE are National Leadership Journeys – fun and challenging
experiences grouped around a theme and spread over a series of sessions. Each
Journey incorporates all the important components of the GSLE. So, to guide girls
on a great Journey, all you need is enthusiasm and a sense of adventure. Before
you dive in, try these six simple tips:
1.
Learn more about Journeys at girlscouts.org/en/our-program/journeys.html to see how all the
fun and meaningful traditions of Girl Scouting fit right into any National Leadership Journey. There, you
can also find information about the topics that each Journey covers, which you can share with girls.
And, you’ll find even more fun traditions to complement your Journey in The Girl’s Guide to Girl
Scouting, a resource for each Girl Scout level.
2. Choose a Journey. Because Girl Scouting is girl-led, it’s important to give girls the chance to
pick the Journey they want to do. Talk to them about what each Journey for their grade level
is about and let them choose one.
3. Get to know the Journey. Pick up a girls’ book and an adult guide. Read the girls’ book for
the pleasure of it, just to get an overview of the Journey’s theme and content.
4. Review the sample session plans in the adult guide. These sample session plans give you
ideas about bringing the Journey to life with girls while leaving plenty of room for creativity
and customization.
5. Invite girls (and their parents/guardians) to use their imaginations to make the Journey
come to life in ways that excite them. Remember – you and the girls don’t have to do
everything exactly as laid out in the sample sessions. Be creative!
6. Step back and watch how the girls, with your knowledge, support, and guidance, have
enormous fun and a rewarding experience. Celebrate with them as they earn their National
Leadership Journey awards (and perhaps some Girl Scout badges, too!)