Program areas at GSHPA
Life skills by partaking in gshpa's life skills programming, girls enhance academic skills they learn in school through topics such as: communication skills, civic engagement, financial literacy, global citizenship and healthy living. Girls have an opportunity to put everything they learn into practice by leading a project, thus earning a gold award, which is the highest award a Girl scout can earn. Girls choose a project that will help fix a problem in their community or make a lasting change in their world. This program year, gshpa was proud to recognize 60 gold award recipients in an in-person ceremony at bucknell university. We also celebrated 215 silver award recipients and 375 bronze award recipients as they pave their way toward gold.
Outdoor programoutdoor educational programs and activities offer a key pathway for Girl scout participation. These experiences are offered at the council-operated four camp facilities and offsite with approved program partners. Girls can choose from different themes and focus areas, including environmental or outdoor education. Through progressive outdoor programs for girls of all ages, they experience nature, build skills, and take action in their communities as environmental stewards. More than 2,050 Girl Scouts took advantage of outdoor programming this year across all four of our camp properties, as well as destination and overseas trips. the outdoor experiences benefit girls' physical and mental health, and produce the following outcomes: outdoor competence, outdoor confidence, outdoor interest and environmental stewardship.
Entrepreneurshipgirls participated in Girl scout cookie program, which allowed them to learn business skills, including budgeting, finance, marketing, planning and sales strategy. Both the cookie program as well as the fall product program provide girls with a variety of entrepreneurship opportunities, including social entrepreneurship. When girls participate in the cookie program, they develop the following skills: goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics. We continued to expand our digital platform training for the girls to take their business online and build e-commerce skills. Girl and volunteers continued to find effective and creative ways to reach their markets via social media and other online experiences in addition to their in-person efforts.
Stemwith a focus on high-quality multiyear programs in engineering, computer science, and outdoor stem, girls become increasingly interested, confident, and competent in stem subjects. Stem remains our most popular programming, for in-person settings. We relaunched our gshpa on wheels program, as part of our outreach initiative. When girls participate in Girl scout stem programs, they benefit in four important ways: stem interest, stem confidence, stem competence and stem value. Every council-led program is tied to Pennsylvania department of education standards. Our approval as an educational improvement organization for stem programming eligible for educational improvement tax credits administered by the Pennsylvania department of community and economic development has been renewed.