The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award that a Senior Girl Scout may earn. Someone once described the Girl Scout Gold Award as being "what you really want to be remembered for" in Girl Scouting. For many, the leadership skills, organizational skills, and sense of community and commitment that come from "going for the gold" cement the foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship.

There are actually five parts to the Girl Scout Gold Award. The first four parts must be completed before the Gold Award Project is undertaken. The requirements are:

1. Earn three Interest Project patches.

2. Earn the Girl Scout Gold Leadership Award.

3. Earn the Girl Scout Gold Career Award.

4. Earn the Gold 4B's Challenge.

5. Design and execute a Girl Scout Gold Award project. Planning and action steps require a minimum of 65 hours.

You must be registered as a Senior Girl Scout (age 14-17 or in grades 9-12). No requirement may count if it was done as a Cadette Girl Scout. All Senior Girl Scouts must complete their project by September 30 of the year they graduate from high school or turn 18 years old.

Complete the first four requirements in any order but they must be done before starting on your actual project.

Deciding on a Gold Award Project:

• You design it based on your talents, abilities and interests.
• Make it special to you and your interests; a way that you would like to help the community.
• Beneficial to the community (city, county, state or Girl Scout community).
• You may work on the project alone or as part of a group.
• Make it challenging, interesting and beneficial to yourself as well as others.
• Should be something that stands by itself ­ something new that is not related to an established troop, service unit or council activity.

On this basis, design a project that will require at least 65 hours of commitment. Complete the Gold Award Project Proposal. Be sure to include the people you will be working with, how you will fund your project and other resources you will use.

The Gold Award Project Proposal or Gold Award Final Report must be submitted by October 1 or March 1 of each year for approval by the Gold Award Task Group. Gold Award interviews are conducted after the submission dates.