Girl Scouts Revamp Badges for Modern Times

The Girl Scouts of the USA is making over its badges for modern times, adding a number of digital skills to its ever-expanding repertoire, as the organization gets ready to celebrate its 100 th anniversary.

Scouts can soon earn badges in such areas as digital filmmaking, web design, netiquette, product design, customer loyalty and more.

The update is the first major change to the badges since 1987, and signals an effort by the Girl Scouts to help its troop of nearly 2.3 million girls acquire the skills to become 21 st century leaders.

“Girls told us they want more challenge, and we’ve responded with substantive, focused, fun new badge offerings that will prepare girls for lifelong success,” Kathy Cloninger, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of the USA said in a statement.  The new badges encourage “the critical thinking, creativity and entrepreneurship that the next generation of leaders will need to make the world a better place.”

Other new badges speak to this theme of leadership, including insignia in financial literacy, business etiquette, public policy and local food awareness.

For those scouts who still want to decorate their vests and sashes with popular badges in traditional skills like cooking, first aid, and sportsmanship, not to worry — most of those have made the cut. Others have been revamped. The ” Fashion, Fitness and Makeup  badge has been renamed Science of Style and scouts can learn about the chemistry of sunscreens and nanotechnology in fabrics.

There are also new  Make Your Own  badges to give girls at every age the chance to explore their own interests.

Of course, the group didn’t forget its roots. There’s a  Cookie Business badge, which should come in handy for their $700 million annual cookie business.