Girl Scout Cookie Sales Help Fund STEM Badges, Including Cybersecurity and Programming
Depending on where you live, it’s officially Girl Scout cookie season. That means you’re doing a good thing when you buy those boxes of Tagalongs or S'mores. Did you know that Thin Mints are vegan? It may be a bit of a stretch to say that the cookies are good for you nutrition-wise, but the annual sale helps support the Girl Scouts in your area in numerous ways. Juliette Gordon Low always envisioned preparing girls with the skills they’d need for their future world, and today that includes providing girls with STEM opportunities.
A big part of scouting is earning badges by learning something new, and the Girl Scouts offer science- and technology-related badges and journeys to introduce girls to computer science, robotics, mechanical engineering, space exploration, and cybersecurity:
Cybersecurity curriculum and online game: Navigating safely online and through social media channels is definitely a skill today’s children need to acquire. A new interactive cybersecurity program aims to help Junior Girl Scouts (ages 9–11) learn how to safely and defensively navigate the Internet, covering four domains: personal information and digital footprints; online safety; privacy and security; and cyberbullying.
To make security fun, Cyber Squad is an interactive online game, designed by Romero Games, where players and their avatars face real-life digital social situations such as phishing and cyberbullying, make decisions, and learn the consequences of their actions. The cybersecurity skills program was developed by Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in partnership with Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital.
Think Like a Programmer: Funded by Raytheon, middle school and high school girls can learn key concepts of computer science, participate in computational-thinking activities, and team up to complete a Take Action project.
Robotics badges: Girls in grades K–5 can learn how to program, design, and build robots.
Not sure when and where Girl Scouts will be selling in your area? There’s a free mobile Girl Scout Cookie Finder app for your iOS or Android devices.
