Spring Newsletter
- Beth Domel
- Mar 27
- 3 min read
Spring Into Girl Scout Fun
Read below for information about the following!
Upcoming events in the Bluebonnet Central Service Unit
Gold Awards, including a wonderful summary of a project by one of our girls, Willa Fischer
Next BBCSU Meetings
Upcoming Events in 2026
Events are coming up faster than the flowers in March, April and May! Please see below for more information and register soon!
***Please note that the deadline for signing up for the First Time Campout is Friday, March 27, and the Star Party is March 28!***
Gold Award Information
The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouting! Girls are literally changing the world as they work on these awards. In BBCSU, Willa Fischer, a Girl Scout Ambassador in Troop 40, is working on her Gold Award now. Below is her wonderful article about her project.
Be Seen, Be Understood: A Medical Self Advocacy Curriculum for Kids
by Willa Fischer, 12th Grade Girl Scout Ambassador
My Gold Award addressed the issue that it takes an average of 7 years to diagnose a child with a rare disease, and 30-40% of children with special needs have no diagnosis. While there are many potential reasons for this delay, the root cause that I chose to address with my Gold Award is that kids are not taught how to advocate for themselves in medical situations, leading to doctors not having full and correct information to make the diagnosis. Existing medical advocacy resources are designed for parents and caregivers or, when they are designed for kids, are too babyish. Kids deserve accurate, evidence-based medical advocacy resources designed specifically for them, with language that doesn't talk down to them. When kids are taught how to speak up for themselves to medical providers, studies show they have better healthcare outcomes.
With a team of medical care providers, I created a workshop curriculum that teaches medical self advocacy skills to children who are in the process of finding a diagnosis for their medical issues. I partnered with the organization UR Our Hope to deliver workshops to the kids in their organization. Over four months, I delivered workshops to over 100 kids, including the UR Our Hope kids, kids with special needs in the greater Austin area, as well as kids in the community, including our own Girl Scout community, who might not need medical self advocacy right now but may in the future.
I surveyed the workshop attendees before and after their participation in the workshops to measure my success in teaching medical self advocacy as defined by (1) knowing what self advocacy is (2) the ability to speak confidently with doctors and (3) the ability to understand and use medical terminology. Across all metrics, medical self-advocacy knowledge increased. For detailed survey analysis, please click here.
A self-paced Medical Self Advocacy workshop for kids is available online and I invite any of you who are interested to take a look. To further help out UR Our Hope and the kids in their organization, I wrote and designed a pamphlet for UR Our Hope advocates to take with them to conferences across the country. Interested in learning more? Here is a link to some additional resources.
For some additional inspiring stories about the projects girls have chosen, read this article: https://www.girlscouts.org/en/our-stories/girl-scouts/gold-award.html
Also, if you know a Scout who has achieved her Gold Award, GSA is offering a $5000 scholarship. Information about that scholarship may be found here: https://www.girlscouts.org/en/members/for-girl-scouts/badges-journeys-awards/highest-awards/gold-award/gold-award-scholarship.html?_gl=1*1343tte*_gcl_au*MTkxNTQzMzYxMC4xNzcxNjI4NTgy*_ga*MTg4NjUxMTIyNS4xNzcxNjI4NTMx*_ga_5158YSHZTM*czE3NzQ2MzI4MDUkbzIkZzAkdDE3NzQ2MzI4MDkkajU2JGwwJGgw
BBSCU Meetings
As event dates, details and registration are finalized, we'll update the BAND calendar, post details in the BAND feed and host registration on our website.
Newsletters. Check your email for Council newsletters: Tuesday Trefoil for weekly council updates/membership news, Legendary Leader for troop leader information, and Choose Your Adventure - council programs and events that you can bring your Girl Scouts to! Not seeing newsletters? Contact the GSCTX Council.
Important Info: Is your troop planning an event open to other Girl Scouts? Email bluebonnetcirclegs@gmail.com with the details and we'll include them in the next newsletter.
Share photos from your troop service projects, outings or special meetings and we'll share them in a future newsletter.
Thanks for including a girl-written piece (Willa's)! While I haven't read through her materials yet, I hear it's quite impressive (and that's not from her mom :) -Sandra