Programs

Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania’s programs are designed to give Girl Scouts the tools and skills they need to become leaders in their communities. Our programs encompass everything from STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Math), to badges, to outdoor adventures and focus on the helping girls develop a strong sense of self, prepare them to seek new challenges, learn from setbacks, and become problems solvers in the world around them.

This fall our programs are designed to bring exciting experiences to you virtually. Not only have we transitioned our STEAM Mobile and Outdoor Experiences to an online setting, we have added a variety of badge and journey earning opportunities for girls as well.

See below for a more detailed explanation of each of our program offerings and visit the Event Calendar to register today!

Program Offerings

Virtual STEAM Mobile

Our program team is ready to bring you Virtual STEAM Mobile (VSM)! The programs you love will now be available online. Check out our Virtual STEAM Mobile Page to learn everything you need to know to participate!

New Badge and Journey Earning Opportunities

Our badge and journey opportunities help girls discover new interests and learn new skills at the convenience of their home. Choose from one of our many opportunities to connect with other girls scouts and grow into the leader you were made to be!

Journey Series: Join us on our new Journey series offered Thursdays this fall! Girl Scouts will meet once a week for either 3 or 4 weeks to complete Journeys under the guidance of GSHPA program staff. Girls will earn their Journey and be prepared to execute their Take Action awards. Journeys include:
• Think Like an Engineer for Daisies
• Think Like an Engineer for Brownies
Additional Journey series will be available in 2021. For more information on Journeys click here.
Badge Workshops: Workshops are two-day events offered virtually on Tuesday and Wednesdays twice a month. These workshops are designed to give Girl Scouts the opportunity to dive head first into GSUSA’s newest badges. Badge workshops include:
• STEM Career Exploration Badge Workshop for Brownies, Juniors, and Cadettes
• Daisy Toy Business Designer & Brownie Budding Entrepreneur Badge Workshop
• Junior Business Jumpstart & Cadette Business Creator Badge Workshop
• Senior Business Startup & Ambassador Entrepreneur Accelerator Badge Workshop
Additional Badge Workshops will be available in 2021. For more information on Badges click here.
Badge Days: Badge days offer Girl Scouts a single session badge earning experience! Girls will complete most of the badge requirements online with GSHPA program staff and will be given the tools they need to complete the final steps on their own! These 1.5-hour long sessions will be held primarily on Fridays, Saturdays and Thursday and are packed full of activities that will inspire and prepare girls the Girl Scout Way. Badge Days include:
• Junior Eco Camper Badge
• Cadette Eco Trekker Badge
• Daisy Outdoor Art Maker/ Brownie Outdoor Art Creator Badges
• Daisy Space Science Explorer/ Brownie Space Science Adventurer Badges
• Junior Outdoor Art Explorer/ Cadette Outdoor Art Apprentice Badges
• Junior Space Science Investigator Badge
• Cadette/Senior/Ambassador First Aid Badges
• Brownie/Junior First Aid Badges
Additional Badge Days will be available in 2021. For more information on Badges click here.
Badge Kits: New GSHPA Badge Kits give Girl Scouts the supplies and curriculum they need to complete a badge at home on their own timeline! Kits are designed to provide Girl Scouts the tools they need to take the lead and discover more about the world around them! Ten badge kits will be available this fall with options available for all levels. Prices will vary for each kit depending on the supplies included inside. Badges available this fall through badge kits include:

o Daisy Mechanical Engineering Badge 1: Board Game Design Challenge
o Daisy Space Science Explorer Badge
o Brownie Making Games Badge
o Brownie Bug Badge
o Junior Flower Badge
o Junior Detective Badge
o Cadette Special Agent Badge
o Cadette Tree Badge
o Senior Sky Badge
o Ambassador Water Badge

We encourage you to order well in advance of when you would like to receive your kit as shipping, processing and handling will take up to five weeks to complete. Click here for a list of all the badges kits. Prices will vary for each kit, Kits include items for one girl scout to complete the badge.

Program on Property

The Program Team is heading to GSHPA properties, come join us! We will be offering a variety of events for Girl Scouts throughout the council, use this opportunity to get outdoors with our programs. Visit our Property Reservation page to stay overnight at camp while taking advantage of the program events on the property.

Program on Property event registration and overnight property reservations must be completed separately.

STEAM Saturdays: Girl Scouts are invited to GSHPA’s STEAM Saturday event: Capture Nature! Girls will be inspired by the details outside to create art with digital photography and learn a new way to look at the world!

Register Here

Book a reservation for your family, or troop, to stay overnight at the same time as this event!

Outdoor

Be a trailblazer. Develop a passion for conservation. It is time to take an adventure and explore the world around you. See Getting Girls Outdoors to find out how you can venture out with your troop.

Troop Adventure Days: Hosted by our Outdoor staff, our Saturday Troop Adventure Days are packed with a variety of independent and virtual activities that will teach girls new skills and then challenge them to get outside and put their new skills to the test.
• Junior Troop Adventure Day
• Cadette/Senior/Ambassador Troop Adventure Day
• Daisy/Brownie/Junior Troop Adventure Day
STEM in the Outdoors: GSHPA is excited to welcome you to our camp properties for STEM in the Outdoors! These in person events are open to GSHPA Girl Scout families interested in discovering STEM in the environment. Attendees will have the opportunity to explore nature through hands on STEM activities in a four-hour long morning or afternoon session. Click the date and location you are interested in below to find out more!
• Small Valley on October 17th
• Camp Happy Valley on November 7th

More Virtual Opportunities

Juliette Virtual Juliette Troop Meeting: These new meetings are just for our Juliette Girl Scouts! Share, connect and complete badge steps with other Juliettes on Monday or Tuesday evenings once a month with the help of our GSHPA program staff. To register for these free events check out our events calendar here!
GSHPA Blog: Our brand-new Girl Scout Blog will post on all things GSHPA including girls, volunteers, experiences, product programs, program partners, fun stories and more!

Check out the blog here!
STEAM with the Program Team: This popular virtual event will continue through the fall every other Wednesday from 4:30-5:30pm and focus on a different letter of STEAM each week! These free programs are designed for Girl Scouts in grades K-12 to enjoy! Be prepared to learn and laugh as you discover your inner Scientist, Technologist, Engineer, Artist and Mathematician! Check out our topics below and view our events calendar to register!
• Heavy Lifting
• Animal Ecosystems
• Paper Playgrounds
• Agamograph
• Geometric decorations
Career Chats: Our Career chat series will be offered once a month, on Mondays from 7pm-8pm. Girls in 6th-12th grade will have the opportunity to talk with and acquire expert advice from women who are leaders in their career fields. Career Chats will focus on non-traditional careers for women to inspire the girls to new heights. Check out our topics below and view our events calendar to register!
• Construction
• Plant Science
• Executive
• EMT/Firefighter
• Robotics/Computer Programmer
• Executive

Programs have evolved from previous years to meet the needs of our members. Additional costs added to some programming allows the program team to continue to bring you highest quality programming.

Fun Patch Opportunities

Draw the Lines: How do we elect our political leaders in the United States? What factors determine which candidates we are able to vote for? Why are so many people unaware, confused, or downright frustrated about voting?

We invite your Girl Scouts to earn a Draw The Lines Fun Patch from a project called Draw the Lines PA, a nonpartisan civic initiative designed to help Pennsylvania’s youth understand and have their voices heard in our democracy. This set of activities invites Girl Scouts to understand how voting works in the United States, and for older Girl Scouts, why one particular part of our system, gerrymandering, is so frustrating that many Pennsylvanians want to change it. (Gerrymandering is a result of politicians getting to choose their voters, instead of voters choosing their politicians.)

This project is nonpartisan, and offers a fun and interactive way to be an informed voter and an engaged citizen.

So how can Girl Scouts earn a Draw the Lines Fun Patch? For younger Girl Scouts, we’ve designed activities that get them thinking about how decisions get made by groups, where they live, issues they care about, solutions to public policy challenges, and communicating in writing to appropriate public officials. Older Girl Scouts will be given activities to help them understand voting and legislative redistricting, and also how to raise their voices and constructively express their opinions.

DOWNLOAD ALL THE INFO HERE

Once your Girl Scout has completed her age appropriate activities, please submit the form using this link: https://gsheartpa.wufoo.com/forms/q17hdmde0bvdyz5/. Patches will be fulfilled in the order they are received.

BONUS: Girl Scouts age 13 and older can enter the Draw the Lines PA map drawing contest using a free online platform, they can draw their own districts.
GSHPA Council Patch: Our GSHPA Council Patch was designed by a GSHPA Girl Scout! We're pleased to offer this fun patch on the Girl Scout online store.

Get yours today!