The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting, (or GGGS) a brand-new girl handbook, will have one book available for each program level - Daisy through Ambassador.

 Using Journeys & Badges Together

The below graphic explains how the journeys and badges work together. Journeys and badges are designed to be complementary, not to compete. Journeys are the core Girl Scout curriculum. They have been developed to help Girl Scouts develop the three keys to leadership: Discover, Connect and Take Action. Badges complement the journeys by helping girls build skills on specific topics. To get a picture of how journeys and other Girl Scout activities work together to make one consistent Girl Scout experience, view the journey maps on the Girl Scout website. As you mouse over the journey map, you will see pop-ups that give further information about how to tie Girl Scout activities (such as camping, field trips, and cookie sales) into the journeys.

 
 Journeys

• Where can I learn more about the journeys?
  It's Your World: Change It! 
• It's Your Planet: Love It! 
• It's Your Story: Tell It! 
• What does it mean to "customize" a journey? Journeys only come to life when girls and volunteers sprinkle in their own interests, talents, creativity and imagination to shape the journey experience. You can also call upon a range of local experts who can enrich the girls' experience. Check out tips and suggestions in the girls' book, adult guide and in It's Your Journey-Customize It!
• Will it be possible for badge requirements to count toward fulfillment of journey requirements? Journey awards are based on a girl’s participation in a whole series of interrelated activities and discussions that contribute to a girl’s overall experience and that help her develop the three keys to leadership.  Badges focus on one specific skill (for example, creating a piece of art or learning first aid). For that reason, journey activities cannot be counted as completion of a badge activity requirement. Keep in mind that the journeys are very flexible and that requirements for earning awards are not meant to be rigid. What's most important is that girls gain exposure to a variety of opportunities and enjoy activities based on the three keys (Discover, Connect, Take Action). 
• What are the requirements for the new Journey Summit Pin? When a girl completes all three journeys for her program level, she earns this pin. Earning this award demonstrates that a girl knows what it means to be a leader.

 The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting  

• What is The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting ?  In September 2011, Girl Scouts USA will debut this exciting new resource for girls. Girls at each grade level will have their own The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting so there will be six publications. It will be a 9x12 standard three ring binder o girls can add pages and other mementos to it. The sections will include badge offerings; a handbook section covering traditions, history and bridging; and a "My Girl Scouts" section (varies by grade level but will include things like scrapbook pages, stickers, etc.).
• Who gave input into the development of The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting ? More than 1,000 girls, parent, and volunteers from all over the country participated in online surveys and focus groups to help GSUSA develop The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting .  More than 30 volunteers, national operational volunteers and council staff from various locations met online for months to offer input into the format and the content of the badges. Within Girl Scout headquarters, teams from several departments made recommendations on format and content. Before finalizing, girls from all backgrounds and across grade levels offered feedback on the content in its formative stage.
• Will adult guides to The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting be produced? Adult guides will not be necessary as volunteers will be able to apply what they've learned from their journey adult guides, Volunteer Essentials and Safety Activity Checkpoints.
• When will it be available for purchase? Girl Scouts USA will ship them in early September. As soon as they are available in our stores, we will post it here and send the message out through our communication channels.
• What will it cost? We do not have the prices for the books at this time. As soon as we have this information we will post it.
• Will the journey books be include in The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting? The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting is a separate resource from the journeys. The reason for this is to give girls the opportunity to define their Girl Scout Leadership Experience by choosing the journey they want to take.
   

 Badges

• Are badges going away?  No, earning awards is an integral part of Girl Scouting, as it has been for nearly a century. Badge activities complement the journeys and contribute to the first leadership key: Discover. Some badge topic areas are out of date and are being permanently retired, while some totally new badges will be introduced. Other offerings will combine current topics and favorite activities into badges that will feel very familiar to all of us. All badges will have great energy and a bright new look. New badges will be released in The Girl's Guide to Girl Scouting .
• Why is Girl Scouts USA changing the badges? Being relevant to today's girls is one of the main reasons why Girl Scouts USA is updating the badges. The Girl Scout badges haven't been updated in 20 years and think about how much technology alone has changed in that time. We know this won't be easy but it is truly being done with the best interest of girls in mind. The great part is that Girl Scouts created a special category called Legacy Badges so we can keep the traditions that make us who we are and still give girls a variety of things to do that are hot topics today.
• What will the new badges look like? We do not know the details of individual badges but they will be embroidered iron-on patches.
• How many new badges will be offered at each level?  The exact number of badges is still under consideration but the intention is to offer girls a variety of topics that cover contemporary interests, as well as classics that have historically been appealing to girls and volunteers. 
• How will there be enough for girls to do if the numbers of badges are reduced?  Girls will have many awards to earn. Girls will have the new badges; journey awards; the Girl Scout Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards; the Safety Award; CIT; VIT (formerly LIT); PA; troop crests; and two new awards called My Promise, My Faith and Journey Summit. 
• Why are skill building badge activity sets not being offered to GS Ambassadors? Research shows juniors and seniors in high school are interested in earning fewer badges than girls at other levels. Many are pursuing their Girl Scout Gold Award and are busy with college preparation.    
• Are the skill building activity sets requirements going to be sold individually or in sets? The skill building badge sets will be sold in sets of five. This keeps costs down. They are being sold seperately so girls can add badges that reflect their interests.
• Will GS Daisies earn badges? Girl Scout Daisies will continue to earn the Promise Center and Learning Petals. The activities for earning petals will be revised for the release of The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting. Daisies will earn “leaves” when they complete activities tied to cookie sales and financial literacy.
• Will girls still earn Cookie badges? Yes. There will be two sets of skill-building badges related to the Girl Scout Cookie Program. A girl will still be able to earn the Girl Scout Cookie Activity pin when she participates in the Cookie program.
• Are the Signs at the GS Junior level being updated or discontinued? They are being retired.
• What will happen to Troop Crests? They are being updated for style but will not be changing in any other way. Troops will still be able to choose the crest and wear them as their troop representation.
• What will happen to Troop's Own and Council's Own badges? Girl Scouts USA will release new guidelines for national badges developed within councils. Troop's Own will be retired and grils may develop a Make Your Own badge (see section below).
• Will there be more discontinued badges from Girl Scouts USA than the ones currently listed on the national website? Yes, the national organization has told councils that they will continue to discontinue badges as they run out of stock in the merchandise warehouse. Please note that some badges are being discontinued but will be re-released with a new look and style.
• How long can we use existing handbooks and work on existing badges?  The Girl’s Guide to Girl Scouting will be available for use beginning in fall 2011, with the transition period running through September 2012. Please see the below Q&A for important information related to this. 
• When will production of current badges end? Many items have already been discontinued by Girl Scouts USA. Girl Scouts OSW will do our best to maintain a full inventory until September 2011. We will update our inventory list weekly, so check back regularly.

• How can we be sure that girls are working on badges that are still available in your stores? We want to assure you that we are going to be as transparent as possible so no girls earn awards that they can not proudly display on their sashes. Every week, we will update our inventory levels of Girl Scout USA's discontinued items so be sure to check back regularly.