Colorado Girl Scouts can now earn a new badge thanks to Girl Scout Troop 3573. The 11 girls in the Park Hill troop are the first Colorado Girl Scouts to create a formal, Colorado-based Girl Scout badge — the Urban Orienteering in the Capital badge.
The diamond-shaped badge depicting the downtown Denver skyline, was developed as the troop’s Silver Award project — the highest award a Cadette-level (6th to 8th grade) Girl Scout can earn. The girls were so enthusiastic about the project that they decided to submit it to the Girl Scouts of the USA in the hopes it would become a formal badge, and it did.
The 7th and 8th grade troop members who created the badge chose the topic of urban orienteering because they wanted to help other girls learn to navigate an urban environment.
Troop leader Kristin Coulter says the girls enjoy getting outdoors and exploring nature together, but as city dwellers, they wanted to learn how to navigate around town. And with high school just around the corner, they needed to know how to get around independently.
Following the format of every other Girl Scout badge, the girls developed five distinct requirements that girls must complete in order to earn the badge. The five steps include activities on street smarts, transportation, maps and landmarks, staying connected and ways to pay it forward — all necessary components of urban orienteering. To earn the badge, girls must complete one activity from each of the five steps.
Girl Scouts across the state can start learning how to navigate the city and earn their own Urban Orienteering in the Capital badge, available now.
