Girl Scouts Can Now Earn a Cyber Security Badge

The new Girl Scouts cybersecurity badge will launch in partnership with security firm Palo Alto Networks.

Palo Alto Networks will invest in GSUSA to develop this programming over the course of five years, led by a panel of cybersecurity experts. GSUSA and Palo Alto Networks expect to roll out the first in a series of 18 Cybersecurity badges to Girl Scouts nationwide in September 2018. 
 
Computer security, also known as cyber security or IT security, is the protection of computer systems from the theft or damage to their hardware, software or information, as well as from disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.

Photo Credit: GSUSA

The focus for younger Girl Scouts will include data privacy, cyberbullying and protecting themselves online. 

Older members will learn how to code, become white hat (or ethical) hackers and create and work around firewalls. 


The Girl Scouts program could help narrow the gender gap in technical fields by exposing girls to these opportunities earlier.

Cybersecurity workers are in high demand. According to a report from Frost & Sullivan, there will be a shortage of 1.5 million cybersecurity workers globally by 2020. 

You can read the full article on ABC News.

WOW - The Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary!

"Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul" --

Emily Dickinson (1830 - 1866)

The Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary is a non-profit, home to many beautiful parrots of all colors, shapes and sizes! Girl Scouts of California's Central Coast hosts one of our programs there for girls to learn more about these beautiful winged creatures.

Daisies attending the World of Wings (W.O.W) Parrot Program at the Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary had a wonderful time with their new feathered friends!

We are continuing this great STEM program! Please visit our Activities page for more dates and to register. Upcoming dates include: Saturdays, June 3, July 8 & August 5!

If you're a Brownie, Daisy, Junior, Cadette, Senior or Ambassador, you can attend W.O.W. and earn the primary Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary patch and the World of Wings feather rocker! ( C.A.R.E. & P.A.L.S. Coming soon!)

Meet the Bird Sanctuary’s Avian Ambassadors, a vast array of birds in glorious shapes, colors, and sizes! We will explore their unique natural habitats, species behavior traits, and the personality quirks of birds. Girls will discover different parrot species and explore their appearance, behavior, and adaptations to their environment.

You will also learn how to create a foraging enrichment item for parrots. Please bring the following items (if possible!):

• Cardboard paper towel rolls (No TP!) 
• Round Coffee Filters 
• Tissue/Napkins 
• Paper Muffin Cups
• Paper towels
• Raffia
• Almonds (in shell or hulled)
• Wood chopsticks or skewers
• Plastic bottle caps

 Click here for the W.O.W. Program Flyer!

Girl Scouts Plant Native Milk-Weed to Attract Monarch Butterflies

PG&E biologist and the Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast partnered to create a hands-on learning opportunity for local Los Osos girl scouts to earn their Monarch patch in San Luis Obispo County.

The Monarch Butterfly Adventure took place this Saturday in light rain on the Diablo Canyon Power Plant north lands and gave attendees the opportunity to learn about the life-cycle of the monarch butterfly and plant native milk-weed, the primary food source of these butterflies.

The rain didn't stop these girls! To see more photos, click here.

Girl Scouts of California's Central Coast Lauren Chaffin (left) and Lauren Dicek (right) planting native milk-weed, the primary food source of Monarch butterflies, in Saturday's heavy drizzle on the PG&E Diablo Canyon Lands. (Courtesy photo.)

Read more here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/weather/weather-watch/article120229228.html#storylink=cpy

"Dreams can come true, the story behind my CEO patch" by Sylvia Acevedo Interim CEO GSUSA

By Sylvia Acevedo  
Interim CEO at Girl Scouts of the USA -
https://lnkd.in/bEj8Nst  by @SylviaAcevedo
"Dreams can come true, the story behind my CEO patch"   


As the interim CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, I have a great perk, my own CEO patch. Whenever I meet with Girl Scouts, I present them with this special patch. To me, it signifies that girls can achieve their dreams, because I did—thanks to Girl Scouts. I became an engineer and rocket scientist by training, thanks to Girl Scouts. This video explains the elements on my CEO patch and the significance behind each item.

 

The atom in the middle has the Girl Scout symbol as the nucleus. That is appropriate as the heart of the patch because Girl Scouts was a catalyst for me to study science and to meet new friends. Thanks to my Girl Scout leader who saw me looking at the stars one night and joined me to point out the constellations, the systems, in the night sky. To this day, I look up to find those same constellations, serving as a comforting mainstay in my life. I earned my science badge making Estes rocket kits which gave me the confidence to study science and math at a time when many girls did not take those courses, much less go on to become an engineer. The planet Jupiter symbolizes the mission that I worked on at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Voyager fly by of Jupiter and its moons, Io and Europa. 

The symbol for pi, harkens to earning my sewing badge by making a gym bag. My mother advised me that she had never seen a pattern for a gym bag, but I told her that it was ok, I had done the math. She looked at me quizzically as I explained the drawings and the math I had done to figure out how much material I needed. For the round ends, I had calculated the circumference, using the equation of 2 Pi R. My mother, not knowing that pi was a math symbol and not just a dessert, smiled at me as she said, "I'm glad you like math, Mija." 

The symbol for Sigma, stands for summation. I like numbers. Whenever there is a row or column of numbers, I instinctively sum the total. 

The symbol for Infiniti represents infinite potential, which is what Girl Scouts represents to me. Thanks to my experience as a young Girl Scout, I gained the skills, the confidence and the courage to dream big dreams, bigger than anything that I saw around me in southern New Mexico. I am grateful for Girl Scouts that led me to have the skills, interest and passion that led to a great career in technology, entrepreneurship, in philanthropy, in education and now as the opportunity to serve as the interim CEO of the Girl Scouts.

Dreams do come true.

MONARCH MONITORING PROGRAM AT THE ARNAZ PROGRAM CENTER

 

Help the declining Monarch butterfly population every second Saturday through December 2016 at Camp Arnaz.  Register via GSCCC Activities Calendar. 

All information and data collected will be submitted to the University of Minnesota's monitoring project. Questions? Contact: programs@girlscoutsccc.org.

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Monarch Butterfly