Silver Award | Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan

You have the power to improve your community through action.

Ready to help your community and earn one of the highest awards in Girl Scouting?

Cadettes can team up with a small group of sister Girl Scouts or work on their own. To earn the Silver Award, you'll research an issue you care about, make a plan to address it, and then take action to improve your community.

Upcoming training sessions »

** Please read GSSEM's Silver Award Process before you start. **

You may become a Silver Award Girl Scout if you:

Are in sixth, seventh, or eighth grade.
Are a registered Girl Scout Cadette.
Have earned a Cadette Leadership Award or the Girl Scout Bronze Award.
Have attended a mandatory GSSEM Silver Award training session.
Note: Silver Award training provided by another council does not fulfill this requirement.

Leadership Award Log

Tell us about a Leadership Award you've earned to move on to the next step of your Highest Award journey.

Silver Award

Download the guidelines for earning the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn.

How to earn the Girl Scout Silver Award

Find an issue you care about.
Build your Girl Scout Silver Award team or decide to go solo.
Explore your community and think of how the issue affects it.
Choose a Silver Award project that can lead to lasting change.
Develop your project.
Make a plan and submit it to the council for approval.
Once you receive approval, put your plan into motion.
Reflect, share your story, and celebrate.

Completed the prerequisites?

Please submit the project media agreement form.

Project Media Agreement

Important resources

Cadette Guide PDF // Adult Guide PDF
Silver Award Checklist PDF
Project Proposal PDF // Final Report PDF
Money Earning Dos & Don'ts PDF
Highest Awards FAQ

Submit your proposal & report

Project Proposal // Final Report

Please allow three weeks for proposal and report approval.

** Cadettes (grades 6–8) must complete the Silver Award requirements and submit the final report
by September 30 of the year they leave grade 8. **

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Requirement Deadline

Cadettes (grades 6–8) must complete the Silver Award requirements and submit the final report by September 30 of the year they leave grade 8.

Training Sessions

Please check our event list for upcoming Highest Award training sessions.

Minimum Hours

The Silver Award Take Action Project requires a minimum of 50 hours per Girl Scout.

Requirement Fulfillment

Before beginning their projects, Cadettes must submit project proposals to the council for approval.

Project Proposal & Final Report Submission

Completed project proposals and final reports may be submitted online or mailed to the council.

Online: Project Proposal Form // Final Report Form
Mail: Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan
Attn: Kaylyn Borucki
1333 Brewery Park Blvd, Suite 500
Detroit, MI 48207

Honor Celebration

Girls who successfully complete their Silver Award Final Report are invited to GSSEM's annual Honor Celebration, which is usually held in May. Silver Award pins will be awarded at the reception. Girl Scouts who are unable to attend will receive their Silver Award pin in the mail.

Multiple Project Teams in a Single Troop

Troops with more than one project team working toward their Silver Award at the same time must meet additional criteria. To ensure there is enough opportunity for individual girl leadership across all projects—and to meet the national criteria of 1–4 Cadettes per project team—the projects should:

Address different issues,
Address different root causes of the issue, or
Be substantially different project concepts to address the root cause of the issue.

Inadmissible Projects

The following endeavors aren't counted as Silver Award projects. Please see the reasons listed below for details.

Beautify-, Build-, or Fix-It Project

On their own, these project types are community service and do not address the root cause of an issue.
Solely beautifying, building, or fixing something cannot be the main focus of your project. However, it may be part of a larger plan to address an issue.
Beautifying, building, or fixing something—and then utilizing it as a tool to address a root cause—is a way to Take Action.
Example: Building a garden for the sake of having one is community service. Building a garden and then utilizing it to teach others how to create a butterfly or bee habitat is addressing the root cause of an issue.

Buddy Bench

Building a Buddy Bench and installing it on its own is community service.
Buddy Benches are installed for an organization or community, not WITH it.
A Buddy Bench lacks sustainable community support.

Donation Drive

Making and donating OR collecting and donating needed items is community service.
When the drive ends, the issue/root cause remains.
A donation drive is done for an organization or community, not WITH it.
Collecting and donating cannot be the focus of your project.

Little Free Library

Building and installing a Little Free Library on its own is community service.
Projects must address the root cause of an issue. Providing books in this way does not guarantee those who need them will receive them or address the root cause.
Little Free Libraries join an existing effort but don't create a unique initiative.
A Little Free Library lacks sustainable community support.

Little Free Pantries or Blessing Boxes

Building and installing a Little Free Pantry or Blessing Box on its own is community service.
Projects must address the root cause of an issue. Providing food in this way does not guarantee those in need will receive food or address the root cause.
Blessing Boxes or Litte Free Pantries join an existing effort but don't create a unique initiative.
Both projects lack sustainable community support.

Often, a community service project idea can be developed into a Take Action project. For example, you may want to collect items for a crowded pet shelter. That's a service project, of course, but you partner with the shelter. Then, you can investigate the root causes of overcrowded shelters and come up with solutions—like a workshop series that educates others about spaying and neutering pets. That's a Take Action project.

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If you have any questions about the Girl Scout Silver Award, please email highestawards@gssem.org.