Highest Awards


  The Girl Scout Silver Award

The Silver Award is the Highest Award a Cadette Girl Scout can earn. At the Silver Award level, girls work individually or in a Project Team of up to four girls to develop and implement a sustainable solution to an issue they care about. Silver Award recipients have distinguished themselves as growing change-makers who take the lead in sharing ideas and working with experts and volunteers who can assist with their project, all with the support of their leader.  

The Silver Award requires 50 hours of take action per girl and the approval of both the Project Proposal and Final Report forms by the Silver Award Committee. Learn more about what to expect in the Silver Award process below.



just in ~ updated SILVER AWARD Jotforms!

The Highest Awards Committee is always looking for opportunities to improve the user experience of GSSJC's Highest Awards program! The Silver Award Committee has updated the Silver Award online Project Proposal and Final Report forms via Jotform with our girls and volunteers in mind! Please use the following links to access our new forms. There will be a brief period of transition where both versions of the forms will be accepted and then the old form links will be discontinued. Please reach out to silveraward@sjgs.org with any questions.

Silver Award Project Proposal Form

Silver Award Final Report Form

Have you heard about the Silver Award Suite? Last year GSSJC was excited to adopt GSUSA's brand new Silver Award Suite, including new forms, guides, training on gsLearn, and Silver Award meeting plans on Volunteer Toolkit! Learn more on the Silver Award page of the Highest Awards Online Community and check the Documents tab above for the new Silver Award documents, including the Adult Guide for Earning the Silver Award and the Cadette Workbook for Earning Your Silver Award.

Before Silver

Learning About the Silver Award:

Eligibility: Cadette Girl Scouts (6th, 7th, and 8th graders) are eligible to complete the Silver Award through September 30th of the year they graduate 8th grade (i.e. during the fall of their 9th grade year).

Prerequisites: Complete one Cadette Journey, including the Take Action Project.

Steps to the Silver Award

Project Proposal:

  • Utilize all resources in the Silver Award Suite, including the GSSJC Adult Guide for Earning the Silver Award and GSSJC Cadette Workbook for Earning Your Silver Award, Silver Award Training on Zoom/gsLearn, and the Volunteer Toolkit Silver Award meeting plans, to develop your Silver Award project idea. Make sure your project meets Take Action (as opposed to community service) guidelines.
  • (Optional, but highly recommended) Create a free Jotform account. If you create a Jotform account, you will have the ability to return to your form multiple times to edit BEFORE submitting. Once you submit, you will no longer be able to edit.
  • Complete and submit the online Silver Award Project Proposal via Jotform. When your form is successfully submitted, all emails listed on the form (girl, parent, Adult Girl Scout Volunteer Supervisor, and Troop/Group Leader) will receive a confirmation email with the subject line: "GSSJC F-485 Silver Award Project Proposal Submission Complete."

Note: The Jotform confirmation email serves as official confirmation that the girl's complete submission was received and will be reviewed by the Silver Award Committee very soon. Due to high volume of submissions received, Council is not able to respond to individual requests asking if a form was received. Please feel free to reach out to silveraward@sjgs.org if an approval or feedback email is not received within 3 weeks.

  • (Optional, but highly recommended) Save the PDF of your Silver Award Project Proposal submission for your own records.
  • The Silver Award Committee will review your project and send a response via email within 2-3 weeks. Be sure to plan this review timeline into your project timeline. 
  • If you are approved -- congratulations, it's time to start your project! If you receive feedback, know that this is very common and there is no need to worry! Simply revisit your project proposal and incorporate all elements of the Silver Award Committee's feedback. Follow the instructions in your feedback email for how to submit your project updates to the Silver Award Committee (via the auxiliary form link provided).

Project: Once approved, implement your project. If your project substantively changes during the process, you must let the Silver Award Committee know, in order to ensure a smooth approval process at the Final Report stage. Please reach out to silveraward@sjgs.org for access to an auxiliary form rather than re-submitting an entire Project Proposal.

Final Report:

  • (Optional) Sign in to your free Jotform account if you created one.
  • Complete and submit the online Silver Award Final Report via Jotform. When your form is successfully submitted, all emails listed on the form (girl, parent, Adult Girl Scout Volunteer Supervisor, and Troop/Group Leader) will receive a confirmation email with the subject line: "GSSJC F-486 Silver Award Final Report Submission Complete."

Note: The Jotform confirmation email serves as official confirmation that the girl's complete submission was received and will be reviewed by the Silver Award Committee very soon. Due to high volume of submissions received, Council is not able to respond to individual requests asking if a form was received. Please feel free to reach out to silveraward@sjgs.org if an approval or feedback email is not received within 3 weeks.

  • (Optional, but highly recommended) Save the PDF of your Silver Award Project Proposal submission for your own records.
  • The Silver Award Committee will review your project and send a response via email within 2-3 weeks. Be sure to plan this review timeline into your project timeline.
  • If you are approved -- congratulations, it's time to celebrate! If you receive feedback, please revisit your Final Report and incorporate all elements of the Silver Award Committee's feedback. Follow the instructions in your feedback email for how to submit your project updates to the Silver Award Committee (via the auxiliary form link provided).

Note: Receiving feedback at the Final Report stage most often occurs when girls:

  • do not submit a budget that lists both income and expenses that equal zero,
  • in a Project Team, do not submit individual time logs that demonstrate individual leadership hours,
  • complete a project that does not match her approved project proposal,
  • do not complete the required approximately 50 hours of work PER GIRL in a project, or
  • do not properly complete all form fields, including reasonably distinguishable signatures.

Troops with Multiple Projects/Project Teams

Troops with multiple girls or Project Teams completing the Silver Award at the same time should submit their project proposals for review at the same time, especially if the different girls/Project Teams are working with the same Project Advisor and/or Partnering Organization.

These projects must meet the requirement of being substantially different from each other in one of three ways to ensure there is enough opportunity for individual girl leadership across all projects. The projects should either:

1) address different issues/concerns, OR

2) address different root causes of the issue/concern, OR

3) create substantially different project concepts to address the root cause of the issue/concern.

Questions? Reach out to silveraward@sjgs.org.

After Earning the Silver Award

  • Silver Award Pins – Provide your Silver Award congratulations letter to purchase pins at the Girl Scout Shop.
  • Silver Award Certificate – One certificate per girl will be mailed to the Troop/Group Leader from the Silver Award Committee.
  • Silver Award Project Yard Sign – Pick up a Silver Award project yard sign at the Program Place Girl Scout Shop for free!
  • Golden Link
    • One Silver Award project per issue is chosen to be highlighted in the Golden Link. Upon earning the award your girl/Project Team is automatically considered for highlighting.
    • You can submit your project to the Scrapbook section of the Golden Link by emailing communications@sjgs.org.

Silver Award Girl Scouts are invited to attend Gold Award Ceremony in May at a discounted rate! Come be inspired to Go Gold and earn the "I Was Inspired by a Gold Award Girl Scout" patch! Limited spots available. Registration required (open in March/April).

Take Note

  • Girls must submit their project proposals and receive approval from the Silver Award Committee prior to starting their project. Approval can sometimes take more than one round of review, so girls should plan a flexible start date for their projects.
  • Multiple projects/Project Teams in the same troop must have different projects, especially if they plan to have the same Partnering Organization and/or Project Advisor. Projects can either 1) address different issue/concerns, 2) address different root causes of the issue/concern, OR 3) create substantially different project concepts to address the root cause of the issue/concern. We enforce this guideline in order to ensure there is enough opportunity for individual girl leadership across all projects. If you have multiple projects/Project Teams working simultaneously in your troop, you should submit all project proposals for all projects for review at the same time.

Advice from the Silver Award Committee

The Silver Award Committee is a group of Council-level volunteers who love helping to develop leadership and community problem solving skills in Cadettes! We want every Cadette Girl Scout to become a Silver Awardee and are here to help!

From the Girls : How can I be successful in the approval process?


We know that it can seem scary to have to get approval for the very first time. This is all a part of growing up! Start by reading all the information we have provided for the Silver Award as you design your project and be sure to pay special attention to the differences between service and take action.

 A lot of care goes into reviewing every single Silver Award Project Proposal. Our job as Silver Award Reviewers is to give you any feedback you might need to help you deepen your take action skills. If you receive feedback, view the comments as constructive criticism like you would a teacher's notes on a preliminary writing essay. It’s all part of the learning process.

On the Silver Award Committee, we volunteer because we love seeing the creative and exciting projects that girls propose! We want all of our girls to be successful and we support you in your endeavors now and as you move on to Go Gold!”

Darlene Wafer, Silver Award Committee, Reviewer

Contact Us

If you are still stuck, let us know!

Call Us

(713) 292-0236

Email

silveraward@sjgs.org