Thanks Badge: Hope
Some of Hope Shah’s earliest memories come from the Girl Scouts, beginning in the first grade with the Great Blue Heron Council in her hometown of Waukesha. Hope loved drawing and sewing and especially selling cookies, but she mostly loved spending time with her friends. Looking back now, her most treasured childhood memories stem from overnight camping trips with her father as the duo secured the ‘Me and My Guy’ patch. Alongside her best friend and her dad, the foursome would camp out under the stars together, enjoying each other’s company outside.
Because of this, it’s no surprise that Hope continues to create new memories with the Girl Scouts into adulthood. In gratitude for her current involvement, she was recently honored with the Thanks Badge for serving on the Highest Awards Mentor Committee.
After concluding her childhood journey in the Girl Scouts after the fifth grade, Hope went on to become a troop leader for her eldest daughter when she was in kindergarten. “I wanted to spend time with her and get to know her friends,” Hope says. She took the girls through the entire 13 years together, concluding with a troop trip abroad to Switzerland in 2023 before their senior year in high school. She fondly remembers a gondola ride up to the top of a Swiss mountain, looking at the valley below amidst wispy clouds. It was fitting: she and her troop had reached the pinnacle, both literally and metaphorically.
But Hope's involvement with the Girl Scouts doesn’t end there. Three years ago, Hope also began working with the Highest Awards Mentor Committee to lead the trainings for girls in the fourth grade through twelfth grade who want to earn the highest awards in the Girl Scouts. Dubbed the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards, these honors go towards girls who want to make the world a better place — and are willing to put in the work to do so.
It doesn’t matter whether it’s the Bronze, Silver, or Gold Award — each one requires the girls to identify an issue in their community that they care about and come up with a proposal to enact change. For the Bronze Award (girls in the fourth or fifth grade), this is done as a troop and there are no trainings. As the girls get older, the requirements evolve and grow. There is an optional two-hour training for the Silver Award (grades sixth through eighth) and the girls can tackle the project solo or as a team. The Gold Award ( grades ninth through twelfth) is the most prestigious award in Girl Scouting and requires a mandatory two-hour training as the Girl Scout tackles her project alone.
In addition to these trainings, Hope mentors the older girls in their quest for the Silver and Gold Awards — she is with them for a full year as they take it from the proposal to the conclusion of the project. Once she is assigned a girl, she meets with her and her parents at a Starbucks to go over the proposal together and provide edits and feedback in a nurturing and supportive environment. After they are both happy, Hope approves the project. From there, she offers guidance in whatever way is best for the Girl Scout. At minimum, this involves monthly check-ins to help with any roadblocks or issues. Last, she reviews the final project once it’s submitted to ensure that it meets all the criteria.
And then, Hope and her Girl Scout get to memorialize all the hard work at the Highest Awards Celebration — the crowning achievement of a year’s worth of effort.
Serving on the Highest Awards Mentor Committee keeps Hope busy, especially with her job as a clinical trial nurse. But, she is adamant that she gets more out of it than she gives.
“The community is so good and I'm thankful to be a part of that,” she says. “I just want people to know that you can do anything with the Girl Scouts. It can be anything you need it to be.”
The Thanks Badge honors someone whose ongoing commitment and leadership has had a profound impact on the Girl Scouts. Nominees must be active, registered Adult Girl Scouts.
