As promised, here is the second part of Troop 3763’s activities to earn the Bronze Award.
How We Earned Our Bronze Award, Part II
By the Girl Scouts of Troop 3763
To earn our Bronze Award, we performed a Variety Show at a senior living center. See Part I for details on the beginning phase of our journey.
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| The girls singing “Loverly” |
With date, time, and needs coordinated with the senior living center, we dove into action creating our Variety Show. During our earlier meeting, we learned the residents at the senior living center loved to gather and watch the show, Dancing with the Stars, so we created a skit based on this show. We selected our parts (there were three judges, one snarky, one super friendly, and one in the middle, and there was a host, and two dancing pairs). We wrote our own scripts, and planned our routines.
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| “Dancing With the Stars skit |
Our Variety Show began with the Dancing with the Stars skit, and followed with two solo songs, a violin/cello duet, a piano performance, and a final group song. The show was a hit. The seniors’ excitement began a week before the show when we came to practice staging. On the night of the performance the seniors waited patiently in their seats, thirty minutes before the show was to begin, and they lingered long after the show’s end. The seniors enjoyed the attention as much as they enjoyed the entertainment.
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| Violin/cello performance of “Arabian Nights” |
From this project we learned a lot about ourselves. “We’re good at acting and singing,” said one Girl Scout. “We all have different talents,” said another. We also learned about working together, since we had to cooperate to make the script. We learned we had to speak up if we had an idea or opinion, and to not be afraid to stand firm on our ideas. We shared our talents with each other, teaching each other songs, dance moves, and how to properly bow. We learned about responsibility, since we had to prepare our individual parts and had to practice inside and outside of the Girl Scout meetings. We learned about stage presence, about facing the audience, and speaking more slowly, loudly, and clearly.
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| One of the announcers of the variety show acts. |
We also learned about the management of creating a show such as this. For example, we learned to pay attention to our audience. “We thought of what the seniors liked,” said one Girl Scout, referring to our appealing to the senior’s appreciation for the show Dancing with the Stars. “We chose songs they liked, such as The Trolly Song, and Over the Rainbow,” said another Girl Scout. However, if we had it to do again, we would like to cater to our audience even more. When asked what else we would change if we could go back in time, we all agreed we would practice more. We did an outstanding job, but the show could have had fewer glitches if we had had a little more practice.
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| A solo song, with the seated Girl Scout acting as a prop. |
We had a great experience performing a Variety Show for a senior living center, and we recommend this type of project for other troops looking to earn their Bronze Award, which is the highest award a Girl Scout Junior can achieve. Whichever project your troop chooses for a Bronze Award; check out this handy link from the Girl Scouts of America website which lays out the required steps.
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Ladies, BRAVO! A job well done! Thank you for enriching the lives of others and helping to make the world a better place. I am sure the seniors were talking about your show for several days afterwards.
If any other leaders have any other activities they need to share, just email me at the “Contact Me” email address.
