Background: April 26 to May 2, 2020, is Global Action Week for Education, an international campaign to raise awareness of the importance of education around the world.
As Girl Scouts, we celebrate Global Action Week for Education because when a girl receives an education, it changes her life, and that change has a ripple effect on her family, her community, and her world. We celebrate so that all children can get an education and to achieve the UN Sustainable Goal 4 for quality education.
Activity: For this activity, you’ll need to have access to whichever book you choose. At this time, many libraries are physically closed but you can check online to see if your library offers digital access to books—many do! Another thing you can do is order the book you’ve chosen online to be sent to you directly, or you might even be able to purchase it and download it directly onto your device. In order to connect to the other girls in your troop you’ll want to have a device like a computer or a smartphone handy. Video chatting is a great way to connect when you’re unable to meet in person.
Let’s get started. First, along with the other girls in your troop, select a book to read about girls’ education around the world. Not sure what to read? You might look for: I am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban, Play Like a Girl: How a Soccer School in Kenya’s Slums Started a Revolution, A Girl Called Problem, or ask a librarian (digitally!) for more suggestions.
After all of you have read the book, host a book club at your troop meeting to talk about what you all learned. You can do this through video chat. As you are discussing the book, you might want to ask each other these questions to start the discussion: What was the situation you read about? Why do you think girls’ education is important? Think of other questions that might be important to ask.
When you have finished your discussion, brainstorm ways girls’ education matters in your community and how to share what you’ve learned with others. You could plan to do this as a group, maybe through a video, poem, or presentation which could be shared virtually with others in your community.
You don’t have to stop after only one book either! If you enjoyed the book club, you could pick a different book for next time and keep reading. This is a great way to stay busy and connected, even while you are physically apart.
Hopefully, doing this activity gave you more insight into girls’ education around the world that you can now share with others—helping them learn more about girls’ education around the world too.
If you liked this activity, please share it with another girl and check out our other activities for Girl Scout Seniors! You can find more Global Action Days activities in the Volunteer Toolkit.
Troop Leaders: The instructions for all badge steps are available free of charge in your Girl Scout Volunteer Toolkit.
Girl Scout Activity Zone activities have been adapted from existing Girl Scout programming.