A Girl Scout becomes a Cadette from sixth through eighth grade. It is during this time that they can earn the LIA or Leader in Action Award. This is a special occasion for the Cadette and the Brownie troop she decides to team up with to earn the award. The Cadette displays her leadership skills to influence the younger Brownies to want to experience that for themselves. She will demonstrate through many activities the importance of connecting with one another and help the girls gain confidence to one day become leaders themselves.

There are five steps the Cadette will complete on their way to earning the LIA Award. The Cadette must first locate a troop of Brownies that meet on a day and time that works for her. Once she does that and clears it with the Brownie leader, she demonstrates her organizational skills. She can do this by discussing with the leader what the troop is learning about, what they love to do and what materials and instructions are needed for upcoming meetings. It is required that the Girl Scout Cadette must come to at least four Brownie meetings, more if they want. Depending on which Journey book the Brownies are working from, will dictate some of the activities the Cadette decides would suit the girls. For instance, in the It’s Your World- Change It series, Brownies are discovering their values, helping their families with healthy living and learning how they can help their communities. Cadettes can easily plan to bring in a healthy snack to prepare with the girls or show them some fun exercises and then clarify why those things are important. In the It’s Your Planet-Love It series, the Cadettes learn about air while the Brownies discover all about water, both of which we cannot live without. Since water and air work together to sustain life, a great activity the Cadette can do with the Brownies is play a game that requires them to use teamwork and work together just like water and air. Media and stories are all around us. This is what Cadettes and Brownies will study in the Its Your Story-Tell it series. One action Cadettes earning their LIA Award can do is share stories from different countries and explains how they relate to the girls and how stories and media connect us all.

The fourth part of earning the Leader in Action Award is to get the leader’s input on the activities they did. The leader can point out ideas they thought worked well or concepts that could use improvement, if any.

Lastly, the Cadette answers questions about what they discovered, how they connected and how they took action which are the focus of all Girl Scout activities.

The LIA Award is a benefit for the Cadette and the Brownies. Both will learn important skills that will last their lifetime.