What is a Court of Awards?
At a Court of Awards, Girl Scouts receive recognition for their accomplishments in the form of patches, badges, pins and certificates. Court of Awards ceremonies are held several times during the year and even more frequently for very young girls. A Court of Awards may be used as a closing ceremony for a project the whole troop has worked on, with each girl receiving the patch or badge that symbolizes her effort. Or, recognitions individual girls have earned over a period of time may be distributed at the Court of Awards.

What’s in a Court of Awards?
Presentation of awards is the main activity of a Court of Awards ceremony. There are many creative ways to present girls with recognitions. Demonstrations or displays of what was done to earn the awards can add interest to the ceremony. Girls may wish to include a candlelighting in the ceremony. Many of the Promise and Law candlelightings used for investitures are also appropriate for Court of Awards ceremonies. A Court of Awards can be a formal kind of ceremony with invited guests; parents, troop support committee, program consultants and sponsors. Or, it can be a simple ceremony with the troop leader presenting the girls with recognitions at the end of a regular troop meeting. Whatever form the Court of Awards takes, it should be an opportunity for girls to feel proud of their accomplishments.

Things to Think About
Prepare recognition items ahead of time; packaging each girl’s awards together.

Empahsize the effort each girl made to earn whatever awards she is receiving, rather than the number earned.

Hold award ceremonies frequently, especially for younger girls. Brownies and young Juniors Girl Scouts should receive recognitions as soon as they have earned them to help them understand that the award is a symbol of their work. These can be very simple ceremonies with just the troop present.

Recognize each girl individually by name. If possible, comment on what was done to earn the recognition. To save time, pin the awards to ribbons and then pin ribbons on the girls.