Girl Scouts to launch ‘Becoming Me’ program in collaboration with Michelle Obama

The Girl Scouts organization on Friday announced a new program in collaboration with former first lady Michelle Obama that will allow members to earn three badges and attend a virtual event with Obama.

Girl Scouts who join the “Becoming Me” program will be encouraged to “embark on their journeys to become their best selves” and will focus on themes found in the young readers’ edition of Obama’s bestselling memoir “Becoming,” according to a press release.

“Mrs. Obama is a cultural leader and a champion for girls and women. Her journey described in Becoming closely aligns with our mission of building girls of courage, confidence and character,” Girl Scouts of the USA Interim CEO Judith Batty said.

“Our Becoming Me program will challenge participants to look inside themselves to define who they are and who they want to become, just as Mrs. Obama does in Becoming.”

Obama also shared the news of the program in an Instagram post, noting her joy working with the Girl Scouts during her time at the White House. During the Obama administration, she hosted a camping trip on the White House lawn and planted vegetables with the girls in the White House garden.

“And that’s why I’m so excited that the Girl Scouts will be launching their Becoming Me program to empower young readers to share their own journeys and unlock the unique and profound power that lies within each of their own stories,” Obama wrote in her Instagram post. “That’s a big part of the reason I made a young readers’ edition in the first place—and I can’t wait to hear from Girl Scouts all across the country who are reading, learning, and growing right along with me. #IAmBecoming.”

The program will last for six to eight weeks beginning in May of this year and will prompt participants to complete journal activities, reflect on their personal experiences and work through content from a modified version of Obama’s “Becoming” journal, according to the release.