Challenge yourself and you can change the world.

That is the message that the Girl Scouts organization wants to impart to teenage girls through a special leadership program where the girls are challenged to change their community, said Rochelle Covington, a field marketing executive for Girl Scouts in Western Oklahoma.

“It’s a great opportunity for girls to develop their leadership skills, get involved in their community and learn that they can have an actual impact,” Covington said.

The program begins with a week-long retreat in the summer, where the girls spend five days on the campus of Oklahoma State University gaining experience in a variety of areas from problem solving to public speaking, she said.

Also during the retreat, Covington said the girls go through a brainstorming session where they identify areas for improvement within their communities.

Leaders at the retreat then help the girls develop plans for a project to bring about improvement in those areas, she said. The girls then implement the projects within their communities over the next few months, she said.

For example, a group of Woodward girls that participated in last year’s Challenge and Change program decided they could improve the quality of life for some local seniors by volunteering at a nursing home and sponsoring fun activities for the residents there, Covington said.

A girl from Gage had a similar idea after attending last year’s retreat, she said, noting that the girl started an adopt-a-grandparent program, by which she paired up area teenagers with seniors in her community.

And a group of girls from Alva got involved with a pet foster care group that seeks to save animals from being euthanized, she said.

“It’s really neat,” Covington said of all the interesting projects that the girls developed through their own initiative.

“At first it can be a little overwhelming for the girls,” Covington said.

However, the girls who really got involved with last year’s program “found they really enjoyed it and realized they can make a difference,” she said.

And the girls are not only making a difference for the future of their communities, but for their own futures as well, Covington said.

“They get to experience a college campus,” she said, noting that visiting a major college campus can be a rare opportunity for some students in Northwestern Oklahoma.

This experience can prove invaluable as the girls transition from high school to college, she said.

In addition, Covington said the program helps connect the girls with leaders within their communities. The girls are matched with an adult mentor within the community as they develop and implement their improvement projects, she said, noting that sometimes these mentors can be influential business people or even mayors and superintendents.

These mentors can become valuable references for the girls as they fill out college and scholarship applications, she said.

Also, by encouraging the girls to get involved and make connections within their community at a young age, the girls may “develop a sense of pride in their community” and will hopefully continue to be involved throughout adulthood, Covington said.

The program is open to girls who will be attending 9th through 12th grade during the 2008-2009 school year.

And even though the program is sponsored through the Girls Scouts program, Covington said the girls don’t necessarily have to have any Girls Scouts experience to participate in the Challenge and Change program.

There is no cost to participate in the program, she said, noting that it is funded through a special government grant.

“Everything is paid for,” she said. “The girls even get a little money to help them get their project started.”

For more information on the Challenge and Change program or to find out how to sign up, contact Covington by phone at (580) 256-5918 or by e-mail at rcovington@gswestok.org.