CHICAGO, March 26 (UPI) -- Girl scouts in the Chicago area can participate in a program to learn how to create Android mobile applications, officials say.
In the initiative known as "My Girls Scout Sash is an App," girls age 5 through 17 will attend a series of programming "boot camps" in which they will learn to create and design a mobile app tied to the Girl Scouts' handbook, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.
Girl Scouts earn badges by gaining a level of proficiency in a skill or gathering information on a career goal such as scientist, money manager or artist.
The app program is a first step in digitizing the badge process and will allow girls to track and share their progress as they work toward various badges, Maria Wynne, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, said.
The program has been funded with a $150,000 grant from the MacArthur Foundation and is a joint project between the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, Motorola Mobility Foundation and MentorMob, a crowdsourcing Web site based in Chicago.
"This grant provides girls with the platform to take their interest to a digital level, marrying tech savvy with life-long learning," Wynne said.
