Meet the young stars in Girl Scout Troop 796, who spent the past eight months working towards attaining the highest level of recognition in the third- through fifth-grade category. On May 31, 13 fifth-grade students from Argonaut Elementary School will receive the Bronze Award, the most recent addition to medals from the Girl Scouts.

"I think we all truly deserve it," says 10-year-old trooper Courtney Payne. "We worked really hard over a long period of time. But we had a lot of fun doing things together."

Fun was only one aspect of it. In order to obtain a Bronze Award, the students didn't necessarily have to jump through hoops, but they did a lot of learning and self-exploration activities to earn their four badges.

All of the troopers decided to go for the Caring for Children badge. After three 2¹/2-hour workshops, one would think these kids were ready for a baby-sitting gig. They gained hands-on experience in how to properly hold an infant, got down and dirty with changing diapers, learned about healthy snack options, got tips about age-appropriate toys and discussed overall safety precautions.

Moving from baby dolls to high-tech gadgets, troopers had a chance to experiment with their photography skills using digital cameras, as part of the Sign of the Star badge.

"I was amazed at some of the pieces," says co-Scout leader Kathy Fetsch. "These girls have talent."

Fetsch describes one picture in particular, in which it appeared as though a tree had fallen on one of the girls. And, in another picture, it looked like one girl was holding another in her hand.

In addition to learning the different features and functions of the camera, the girls also participated in rock-climbing activities, boat rides and first-aid training.

Courtney says she particularly enjoyed rock climbing, even though she got "stuck at the top several times." She blames it on her inability to speak loudly that day due to having a hoarse voice.

"I tried to signal with my hands that I was ready to go down, but nobody saw me," she says. "I wasn't scared though. I just kind of hung out at the top and waited for them to get me down."

She says she also benefited from the first-aid training.

"I learned a lot," she says. "One of the things I learned was that half a cup of poison-oak oil can infect the world. I told my teacher this while on a field trip and she had no idea what I was talking about. Things like this are hard to get out of the brain."

To complete their Bronze Award project, the students separated into two groups. Seven of them decided to conduct a Brownie Camporee, while the remaining six participated in Kits for Kids.

If they didn't know it before, those in the camporee know now that baby-sitting is not an easy job. Stuck in a Girl Scout facility at Rainbow's End with 12 second-grade Brownies for one day, the Scouts were put in charge. They taught the second-graders how to make pizza, pancakes and omelets. One trick they shared in making the omelets was cracking eggs in a Ziploc bag, mixing the ingredients inside the bag and placing the bag in a boiling pot of water. Then came the hardest part—putting the children to bed.

"We read stories to them to calm them down, but it didn't work," says Allison Buchanan. "They ended up playing flashlight tag and didn't sleep until 11 p.m. to midnight. I was pretty tired. It was hard work, but also fun."

Allison's mother, Patty, was present to witness everything as one of the supervisors.

"It was fun watching them," she says. "There was flour and tomato sauce everywhere while they were cooking the pizza. There was also a lot of cleaning up to do. Overall, the kids handled things very well. I was impressed."

Meanwhile, those involved in Kits for Kids spent hours sewing 30 tote bags and assembling goodies for children in hospitals.

Ashley Fetsch says she decided to sew instead of cook because it was something she did not know much about and wanted to learn.

"I wanted to try something new," she says, "whereas cooking is something I can teach my little sister anytime."

She admits she wasn't the best seamstress at first, having sewn the bottoms of the bags to areas where she wasn't supposed to. But she got the hang of it fairly quickly.

"The good thing about it is that you can always redo it if you make a mistake," she says.

In addition, each Scout pitched in $20, which was used to purchase items that would keep the recipients occupied. Bags were equipped with scratch books, gel pens, card sets, puzzle books, origami paper and beading kits.

Despite having to juggle multiple activities—some were involved in sports and band—the troopers say they would do it all again.

"Not only did they learn a lot about their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as problem-solving skills, they learned to appreciate their fellow Scouts' talents as well." says Lisa Payne, one of the scout leaders and mother of Courtney. "That's the idea of being a Girl Scout."