Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, the largest council in the nation, announces the winners of its Reality Check interactive video campaign designed to empower girls to share the “real” realities of their lives on video. Reality Check is a part of the Girl Scouts’ ongoing initiative to encourage girls to voice their own opinions through a variety of media channels. Click here to view the winning videos!

Prizes were awarded in each of seven categories. Winners were judged on creativity and imagination, the ability to inspire, and the power and effectiveness of storytelling.

• Grace D. of Lake Forest won the “CEO’s Pick Award.” Grace’s video was chosen by Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana CEO Maria Wynne for illustrating her passion for the preservation of marine biodiversity through the creative use of animation and graphics. Grace was awarded a $250 Best Buy gift card, plus tickets for her and a guest to see a production at the Goodman Theatre with Wynne.

• Shreya S. of Naperville won the “My Voice Award.” Shreya’s video was chosen by Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana for her particularly creative journalistic approach. She interviewed several teachers and other students at her school, demonstrating a unique “documentary storytelling” approach to illustrate her love for math and science. Shreya won a $250 Best Buy gift card.

• Hannah Z. of Libertyville won “The Mash Award.” Chosen by student writers and editors of The Mash, published by The Chicago Tribune, “The Mash Award” recognized Hannah’s ability to creatively share why being a teenager is much more difficult than being a “kid.” Hannah received a $250 Best Buy gift card.

• Brianna M. of Oak Park won the “Columbia Director’s Cut Award,” as chosen by faculty of the School of Media Arts at Columbia College. Brianna’s video expressed the best part of her day: training and spending time with her adopted dog, Petunia, as she prepares for a future career in training police or service dogs. Brianna was awarded a $250 Best Buy gift card, plus the opportunity to “shadow” a Columbia College film student for a day.

• Kierra F. of Chicago won the “Kasia’s Cut Award,” chosen by Kasia Pilewicz, America’s Next Top Model contestant. Kierra motivated her audience to “dream bigger…and not get discouraged by society’s stereotypes.” She won a $250 Best Buy gift card and the opportunity for her and a guest to have dinner with Kasia.

• Emma W. and Troop 40857 of Barrington worked together to win the “Collaboration Award.” The Girl Scouts openly addressed the issue of bullying, and offered clear and direct ways for peers to prevent (and overcome) confrontational situations. The girls received a $250 Best Buy gift card, which will be shared equally among each member of the troop.

• Danielle M. of Oak Park won the “Motorola Mobility Foundation Award.” Chosen by Motorola Mobility Foundation and Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana, the award recognized Danielle’s use of social media to express her interest in equality in sports, particularly in the promotion of girls’ and women’s sports teams. Danielle won a $250 Best Buy Gift Card, a Motorola Mobility RIVAL phone and a Bluetooth headset.

“The Reality Check campaign continues to be the microphone for all girls discovering their voice. While the video contest has ended, the conversation on girls’ realities has just begun,” explains Maria Wynne, CEO, Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana. “As we celebrate our 100th anniversary this year, the Girl Scouts continues to amplify the voice of the girl, as she reflects on her own reality, and how she’s going to take action to make the world a better place.”

Today we were featured on Emphasis Added, and we sparked a great conversation about what kind of attention teens want to get noticed for. We hope that after hanging with us, and learning more about what goes on behind the scenes of Reality TV shows, that you can pay it forward: share what you’ve learned with your friends, your sisters, your moms. What you see on “Reality TV” is not really real, but your life is! We want to keep the emphasis on that!

Let's get the emphasis on you!

As Emily noted in her post, we’ve all gotten sucked in to an episode of reality TV now and then, and that’s OK. As long as your remember that what you see on TV isn’t reality. What you do everyday is! Share your real stories…. if you think you’ve got your own ‘fiercely real’ life, then prove it and have the chance to win some pretty amazing prizes!

Share Your Reality with Us, Share What You’ve Learned with Friends
DEADLINE is December 15th, six more days to enter. Time to stop reading, and start filming your story in 2 minutes or less. GO!

That’s what the Reality Check campaign is really about, we are excited to be tackling issues that teens are facing on a daily basis and this caught the attention of Today’s Chicago Woman! How cool, TCW featured the Reality Check campaign on their website!

Today's Chicago Woman featured the Reality Check campaign!

Girl Scouts of today, are the leaders of tomorrow. Tell us about a woman you admire… tell us about your life! Don’t forget, you have until December 15th to submit your Reality Check Video on YouTube. It only takes 2 minutes!

Whew! You have more time to get those great ideas on video. Entering the contest is fun and easy. Don’t worry about making the perfect video. It’s about the message and what you say.

So enter now! Prizes include $250 gift cards from Best Buy and this phone from Motorola Mobility Foundation to be awarded to the entry that best uses Social Media in their video! The winner will receive a $250 Best Buy Gift Card AND a fun Motorola Mobility RIVAL phone ($100 value) and a very cool Bluetooth headset ($130 value)!

We’ve received an overwhelming response from all of you that there just wasn’t enough time with your busy schedules! So now you have until December 15 to enter your video to win great prizes. Just tell us your reality! Grab your cell phone or video camera and show us what makes you real. In fact, check out our website soon to see a few of the videos that have already been entered in the contest.

Don’t forget to join us on facebook and twitter too!

Check out Kasia’s Reality Check video, and don’t forget to submit your two minute video by November 30th. It only takes two minutes, so hop to it!

Win this Motorola Mobilty RIVAL phone!

This phone from Motorola Mobility Foundation to be awarded to the entry that best uses Social Media in their video! Winner will receive a $250 Best Buy Gift Card AND a fun Motorola Mobility RIVAL phone ($100 value) and a very cool Bluetooth headset ($130 value)!

What are you waiting for? Time to get filming your Reality Check video, the deadline to enter is November 30th!

This hoodie has your name on!

Submit a video that fits the Reality Check video contest guidelines, and you’ll get this awesome Reality Check hoodie! Better get on it, because we only have 25!

They are so cute, don’t you think?!

Caroline, Kasia & Morgan get to know each other back stage at the Reality Check Kick Off Event. How cute are those Reality Check hoodies!