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The Gold Award is the highest and most prestigious award that Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors can earn. A project must involve a minimum of 80 hours and include the following steps: identifying an issue, investigating it thoroughly, getting help and building a team, creating a plan, presenting the plan, gathering feedback, taking action, and educating and inspiring others. It is more than just a good service project—it encompasses organizational, leadership, and networking skills.
Mia Abatecola: Sexual Assault: Prevention and Awareness in the Community
As Mia prepared for college, the statistics about sexual assault on campuses became a growing concern. In an effort to increase awareness and prepare women to protect themselves, she gathered resources, created communication materials, and set up self-defense courses.
Kaitlyn Angiuoli: GLOW for the Gold
Realizing how COVID separation issues were affecting her, Kaitlyn became especially concerned with how it might be impacting children with special needs. With a focus on both physical and mental health, she created fitness videos to help them stay active and entertaining cooking videos teaching the importance of healthy snacks.
Watch Kaitlyn's Gold Award Video
Kimberley Barr: Project Prom Dress
While so many of us were impacted by COVID in mental and emotional ways, Kimberley’s concerns immediately gravitated towards the monetary impact of her peers. Prom is a much-anticipated event for high school students, and she was concerned that many could not afford to attend and would miss the experience. Kim’s project arranged access to no to low-cost prom prep services and provided free dress options. Hundreds of students benefitted from at least one of the services.
Alexandra Barriga: Girl Scouts United in Art 2020 and beyond
Due to COVID restrictions, school age students began learning and completing assignments virtually. Alexandria understood the need for youth to interact with one another in a way that did not “feel like virtual school.” With the help of many resources, she provided kid-friendly art classes connecting the activities she was presenting to Girl Scout badges and sought to create a patch program. The feedback she received from the students and parents will forever be a positive COVID memory for her!
Der-Chelle Bonner: Resources to a Healthier Lifestyle
Growing up with type-1 diabetes, Der-Chelle knows first-hand the struggles of making healthy eating choices and staying active. With a goal to help others with health issues, Der-Chelle collaborated with a local community center to provide workshops and resources. She also created a YouTube channel featuring videos about foods and their effects on the body, and the importance of an active lifestyle.
Izabela Burns: Citizen Science SRQ
Izabela wanted to engage the younger generation and create a deeper attachment to the environmental concerns of the future. She hosted events for students, and trained volunteers to teach kids about citizen science in creative and fun ways. Through various tests, participants learned about different marine ecosystems and the animals that live in them, and how they can be a part of the solution.
Caylan Daniels: I am A Girl
As a young girl who suffered with low self-esteem, Caylan wanted to find a way to help others experiencing similar issuess. She did not recall a lot of books featuring positive girl role models, so she created her own book illustrating a story of a strong and confident girl. She partnered with schools and libraries who read her book to their students and program participants and uploaded a video version of her book to YouTube. Caylan is happy to have built confidence in young girls and inspire them to do whatever they want to accomplish!
Kaia Geissinger: Kaia's Cabinet: Feminine Product Distribution
In response to the struggles physically and financially of a woman’s “monthly needs,” Kaia created her own organization called Kaia’s Cabinet to connect homeless girls and women to resources that provide free and low-cost feminine hygiene products. In an effort to provide comfort surrounding an uncomfortable topic, she created a social media account to increase awareness of the problem, and gathered support committed to providing needed items to communities in need.
Rhegan Duncombe: Gymnast to Gymnast
Rhegan has been a gymnast for most of her life and believes it contributes significantly to her high self-esteem and confidence. While visiting family in the Bahamas, she welcomed the opportunity to train at their local gyms, however she was shocked at the conditions and the lack of girls participating. In response, she started a non-profit and has increased awareness, delivered much needed equipment, secured coaches and was successful in introducing gymnastics to more girls in the Bahamas.
Sydney Graham: Alligator Awareness
As a considerable number of new residents moved to the Lakewood Ranch community, Sydney identified the need for Alligator Awareness education. She contacted Florida Fish and Wildlife, developed a public service announcement video for Facebook and YouTube, offered alligator safety brochures at the local townhall, and contacted 22 community housing developments and the community activities organization, to verify that policies were updated. As a result of her efforts, the number of views and complaints will be monitored in an effort to reduce public concerns.
Mia Haynes: Meeting the Mark
Working, participating in afterschool activities, and doing extra homework for honors courses, leaves students with limited time for much needed SAT prep. Having personally struggled with the SAT and feeling unprepared for such a crucial element of her future, Mia wanted to find a way to help busy high school juniors and seniors get SAT assistance during school. She was able to convince the school board to offer an elective SAT/ACT prep course to all students at her high school during the school day.
Abigail Koester: Stress Management Toolkit
High school students face significant amounts of stress. Abigail recognized that she didn’t have the opportunity to learn valuable skills needed to succeed and as a result created a stress management tool kit. She gathered support to provide stress relief items and materials for the tool kits, she became a yoga instructor to offer meditation and relaxation techniques, and distributed items to the local Boys and Girls Club to promote continued stress relief practices.
Nora Kuhn: How to Be Polite in 15 Minutes: Business Etiquette Education
Due to the lack of accessible educational programming that addresses business etiquette and formalities in both a consistent and contemporary manner, Nora set forth to address the importance of this issue. She not only created videos and printed materials for every Girl Scout program level for girls to learn from, but also created curriculum to help adults learn to effectively present this topic.
Maya Lander: Relax Room
Many teenagers suffer with anxiety without anyone knowing. They do not understand what is going on or how to ask for help. As a result, they do not get the help they need to feel better and function in their everyday lives. To help herself and others who are struggling, Maya convinced her high school to devote a dedicated space and relaxing setting for those experiencing an anxiety or panic attack. She filled the room with resources to assist them to regain control and is proud of her efforts to provide a safe place for those in need.
Emily Romero: Coloring Your Health!
Children often get sick because they do not know how to protect themselves or avoid diseases. For her Gold Award, Emily created a children’s coloring book to better educate them on how to stay safe in a fun way. To ensure the information was easily accessible, she created a website to further highlight the information covered in the book. She also contacted different medical centers in the area and throughout Florida, requesting that the e-book version of the coloring book be available on their facility’s website or offered to patients with young children.
Sarah Santiago: Check One: “Other”
Sarah understands firsthand how difficult it is to be accepted for who you are and set out to educate people on how detrimental their words can be emotionally and physically by addressing the issues related to the injustices against people of mixed race and mixed ethnicity in today's society. She created a social media platform to empower others to stand up and use their voice to address negative behavior. This included a series of interviews, stories, and posts on people's experiences, allowing those struggling to see that they are not alone, and encouraging them to embrace their true selves.
LuzOneida Tirado-Rivera: Hospital Masks
LuzOneida grew overly concerned that hospital staff had adequate protection while treating COVID patients in the local hospital. Due to supply shortages, medical professionals were having to take on additional health risks by re-using personal protective gear when treating patients. She was determined to help them protect themselves by teaching them and many others the skills needed to make masks. She created a YouTube channel featuring videos that included tips on how to make and donate masks and is pleased with the positive feedback received from hospital staff.
Zoe Watson: Ocean DevOcean
With a passion for sailing that equaled her passion for recycling, Zoe was determined to make sustainable changes at her local marina. She taught others about elimination of single-use items, community involvement, responsible waste management, environmental stewardship, and green boating practices. She trained staff, parents, and youth on how to make their marina eco-friendly by hosting a “Clean Regatta.” Additionally, she created an education YouTube video and trained the marina staff who are now committed to host a Clean Regatta annually.
Hannah Wood: Taekwondo for All
As a student of Taekwondo, Hannah understood all of the wonderful benefits it creates for children, such as facilitating physical, cognitive, emotional, and social development, while reducing anxiety, and encouraging independence and leadership. She discovered that many potential students faced financial barriers and could not benefit from this experience. In response, Hannah partnered with her local instructors to create easy to follow videos and provided free access via social media.
Maison Wunderlich: Swim and Safety School
It saddened Maison when she learned of a young girl who drowned due to lack of supervision and the inability to float on her back. She works at a local waterpark and on a daily basis sees children who are not able to swim and float and her concern grew. Maison wanted to prevent future mishaps and recognized, that with her skills, she could teach kids water safety. She collaborated with the city, high school, and club swim team coach to use their facilities and equipment to teach in-person and online swimming and safety courses.
