2021 Gold Award Ceremony

2021 Gold Award Ceremony Saturday, June 5, 2021 Camp Addisone Boyce Tomkins Cove, NY Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, Inc. Board of Directors Officers: Fay Casatuta-President Carol Vergara-First Vice President Christina Ho-Second Vice President Jolene Borell-Treasurer Barbara Londa-Secretary Members at Large: Kim Barnett Michael Bruno Nicole Canada Cathy Corbin Christine Drasba Lisa Gariolo Molly McGarity Michele Pollack-Rich Anna May Wiede Ariel Yarmus Jean Zappia Marie Reger - Chief Executive Officer Ex-Officio Our Mission Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. Girl Scout Promise On my hono r , I w ill try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law. Girl Scout Law I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources widely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout! Helping Eagles Soar: A Brief History of Girl Scouting’s Highest Award by Jean Havens, GSHH Museum The highest girl award in Girl Scouting has changed its name often in the past 109 years. Interestingly, the 1913 handbook, How Girls Can Help their Country, listed a British Girl Guide award, the Silver Fish, as the highest award in Girl Scouting. However, no girl in the United States ever earned this recognition. Using the Silver Fish award as a model, Juliette Low developed the first official highest award for American Girl Scouts, the Golden Eaglet of Merit, in 1916. To earn this award, known simply as the Golden Eaglet, a girl had to complete fourteen proficiency badges from a list of seventeen. The award came with a red, white, and blue ribbon. Fewer than 50 Girl Scouts earned this award before it was redesigned in 1919. The first five Golden Eaglet awards were presented to girls at the National Girl Scout convention and rally in Washington, DC on May 4, 1919. These awards were red, white, and blue ribbons that served as substitutes for the medals which were only in the production stage at that point. Later that year, the actual gold-filled medal were made available nationwide. The Golden Eaglet medal was designed by sculptor Laura Fardin-Fraser who also designed the doors for the West Point Library. In 1930, the gold-filled medals were replaced by 10K gold pins and ultimately, between 1918 and 1939, 10,658 Golden Eaglets were presented to outstanding Girl Scouts throughout the country. Proud of the scope of this inaugural award, Juliette Low wrote in 1923: “The five requirements for winning the Golden Eaglet are character, health, handicraft, happiness, and service, and that other will expect to find in our Golden Eaglets a perfect specimen of girlhood: mentally, morally, and physically.” Introduced as an arc-shaped patch embroidered in gold thread, the Curved Bar Award succeeded the Golden Eaglet as the highest girl award in 1940. It was presented to Intermediate Girl Scouts who had attained First Class rank and was worn just above the First Class emblem. In the fall of 1947, the patch was replaced by a Curved Bar pin. Its design incorporated the First Class pin resting on a curved bar, and it was gold-plated and enameled in red and green. The Curved Bar rank continued until 1963 when the national Girl Scout program was divided into four age levels: Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes, and Seniors. At that time, the requirements for achieving First Class were determined to be challenging enough to equal those for Curved Bar, so First Class became the highest award in Girl Scouting and remained so from 1963 through 1980. From 1963 to 1977, to achieve the First Class recognition a girl had to complete the four Challenges presented by the Cadette-level program: the Challenge of Social Dependability, the Challenge of Emergency Preparedness, the Challenge of Active Citizenship, and the Challenge of the Girl Scout Promise. She also had to complete a badge in each of the following areas: arts, home, citizenship, out-of-doors, health and safety, and international friendship. Additional Challenges were introduced in 1972, offering even more options for girls striving to attain First Class. The Girl Scout Gold Award was introduced in 1980 as the highest award for Senior Girl Scouts. The award’s requirements involved the completion on a combination of interest, leadership, career exploration, and service projects. It also required girls to demonstrate ability and skill in: goal setting, planning, putting values into action, and relating to the community. Although requirements have been changed and modified through the years since its introduction, the Gold Award remains the highest recognition for Girl Scouts today. Thank You Gold Award Mentors! Gold Award Mentors are the incredible volunteers who have been trained by our council to assist girls in becoming Gold Award Girl Scouts. These mentors put forth a tremendous amount of time and dedication to Gold Award Girl Scouts. They attend monthly meetings, approve projects, act as a constant resource, answer questions, lend a hand, and ensure the Gold Award requirements for each project are fulfilled to GSUSA and Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson standards. It is their tireless work, long hours, open ears, and gentle guidance that help mold Gold Award Girl Scouts into strong, independent leaders who become courageous and optimistic world-changers. They show by example what it takes to make the world a better place. Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson cannot thank these volunteers enough for their commitment, and hope that you will join us in extending your gratitude to all the Gold Award Mentors today and always, as we celebrate the 2021 Gold Award Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson, Inc. 2021 Gold Award Girl Scouts For her Gold Award project, Sara addressed how corporations and society views boys baseball leagues as a more substantial investment than girls softball leagues. She raised money and erected two scoreboards to minimize the gap she saw between the boys fields and the girls fields. Sara Adler Spackenkill Service Unit Troop #10123 Leveling the Playing Field Katie is passionate about playing golf, but noticed there were few of her peers interested in playing and even less interest among girls and disadvantaged youth. Katie partnered with after-school programs in Mount Vernon to offer activities introducing the sport of golf and its benefits to disadvantaged kids and younger Girl Scouts. Katherine Asciutto Scarsdale/Edgemont Service Unit Troop #2105 One Swing at a Time For her project, Emily built pollinator-friendly gardens in public parks and crated workshops for younger Girl Scouts to learn about pollinators. For each garden, Emily constructed a butterfly house where butterflies can shelter, and a bee hotel where solitary bees can lay their eggs. Emily also weeded and planted native wildflowers and tree saplings. The gardens are a safe haven for pollinators, providing them with areas for rest and rehabilitation, so they can continue helping local gardens and farms. Emily Attinger West Lakeland Service Unit Troop #2011 Pollinator Power Alyssa’s project focused on honoring veterans and their legacies. To do this, she gathered teams of volunteers to clean veteran plaques at Assumption Cemetery. Alyssa and her team cleaned all 1,000 plaques and she has begun situating other troops to continue this effort at other cemeteries. She hosted virtual workshops sharing the importance of government and mediation. Alyssa Brundage West Lakeland Service Unit Troop #2011 Veteran Cemetery Beautification Project Nicole’s Gold Award project helped senior citizens by teaching them how to use technology. Once the pandemic hit, she adjusted to a virtual program. Nicole observed the seniors that she was working with were lonely and created a pen-pal system for the senior residents to help with the isolation of the pandemic. Nicole Bugliosi Croton Service Unit Troop #2450 Geeks for Grannies and Grampies Nicole’s main focus for her Gold Award project was the increased stress of the current state of the world. Kids of all ages are kept indoors and required to be on Zoom classes all hours throughout the day. Nicole wanted to see kids outside and taking a break from technology. She created a fishing booth at Rockefeller State Park to learn proper fishing skills and educate them about wildlife interaction between fish and the food chain, as well as proper fishing equipment disposal methods. Nicole Byrnes North Salem Service Unit Troop #1065 Tackle Anything! 2021 Gold Award Girl Scouts For her project, Mary-Kate met with various Girl Scout troops and Mary-Kate Chanowsky Greater Fishkill Service Unit Troop #10428 Raising Awareness for Premature Infants at Ronald McDonald House local community members where she discussed the history of the Ronald McDonald House and assembled in total over 450 Graband-Go Bags for the residents of the House. These groups were also brought down to the Ronald McDonald House located on the grounds of Westchester Medical Center to participate in the House’s ‘Meals that Heal’ program. Under Mary-Kate’s leadership, these groups planned, shopped for, and cooked healthy meals for the program. Mary-Kate also held collection drives to stock the pantry at the Ronald McDonald House and to make care bags for the families staying there. Since the Maria Fareri Children’s Hospital is a premier hospital for premature babies, Mary-Kate also recruited volunteers to make over 130 crochet octopuses for the premature babies currently at the hospital. The tentacles of these octopuses mimic the feel of an umbilical cord, which draws the baby to hold onto them instead of the tubes they are hooked up to. Due to her efforts and the success of her project, the Ronald McDonald House has seen a significant increase in the numbers of volunteers participating in the Meals That Heal program pre-COVID. Mary-Kate chose to work with the Ronald McDonald House because her brother is a cancer survivor, and she knows firsthand how much a helping hand when a loved one is sick can mean. For her Girl Scout Gold Award, Cate created For Girls, By Girls to emphasize the importance of talking about the struggles many quietly endure alone. For Girls, By Girls is a program that provides a safe space for freshman girls to talk about issues that occur in their academic, social, and family lives. To provide support and facilitate conversations, Cate brought in a guidance counselor to participate, and recruited upperclassmen to join and share their struggles. The group discusses the importance of addressing inner conflicts and how ignoring them can result in becoming overwhelmed and make people far less effective in their lives. Catherine Coffino Chappaqua Service Unit Troop #2221 For Girls, By Girls For her Gold Award project, Olivia created a patriotic project called “Our Hometown Heroes” for her town that honors veterans. The project involves someone sponsoring a veteran for a banner to be printed and hung throughout the town on utility poles. The sponsor must provide a photo and information about the veteran. Please enjoy seeing the banners, and it is bringing her community together by having the street lined with patriotic banners. These beautiful banners are providing the recognition these veterans deserve. Olivia Conlin Mahopac Service Unit Troop #2655 Our Hometown Heroes For her project, Eva built four benches made out of Philippine Mahogany that were placed around the fire pit at her church. These benches encourage church members to use the fire pit. Throughout her project implementation process, Eva was able to learn, use, and improve many skills including woodworking, carpentry, financial planning, communication, leadership, and organization. Eva Czukkermann Arlington Service Unit Troop #10500 Fire Pit Bench Construction for St. Gregory Orthodox Church 2021 Gold Award Girl Scouts Jacqueline’s Gold Award project addressed self-esteem and the Jacqueline Davis idea of a positive body image. She wanted girls to increase their confidence levels and feel better about themselves. Her main goal was to help girls build positivity and improve their relationships with themselves. Her target audience was girls of junior and cadette troops. She believes that if a girl learns to accept herself and others at a younger age, she is more likely to continue doing so as she gets older. Ossining Service Unit Troop #2045 Awesome Ends With Me Elizabeth sought to bring her community together during the current crisis. She created a remembrance garden for those who died during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was designed to be a place for people to go and reflect and pray. She also organized a virtual 5K to get people outside to run and walk to promote physical and mental health during quarantine. Participants did their 5Ks in different places during a given time window on the same day in order to honor social distancing. People were encouraged to wear t-shirts showing who they were honoring. Elizabeth DeFazio Washingtonville Service Unit Troop #493 Pandemic Remembrance Alina created and designed a new library for the orchestra program at her school, FDR in Hyde Park. The old system was rusty cabinets with horizontal drawers that were outdated and not a good use of space. To improve organization, she built new cabinets, created a new organizational system, and created a new labeling system. Unlike the old system, Alina’s system is more manageable. She took the time and effort to alphabetize the books as well. Alina DelVecchio Spackenkill Service Unit Troop #10123 FDR Orchestra Music Library Diana’s Gold Award project addressed the financial stress on families who have sick children with financial support to attend summer camp. She created bags to provide children with items to make their summer camp experience better. Diana DiVestea North Salem Service Unit Troop #1144 Summer Sacks Annabelle’s Gold Award project addressed pollution, use of pesticides, and lack of flowers for bees to pollinate. Bees are facing an extreme population decline due to the use of pesticides and other harmful pollutants. Annabelle addressed the issue by encouraging younger troops to educate their parents and family about the negative consequences of the use of pesticides. She also planted native flowers. Annabelle Donnelly Scarsdale/Edgemont Service Unit Troop #1945 Save the Bees Erica interviewed local veterans and designed a book of their stories. The audiotapes of the interviews were accepted to the Library of Congress. To share these audiotapes with a larger audience and raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project, she create the website newcastleveterans.org. She used the stories from the veterans as well as interactive materials she made to create a kids and vets program to teach elementary students about the origins of Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day. Hearing that many veterans received no thanks upon arriving home, she created her town’s first Veteran’s Day celebration, which drew over 150 people and included a veteran panel. In November 2020, in lieu of an in-person celebration, in partnership with the American Legion Department of New York, she created Stand Up for Veterans, an event where New Yorkers sang or played the national anthem at 7 PM. Erica Dunne Chappaqua Service Unit Troop #1029 Stories of the Veterans of New Castle 2021 Gold Award Girl Scouts Little Orphan Animals Adoption Center is dedicated to finding cats Catarina Duraes of all ages their forever homes. Catarina visited the shelter and noticed that the facade was not very welcoming for potential pet parents. She also thought they could benefit substantially from a new versatile adoption day banner. She successfully repaired and repainted the facade with a more appealing color as well as a custom-made multipurpose banner to hand at adoption events, cat shows, and other venues. Her contributions helped to increase foot traffic and adoption rates at the shelter. Putnam Valley Service Unit Juliette Girl Scout Beautifying Community Cat Shelter Cara Fagelman As both a Girl Scout and a JROTC Cadet, Cara has spent time in community service with veterans and has seen how important their Posts are to providing needed emotional support. Cara contacted the Leo Laders American Legion Post 130 and met with members to see what kind of project would enhance their Post and add to the social experience the veterans have there. They asked for a bocce ball court to be added to their picnic area. Cara researched, designed, obtained supplies, and led a team of helpers in building the bocce ball court. She fund raised for supplies by designing t-shirts that she sold to the community and at Girl Scout citizenship badge workshops which she held for troops ranging from brownies to seniors. At these workshops, she was able to teach the values of citizenship and promote community support for veterans while leading girls in their badge requirements. Stony Point Service Unit Troop #40470 You Served, You Earned: A Bocce Ball Court for American Legion Post 30 Julia Gaughan Sylvan Hills Service Unit Juliette Girl Scout Protect the HRRA Boathouse Julia noticed that at the Hudson River Rowing Association (HRRA) boathouse in Poughkeepsie, there were often unwanted visitors who drove up on the concrete walkway late at night and damaged the property by doing donuts with their cars and using the dock without a proper license. Before her project, there was no barrier between the boathouse and the road so people were able to drive onto the private property owned by Vassar College. She placed posts around the perimeter of the boathouse to promote the safety of rowers at the boathouse at all times. Her project also prevents people from vandalizing the boathouse property. Kaitlyn Gazzara Pearl River Service Unit Troop #40125 Kaitlyn created online resources for young female students to further their education in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics. She created informative resources about the history of women in STEM as well as compiled research about some of the most influential female leaders in various STEM fields. She created infographics about their achievements in an easy-to-read format. She also created fun ways for the girls to learn about the basics of STEM to incite their interest in the topic. Through her Gold Award project, she encouraged young girls to realize that they can not only become well versed in principles of STEM, but that these seemingly sophisticated topics can be enjoyable as well. Homegrown STEM 2021 Gold Award Girl Scouts For Cayla’s Gold Award project, she worked with her local parks Cayla Gona department to paint a bike pad to help young children learn to ride bikes in a safe environment. She created a sign to help children learn about safe biking practices. She strives to bring her community together by creating a space where parents could watch their children learn and have fun riding their bikes. Putnam Valley Service Unit Troop #1372 Bike Pad Kathleen’s Gold Award project addressed the absence in her community for a place where residents could responsibly recycle special items that should be collected separately. She organized and built a drop off center for specialized recycling of items such as nutrition packaging, Brita filters, oral care packaging, razors, stationary, and corks. The existence of the recycling center raises awareness in the community of the importance of recycling. Kathleen Hall Northern Dutchess Service Unit Troop #10479 Recycling Center for Special Material Anna noticed that many amputees are unable to afford prosthetics due to the lack of affordable healthcare. She organized girls to work on building prosthetics by attending problem solving workshops and using 3D printers. They produced 15 hand prosthetics which were distributed globally. This not only helped address the need for prosthetics but also helped inspire girls to be interested in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Anna Hallac Chappaqua Service Unit Troop #2221 Lending a Hand to Foster Interest in STEM Amy noticed that during the pandemic, those suffering from homelessness were particularly impacted. Since many shelters had to close due to quarantine rules, the showering facilities at those shelter had shut down and the homeless were not able to use them. A local food pantry stepped up and would provide the shower service to them, but badly needed the shower supplies to improve the hygienic condition for the homeless by collecting and providing new shower supplies and a large supply of new undergarments and clothes. She also added food and drinks to compliment the shower service. The initial event was very successful, and the team decided to host events regularly. Amy Hu Scarsdale/Edgemont Service Unit Juliette Girl Scout Shower Service for the Homeless Juliette’s project addressed the need for running shoes for youth that may not have the means to purchase them. She organized a sneaker recycling program and also educated kids and teens about choosing healthy foods. Juliette Intrieri North Salem Service Unit Troop #2527 Running on Healthy Fuels Ashley’s Gold Award project addressed the large environmental impact of the fashion industry. She addressed the issue through educational programming and through projects reusing old juice pouches by turning them into wallets. She led sessions for other Girl Scout troops, family members, through the Youth Passion Project, and at library events. She taught these events for people ranging from kindergartners to senior citizens.

2021 Gold Award Ceremony

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