IN YOUR HONOR GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARD 2020 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARD The Girl Scout Gold Award expresses a girl’s special commitment to herself, her community, her world, and the future. To be eligible to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, a girl must be a registered Girl Scout Senior or Ambassador. For the 2019-2020 school year, 172 Girl Scouts from Northeast Texas earned the Girl Scout Gold Award. It takes a minimum of 80 hours of intensive work for a girl to complete the prerequisites for the award, develop a plan, and complete the project. The award focuses on the interests and personal leadership journey of each girl. The project fulfills a need within a girl’s community (whether local or global), creates change, and has the potential to be sustainable. This is more than a good service project. It encompasses organizational, leadership, and networking skills. Girls who earn the Girl Scout Gold Award display more positive life outcomes than non-Girl Scout alumnae. These include positive sense of self, life satisfaction, leadership, life success, community service, and civic engagement. Other findings from the report include the following: • Gold Award Girl Scouts have had more leadership experiences. • Gold Award Girl Scouts feel they have had success in their lives because of the unique experiences they had in Girl Scouts. • Over 90% of Gold Award Girl Scouts attributed their success in life to Girl Scouts. They also said that they could not have had access to the same experiences anywhere else. * The Power of the Girl Scout Gold Award: Excellence in Leadership and Life, Girl Scout Research Institute 2 THE GIRL SCOUT PROMISE AND LAW The Girl Scout Promise and Law are shared by every member of Girl Scouting. By pledging to exemplify the Girl Scout Promise and Law, each Girl Scout is committed to making the world a better place. Girl Scout Promise On my honor, I will 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 wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout. 3 2019-2020 RECIPIENTS Avery Acevedo Haley Dorr Kennedy Ligon Sierra Sanders Harsha Alexander Cora Dowell-Simmons Nitya Lohia Harsha Sankaran Saba Ali Katie Edmisten Sara Losey Juliet Schaefer Simone Alphonse Lydia England Juliana Lu Alyssa Schlette Juliana Alvarez Elizabeth Gillam Casey Maas Reagan Schmidt Priyanka Amalkar Samantha Gladys Abbey Machaj Raina Schmied Elisha Amlani Anagha Gouru Brenna Maercklein Hayley Scott Zainab Anjum Jayden Grilliette Vyolette Maokosy- Sierra Scott Inaya Bahadurali Jordan Guerrero Zollicoffer Rhea Shah Jordan Baird Hailey Gulick Chloe Mark Samra Shaik Victoria Barbero Sarah Habib Arabella Martin Emma Shearer Madalyn Beischer Sophia Hagstrom Alexandra May Uzma Sheikh Sarah Berger Jessica Halderman Rachel McKinlay Catherine Shepard Arya Biju Sophia Harris Tara Meazell Aashka Shroff Kaylie Bishop Reva Henderson Kellyn Mendez Abigail Simon Chloe Bjornberg Lane Herbert Mary Mitchell Kendall Simon Michelle Blake Alexis Hicks Anjana Moorthy Ashlyne Smith Samhita Bondada Avery Hicks Sophia Mungiguerra Isabella Smith Natalie Brooks Harper Hinds Ritika Nagalamadaka Karisma Sood Danielle Browne Haven Hinds Kavya Narayanan Skyla Sternberg Christian Bryan Brooke Horowitz Sai Neelanjana Priyanka Subramanian Peyton Burnett Emily Horton Emily Nielson Allison Sukenic Sophia Canales Kenedi Houston Shirley Nystrom Molly Sullivan Jackie Carroll Claire Humphreys Patricia Ortiz Stephanie Tabor Kelsey Carroll Caroline Hynes Kailee Oswald Caroline Tao Julia Cary Neelam Jivani Sarah Paroski Caitlyn Tate Maya Chalhoub Brittney Jobe Colleen Parro Maheen Tharwani Mary Chen Lindsey Jobe Sophie Pearson Caroline Thiemann Sameeta Chunara Anne Marie Joe Alexis Perry Sadie Twomey Annie Clark Angelina Johnson Elenor Post Sareeha Valliani Elise Clements Carlyn Johnson Lauren Potts Shelby Van Hyfte Caitlin Cobleigh Ayra Kanji Logan Powers Alyssa Vaughn Haley Coleman Jordan Karrh Anne Price Eliza Walimohammad Helena Coleman Ayan Kent Jaishri Ramesh Vaneeza Walimohammad Madison Coplen Ziyana Keshavjee Morgan Randall Emily Waller Grace Cronin Misuni Khamankar Emily Ranspot Celeste Wang Arden Crowe Simran Khoja Reagan Rasmussen Katherine Whisler Kara Curtis Arwen King Anjana Rathan Autumn Williams Makenna Dancer Abby Klein Sydney Reeves Julia Wilson Elena Dewar Jasmine Klukas Kylie Richardson Natalie Yook Avery DeWolf Haadiah Kuniyil Sofia Ritter-Pleitez Margaret Zhuang Elina Dickens Komal Lalani Janice Rotich Zoe Dickson Zoie Lancaster Alexia Rutledge Carrie Dobbs Hannah Le Meredith Sanchez 4 PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS Avery Acevedo Simone Alphonse Coloring 4 Kids Refugee Peer Outreach Girl Scout Troop 3441. Avery helped children Girl Scout Troop 465. Simone’s project focused who were waiting in the emergency room at on creating a sense of community and Baylor, Scott and White by creating coloring opportunity for at-risk children, specifically bags. The bags provided an outlet for the those in the Bhutanese refugee community. children with various activities that they could do to pass the Stressing the importance of education, she and her volunteers time before being seen by a medical professional. She and tutored the children working with SEWA International. She her volunteers created over 300 bags with coloring pages also planned and implemented a STEM camp, collaborating and crayons. The hospital staff then gave the children the with Texas Instruments, to inspire them to consider pursuing bags as they arrived at the emergency room. The volunteer STEM related fields of study. The camp included hands-on coordinator at the hospital will maintain the coloring bags experiments relating to semiconductor chips, DNA extraction, and work with volunteers to replenish them as needed using circuits, laser and light properties, a career panel, and tour of Avery’s how-to materials. Avery will graduate from Rowlett the facility. Her website has everything needed to replicate her High School in 2021. STEM camp collaboration. Simone will graduate from Plano East Senior High School in 2020. Harsha Alexander Color for the Cry Room Juliana Alvarez Girl Scout Troop 3240. Harsha worked with Reading Restaurant at CSI Church of Dallas to renovate the Cry Nathan Adams Elementary School Room at their newly purchased church. The Girl Scout Troop 45. Juliana wanted to pass her room is used as the nursery for children of love of reading on to younger students. She congregants, while they participate in church activities. and her volunteers created reading and writing Harsha and her volunteers made the room more colorful and workshops at Nathan Adams Elementary to help improve comfortable by painting, creating wall art, and furnishing the reading, writing and vocabulary skills. Each workshop started room. They also updated a connecting room to be used for with a theme such as space, spring, or desserts and the breastfeeding mothers. A mini library, as well as a variety students then read and wrote in the books they were given of toys for the children to play with, finished the area. The related to the topics. The program culminated with a Reading rooms will be maintained by the church and new books will Restaurant event where the students showed off their books be added to the library to expand the collection. Harsha will to friends and family. The program will be continued using the graduate from Coppell High School in 2020. materials Juliana left for the teachers and possibly expanded to an additional grade level next year. Juliana will graduate Saba Ali from Ursuline Academy of Dallas in 2021. Mission: Revamping Art Room Girl Scout Troop 227. Saba wanted to Priyanka Amalkar help expand the Fine Arts program at Cakes for a Cause Great Arts Irving. The school had recently Girl Scout Troop 3085. Priyanka worked with moved, and the new art room lacked at-risk young women to improve their financial working bookshelves and a place to display security by educating them about small artwork. Saba and her volunteers built bookshelves business options. She planned seminars with specifically designed to hold the heavy art books used in small business owners as guest speakers to the classroom. They also built and installed a cork board discuss how-to start and keep a small business going. She for the students to hang their artwork for all to enjoy. The also demonstrated hands-on cake decorating skills, which new items made the room more usable and organized. the participants then practiced, learning basic decorating The school will maintain the added features and use the techniques to provide them with a new marketable skill. Each materials Saba left to refresh as needed. Saba will graduate participant was given a cake decorating starter kit and a book, from Hebron High School in 2022. Piped to Perfection, written by Priyanka to use as a tool for staring their own small business. Her YouTube channel, called Sugar Addict, has recipe tutorials and cake decorating skills to continue her project. Priyanka will graduate from Allen High School in 2020. 5 PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS Elisha Amlani Jordan Baird Adopt, Don’t Shop SPCA Volunteer Handbook Girl Scout Troop 6435. Elisha’s project educated Girl Scout Troop 934. Jordan developed an the public about puppy mills and the need essential guidebook for the McKinney SPCA to adopt shelter dogs rather than purchase shelter staff. They asked Jordan to create them. She worked with Operation Kindness a comprehensive toy guide to be used as to create a brochure that explained the importance of spay a reference when potential volunteers contacted them and neutering and how puppy mills operate. Elisha worked for more information. Jordan designed 18 enrichment in the shelter’s food pantry, educating pet owners on proper toys for dogs and cats, with three levels of difficulty; easy, pet care and nutrition.