Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Recent GSSI Alumna Earns Give Back Scholars Award From Murray State


Casey Blankenship (right) and her mother and former troop leader, Martha

Recent Girl Scout alumna Casey Blankenship recently received a Give Back scholars award from Murray State University, where she is currently a freshman.  The award recognizes students for their community service and Casey was selected, in part, for giving back to the community while she completed her Girl Scout Gold Award.
 
Casey was a 2013 graduate of Carterville High School and has been a Girl Scout for 14 years.  For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, she generated awareness about MRSA, or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, which took the life of her grandmother.
To educate the public, Casey first gave presentations around the community educating people on the facts of MRSA and methods to prevent it.  She also handed out informational packets to summer lunch programs, preschools, Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, day cares, nursing homes, area schools, as well as area shops.  To extend her message to a worldwide audience, she created a video demonstrating hand washing techniques that can prevent the spread of the infection and shared it on YouTube.


“It was all such a learning experience,” she said about earning her Girl Scout Gold Award. “I learned that no task is too big or too hard for me to accomplish.”
 
Casey is currently studying Nursing at Murray State.  She plans to continue to volunteer through Girl Scouts.