Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) is pleased to announce that Tessa Miller from Red Bud has received the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can receive.
For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, called The Plot Thickens, Tessa developed a computer program and map of St. John’s Lutheran Church Cemetery in Red Bud. In addition, she cleaned over 200 cemetery tombstones while collecting data from each of them. She then shared the information of interned veterans with the Ladies Auxiliary and the Boy Scouts so they could place American flags on the graves. St. John’s Lutheran Church now has a computerized list of all gravestones and Tessa has recruited volunteers to keep updating the records.
For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, called The Plot Thickens, Tessa developed a computer program and map of St. John’s Lutheran Church Cemetery in Red Bud. In addition, she cleaned over 200 cemetery tombstones while collecting data from each of them. She then shared the information of interned veterans with the Ladies Auxiliary and the Boy Scouts so they could place American flags on the graves. St. John’s Lutheran Church now has a computerized list of all gravestones and Tessa has recruited volunteers to keep updating the records.
“During my Girl Scout Gold Award project, I learned how to organize and solve problems,” Tessa said. “Also, I learned how to use a cross grid on a map and how to make cross references between historical records like burial records and old church records.”
Tessa is the daughter of Bart and Danette Miller from Red Bud. She is currently a sophomore at Red Bud High School. She has been a Girl Scout of 12 years.
The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn, recognizes a Girl Scout's commitment to excellence as she develops skills and values to meet present and future challenges in her life. To earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, a Girl Scout Senior or Girl Scout Ambassador must design and carry out a project that fulfills a need within a girl’s community, creates change, and is sustainable. The project must be completed with a suggested minimum of 80 hours of work. Only about 6 percent of eligible girls earn the prestigious Gold Award.
