Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) is pleased to announce that Maddie Farrar from Edwardsville has received the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can receive.
For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, called Trailhead Sign for the Col. Benjamin Stephenson House, Maddie built and installed a trailhead sign for the Stephenson House. Often volunteering at the Stephenson House, Maddie saw a need for a sign to help communicate the purpose of the House and advertise their events, so she stepped in to help fill that need. After research and fundraising, Maddie was able to purchase a kit to build the sign and install it on the grounds of the Stephenson House.
“I learned that being personable yet professional is key when building relationships,” Maddie said. “I learned that when you are working for something you love, it doesn’t feel like work anymore and it seems to fly by.”
Maddie is graduate of Edwardsville High School and is currently a freshman at Trinity College in Hartford, CT.
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.
