Since 1916, Girl Scouts have been making meaningful, sustainable change in their communities and around the world through their Girl Scout Gold Award projects. The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn, acknowledges the power behind each recipient’s dedication to not only empowering herself, but also to making the world a better place for others. As the Girl Scout Gold Award celebrates 100 years of girls changing the world, Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) is highlighting some of our shining stars who exemplify the greatness of this award.
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award a girl can earn in Girl Scouting. To earn this award, a Girl Scout Senior or Girl Scout Ambassador must design and carry out a project that fulfills a need within her community, creates change and is sustainable. The project must be completed with a suggested minimum of 80 hours of work, and only about 5 percent of eligible girls earn the prestigious Gold Award. To say that a girl’s Gold Award Advisor is instrumental in her journey would be an understatement.
Angie began her adventure as a Girl Scout Gold Award Advisor by first mentoring her daughter through her Gold Award project. Angie’s daughter, Jennifer, developed a summer reading program for kids in their hometown of Trenton. Jennifer arranged for speakers, door prizes and activities for the kids at the library all summer. Angie went on to mentor another 6 girls through their Gold Award projects, including Sarah Monical who is now Angie’s Troop Co-Leader. She hasn’t stopped there; Angie is currently working with her eighth Girl Scout who is going for Gold.
“At the end of the day, we talk a great deal about how the Girl Scout Gold Award project was designed to benefit others. What I have seen time after time is truly the benefit to the girls. The payback for our girls comes from finding out they are capable of making a difference, that they are capable of making decisions that affect themselves and others, and that they have it within themselves to succeed,” said Angie of the Girl Scouts she has mentored.
As we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scout Gold Award, Angie encourages other adults to consider becoming a Girl Scout volunteer and Gold Award advisor. She states, “There is nothing more satisfying than watching a young woman recognize her own power and realize her dreams.”