Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois Presents Angie Worthey with Honor Pin

GSSI CEO Sarah Durbin, Angie Worthey, Kayli Worthey, GSSI Board Chair Linda Manley

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois has awarded Angie Worthey from Neoga with the Honor Pin, which recognizes an individual's exemplary service in support of delivering the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE), which has had measureable impact on two or more geographic areas of service, allowing the council to reach and surpass its mission-delivery goals. The award was presented during GSSI's Annual Meeting on April 1 at Holiday Inn in Mt. Vernon. 

“I believe Girl Scouting is so important and vital to girls today because it allows them to experience such a wide variety of things they might have never encountered without Girl Scouts. Like camping, robotics, and so much more. It gives them leadership skills along with self-confidence.”

Kayli Worthey from Neoga Awarded Outstanding Graduating Girl Scout Scholarship from Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois

Kayli Worthey

Kayli Worthey from Neoga was awarded the Outstanding Graduating Girl Scout Scholarship from Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois during its All That Glitters awards ceremony. 

Kayli is a Girl Scout Ambassador who has been a Girl Scout for 13 years. She received her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting, this year. She is also a GSSI Trifecta recipient, having earned the Girl Scout Silver Award and Girl Scout Bronze Award as well. In addition, she has also served as a GSSI ex-officio Girl Board Member, GSSI Girl Board Mentor and GSSI robotics team member.

“Girl Scouts has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. It gave me a place, a purpose and made me feel that I belonged to something," she said. "I was part of something bigger that made me who I am today. There’s no other way to describe what Girl Scouts means to me than by saying it’s my world."

GSSI CEO Sarah Durbin, Kayli Worthey, GSSI Board Chair Linda Manley

Kayli is currently a senior at Neoga High School and plans to attend Indiana State University to study Speech Language Pathology with a minor in Special Education-Elementary in the fall. She states that, through Girl Scouts, she has developed confidence, leadership, respect, optimism and work ethic, along with a sense of belonging.

To receive a GSSI Outstanding Graduating Girl Scout Scholarship, girls must submit an application, essay and letters of recommendation. These applications are then reviewed by a committee of staff and volunteers. Applications wth the top three highest scores accumulated across a variety of criteria are awarded scholarships. Two of these scholarships are funded from proceeds from GSSI's annual Brownie Haunted Camp program, while one is funded by a GSSI staff campaign.

Kayli Worthey from Neoga Has Earned the Girl Scout Gold Award

Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) is pleased to announce that Kayli Worthey from Neoga has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can receive. 

For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, called The 3 Dangerous D’s of Driving, Kayli wanted to increase awareness of the dangers of drunk, drowsy or distracted driving to save lives and make the roadways safer for everyone. She decided on this subject for her Girl Scout Gold Award after a good friend of hers was killed in a car accident due to drowsy driving. Her project included three venues: a high school presentation for students, a community meal and Truck Stop events. She presented powerpoint presentations about The 3 Dangerous D’s of Driving at her local high school and through a community meal event. Her favorite part of her Girl Scout Gold Award project was the events she hosted at local truck stops where she passed out free fruit juice and coffee to travelers during holiday weekends. “At all of these events, I had people pledge to not drink, sleep, or text and drive while operating a vehicle,” Kayli added.

“Completing my Girl Scout Gold Award taught me to be persistent and that will lead to your success. I also learned that to be a leader, knowing how to delegate is a key part of the process. As much as you would like to be independent and handle everything yourself; it’s not always possible,” Kayli added.

Kayli is the daughter of Kyle and Angie Worthey. She will graduate from Neoga High School in 2017 and has been a Girl Scout for 13 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 5 percent of eligible girls earn the prestigious Gold Award.