For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, called A True Lifesaver, Paige increased the awareness and the importance of CPR and AED equipment for 3,000 students and faculty at Belleville East High School. Since she is trained as a CPR/AED instructor she knows the importance of these life-saving skills and wanted to make sure others at her school campus could save a life by knowing these skills as well. She met with the high school principal and nurse and presented a plan to have the locations of the AEDs put on the large map outside of the high school. She also included CPR/AED information in the school agenda that each student gets at the beginning of the year. Paige created a CPR/AED powerpoint presentation and shared it with the entire high school faculty. Finally, she assisted with conducting CPR classes at the high school and held CPR classes at her church.
“I learned that I can do anything I put my mind to, even if it takes a lot of time and effort, as long as it is something I strongly believe in,” Paige said. “I will always be thankful that I completed my Girl Scout Gold Award because it taught me how to better manage my time, how to be professional and how to give back to the community.”
Paige has been a Girl Scout for 12 years. She plans to attend either Drake University or Creighton University to major in Pharmacy after she graduates from Belleville East High School next summer. She is the daughter of Michael and Karen Schwoebel. Her Girl Scout Gold Award Project Advisor was Cheryl Heimerman.
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.
