Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) is pleased to
announce that Bridget Ray from Lebanon has received the Girl Scout Gold Award,
the highest award a Girl Scout can receive.
Bridget dedicated her Girl Scout Gold
Award project to designing an interactive sensory room for Route 21, a
transition house at O’Fallon Township High School that helps autistic students
become accustomed to life after school.
“Resources in public schools are
decreasing while the rate of autism diagnosis is increasing,” said Bridget. “Nationwide, medical and education
specialists are learning more and see that autistic students can gain from
sensory environments.”
She
first researched the therapeutic benefits of sensory room to plan her design
and to create an instructional booklet for others who wanted to help in the
future. Next, she secured donations so that she could create a library of
sensory materials. Bridget herself
bought and donated a swing chair for the room and hung wind socks made of
donated fabric. As a final touch, she
enlisted a local artist to paint a mural in the room. To celebrate the room’s opening, Bridget also
organized a party for Route 21 students and staff that was hosted by other teen
Girl Scouts that she trained to run activity stations with the special needs
students.
Along with fulfilling her desire to make a
meaningful difference, earning her Girl Scout Gold Award project also allowed
Bridget to develop valuable skills such as organization, communication,
conflict management and project leadership.
She also developed a greater sense of confidence in her ability to make
a positive impact on the world.
“It
was a joy to spend time with the students at the transition house,” she said. “This
project showed me that one person really can make a difference. I hope to inspire others to get involved in
their community.”
Bridget
is the daughter of Brian Ray and Kathy Ray. She is currently a sophomore at O’Fallon
Township High School and a Girl Scout Senior in Troop #1123.
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.