Kathleen McCracken from Edwardsville was awarded the Outstanding Graduating Girl Scout Scholarship from Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois during its All That Glitters awards ceremony.
Kathleen 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, in 2016. She is also a GSSI Trifecta recipient, having earned the Girl Scout Silver Award and Girl Scout Bronze Award as well.
“If it weren’t for Girl Scouts, I wouldn’t have gone out of my comfort zone and completed a high ropes course, taken the treacherous step off of multiple ziplines or gone scuba diving. Travel, adventure, and leadership are things that the vast majority of my peers have yet to have. I wholeheartedly believe that the unique experience of Girl Scouts is doing things you wouldn’t normally do,” said Kathleen.
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| GSSI CEO Sarah Durbin, Kathleen McCracken, GSSI Board Chair Linda Manley |
Kathleen is currently a senior at Edwardsville High School and plans to attend Drake University in the fall, where she plans to major in International Relations. She states that Girl Scouts has helped her get out of her comfort zone, travel domestically and internationally, try new things and build leadership skills.
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.
