Girl Scouts of Southern Illinois (GSSI) is pleased to announce that Gabriella Holmes from Millstadt has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can receive.
For her Girl Scout Gold Award project, called Softball Pitching Fun and Exercise, Gabriella said she wanted to take her love for the game of softball and share it with youth to get them to exercise more and eat healthier. According to Gabriella one of the root causes her project was child obesity and her Gold Award project gave kids a fun way to exercise and taught them healthy eating habits. During her Softball Pitching Camp for youth, she taught exercise and fitness and gave the children healthy eating tips and provided them with a snack each day.
Gabriella said she learned how to work with and teach younger children. “Through this project, I have learned that I enjoy helping younger people and that I can be a leader,” she said.
Gabriella is the daughter of Rick and Tracy Holmes. She is a junior at Belleville West High School and has been a Girl Scout for 12 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.
