Alumnae Spotlight

MEET AMANDA KUZNICKI

Educator. Leader. Mother. AHG Alumna.

Since 1995, the Mission of American Heritage Girls has been to build women of integrity. While the AHG Program targets those in girlhood, the sincerity and faith-filled spirit that is nurtured and grown through AHG continues as girls develop and mature into women.

Amanda and AHG Founder & Executive Director Patti Garibay at her Stars & Stripes Award Ceremony.

Amanda is letting the light of Christ SHINE through her as a public-school educator, showing her students (and her son) that God created each of us with purpose, for a purpose. It is her heart for Jesus that fuels her Christian walk, and the skills she learned through AHG carry her through her everyday life leading in the classroom.

Amanda joined AHG when the program first began back in 1995. With her mother as a Troop volunteer, Amanda was part of OH0025, a Troop chartered by some of AHG’s flagship members who carved out the original path of what the national ministry has become today. In fact, OH0025 has one of the longest-running Troops in all of AHG’s nearly 30-year history. Amanda tracked with the AHG Program for 10 years (1995-2005)— from Explorer up through Patriot, even achieving her Stars & Stripes Award. Since the organization’s founding in 1995, Amanda recognizes that much has changed over the last 27 years. She recalls that in the early days, “It sounds a bit cliché, but times were a bit simpler [for us in AHG].” But the experiential moments of her AHG years remain a foundational credit to the program today—from Father-Daughter Dance events to tours of a state capitol building as part of the Citizenship & Government Badge.

During her decade of AHG participation, Amanda enjoyed the badgework for the Fire Safety & Fire Building, Outdoor Skills, and Camping Badges. Her favorite AHG activities surrounded campouts making Amanda a true outdoorswoman! A campout at Potter’s Ranch still holds a special place in Amanda’s heart because they slept in teepees and rode horses. At this same campout, she also conquered “a huge fear of heights” by climbing a rock wall for the first time. She says, “I saw all my peers doing it, and I thought, ‘I’m here. I’m going to do it!’ and I did—I did it!” As a well-balanced Girl Member, Amanda also loved the Cooking Badge—an experience that later inspired her to open her own in-home baking company. Amanda also praises “the opportunities I had in AHG to explore leadership roles” as very impactful for her in her professional life as an adult. Amanda was a Stars & Stripes Award Recipient from the early years while the award process was still taking shape. She says the communication skills and confidence she gained through that process directly prepared her for job interviews after high school.

The Faith emphasis of the AHG Program still remains near and dear to Amanda’s heart. “AHG gave me an opportunity to be around like-minded girls who also were walking in their own relationship with Jesus. It allowed us to have conversations and build good friendships through a wholesome program.” Thanks to social media, Amanda is still connected with some of those AHG girls (now AHG Alumnae), so they can continue to encourage one another in their faith walks.

Upon graduation, Amanda attended Bowling Green State University majoring in Middle Childhood Education. That valuable leadership development AHG had instilled in her tracked into her college education years as well. Amanda now works as a fifth-grade teacher, affording her the opportunity to “spend every day with 10 and 11-year-olds!” This is where God’s direct influence on Amanda is multiplied. While guiding the education of elementary students, she also employs the skills AHG gave her to manage a group of people, which, if you know what a normal workday is like for a teacher, is vital! In many ways, Amanda’s influence on children’s lives is faith-formative, since she is open with her class that she is a Christ-follower. One can look at her leadership role on the Lighthouse Team for her school district to see God’s plan in action. Through “Leader in Me”, a program designed to teach character and leadership development to public school kids, Amanda uses the AHG skills and lessons she learned 25 years ago in her professional landscape of today. The same core values AHG instilled in her, Amanda now imparts upon her students— especially through showing them grace in times of training or discipline, trying to understand their perspective, and showing them the gentle leadership that she was offered as a girl. “It is important to me that my students know that they are cared for and that somebody loves them,” says Amanda with joyful conviction about her place in each student’s journey.

Amanda is also a committed mother of a happy six-year-old boy. When asked about him, her face lights up with abundant joy! She says, “We do everything together, and he’s become my best little friend.” As a boy mom, she recognizes that she is in the process of raising up a young man of faith—a role as necessary as AHG’s Mission of raising Godly women of integrity.

Amanda and her son Nicholas (6).

Recently, Amanda experienced a full-circle AHG moment. A student invited Amanda to see her sing in a talent show… a night of fun planned by the student’s AHG Troop! “I was so tickled and couldn’t wait to tell her that I, her teacher, was once an AHG girl. It was a special moment to share that with her the next day… it really made my heart happy to see the program flourishing years after my involvement with it.”

Amanda with her sister, Sarah, and her mom, Carolyn Moore, AHG Award Specialist and AHG employee of 23 years.

AHG Alumnae often report back on how much the AHG Program has benefitted their lives. These young women are making a remarkable difference in the world around them. AHG is looking to connect with its alumnae and create some exciting opportunities for them to reconnect with old friends and learn how they can share their leadership abilities!

ARE YOU AN AHG ALUMNA? Visit americanheritagegirls.org/alumnae to update your contact information and share what you’ve been up to!