GSGATL - 2023 Highest Award Achievements

Be the Change

Together We Change the World

Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta

Celebrating Highest Award Achievements in 2023

Congratulations Highest Award Girl Scouts!

Dear Girl Scout Family,

Every year, I am delighted and honored to watch our Girl Scouts grow as they immerse themselves in the challenging and inspiring learning opportunities provided through our High Awards program. Girl Scouts are driven by a passion to make the world a better place, in their own communities and around the world. Inspired by the idea to “Be the Change,” these young leaders engaged in purposeful and impactful work in their communities.

With dedication, boundless curiosity, and ever improving leadership skills, our Girl Scouts tackled complex problems, pushed themselves outside their comfort zones, and worked to bravely reimagine the world they wish to see. They were supported by their families, their Girl Scout leaders, volunteers, and their Girl Scout sisters, who stood beside them during this process. I am inspired beyond measure by their academic achievements, and by their demonstrations of kindness and civic responsibility.

This year we honor 104 Gold Award Girl Scouts. This prestigious award represents the highest achievement for a high school Girl Scout and is the pinnacle of the Girl Scout experience. The Award is earned by fewer than 6% of Girl Scouts nationwide and only after meeting a strict set of National standards. Gold Award Girl Scouts demonstrate leadership abilities and transform an idea into an actionable plan with sustainable impact – locally, nationally, and even internationally. The Gold Award is the mark of the truly remarkable.

In this magazine, you will read about the many accomplishments of our Gold Award Girl Scouts. Whether it’s addressing mental wellness among teenagers by creating a website with resources for managing and coping with high levels of anxiety, planting a pollinator garden to support the rapidly decreasing population of bees, creating an art curriculum at an elementary school that focuses on underrepresented artists, or combating food insecurity in a low-income area by creating community garden, these are the girls who are taking action to change their corner of the world!

We are equally proud of our 338 Girl Scout Cadettes, each investing more than 50 hours to earn their Girl Scout Silver Award, and the 504 Girl Scout Juniors who earned their Girl Scout Bronze Award. Congratulations to all the Girl Scouts featured in this magazine. You are courageous leaders and visionary change-makers, and our future looks brighter because of you. Thank you to all the parents and volunteers for supporting our High Award honorees. Girl Scouts is a life-changing journey for our girls because of your support and commitment to the Girl Scout mission, promise, and law. I can’t wait to see how this year’s honorees will continue to change the world in the years to come!

Yours in Girl

Scouting, Amy Dosik Chief Executive Officer Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta

Gold Award Girl Scouts

Maddie Allen

County: Cherokee County

Troop Advisor: Luanne Allen

Project Advisors: Jennifer Curtis and Vanessa Miller

Gold Award Coach: Gloria Avillar

Fresh Air Careers

Maddie’s project focused on Fresh Air Careers, careers in STEM that do not involve being indoors at a computer.

She taught the science unit at her Girl Scout Day Camp and shared about outdoor-focused STEM careers. She also created a presentation for local elementary schools to share about those careers. A magazine article about her project went to over 63,000 people in her area!

Tani Alofe

County: Fayette County

Troop Advisor: Kristi Hellenbrand

Project Advisor: Christy Todd

Gold Award Coach: Kristi Hellenbrand

Pay It Forward

Tani’s Gold Award project aimed at addressing the issue of the amount of social interaction and kindness declining as the pandemic has caused many people to isolate themselves, keep distanced, and wear masks. She addressed the issue by creating 250 Pay It Forward cards to be distributed throughout her community. These cards tracked the success of her project since there were Google forms attached to each one asking simple questions.

“In every community there is work to be done. In every nation, there are wounds to heal. In every heart there is the power to do it.” Marianne Williamson

Shrida Venkatesh, page 30

Shweta Awasthi

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Jennifer Kitchens

Project Advisors: Dr. Cinthea Vinson and Megan Barfield

Gold Award Coach: Kimberly Knighton-Felix

Bridge Over the Anxiety

Shweta’s project addresses the root cause of many teens not getting the right resources to help guide them through high levels of anxiety they may face. To combat this issue, she made a website for teens. This website provides tips and guidance for teens to cope, deal with, and manage high levels of anxiety. She provides additional resources for teens to look at beyond the website such as videos and workbooks.

Trinity Baysmore

County: Paulding County

Troop Advisor: Rebecca Curtis

Project Advisor: Robert Cabrera

Gold Award Coach: Schena Pace

Recycling For Us

As a Girl Scout, in the Promise and Law, it tells us that it is always our duty to serve our country by trying to make the world a better place and using our resources wisely in a way that is considerate and helpful. That was the main goal of “Recycling For Us.” By spreading the importance of recycling to the youth, young adults, and adults in the area, Trinity hoped for an increase in implementation of recycling.

Heranmayee Barani

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Kavitha Veeramani

Project Advisor: Harini Senapathy, Lau Lauree and Kelly Shadburn

Gold Award Coach: Upasna Gupta

Play to Beat

Heranmayee’s project, Play to Beat, is dedicated to autistic children. Through a close friend, she found out that local elementary schools had low funding for IEP programs. With meticulous planning and fundraising, she decided to hand craft busy boards and donate them. Working with a skilled team, she created seven busy boards and donated them to local elementary schools. To spread awareness about her project, she made a website and posted a video on YouTube.

Scarlett Bisikirski

County: Gwinnett County

Troop Advisor: Pamela Mathis

Project Advisor: Kristen Nielsen

Gold Award Coach: Pamela Mathis

Pollinator Habitat Project

Scarlett’s Pollinator Habitat Project was designed to address the root cause of the general decline in pollinators in the environment. The project included banning two organic pesticides from the habitat site and building a garden with native wildflowers (40+ plants), two pollinator houses, and a water source. Scarlett conducted an educational class to teach people. Garden visitors are also part of the target audience. The habitat continues to attract pollinators and visitors.

Grace Carabillo

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Susan Stevens

Project Advisors: Danielle Boyd, Lacy Hernandez and Christine Stuckey

Gold Award Coach: Barbara O’Connor

Volunteer Training Video

Grace created a training video for Agape here in Atlanta for prospective volunteers to watch and be quizzed on, properly equipping them to help tutor children in the Agape afterschool program. Grace worked with the Agape team online and in person to make sure she met all of their needs. She formatted, filmed, and edited the video that now lives on their website, open for any and all to use as a resource.

Maria Cerbone

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Louise Hamrick

Project Advisor: Teri Smith

Gold Award Coach: Kelly Angelo

Service Animal Education

Maria’s project focused on teaching younger troops the importance of service animals. It helped them understand why people need service animals and how to act when they encounter someone with one. This project featured a presentation and a demonstration with an in-training seeing eye dog. In order to keep this project sustainable, the presentation was featured on a local guide dog training website and Facebook.

Breanna Carter

County: Gwinnett County

Troop Advisor: Lisa Carter

Project Advisor: Valeire Griffin

Gold Award Coach: Kimberly Murray

A Moment of Respite

In order to combat the root causes of stress and heightened social expectations, Breanna has implemented what she calls a Chill-Pod in a safe, supervised space in her school. The Chill-Pod has plenty of fidget and sensory toys, a weighted blanket, and books with healthy coping strategies that students can use to help with anxiety and panic attacks, and other emotionally straining episodes. Through the existence of the room, students learn how to seek additional support and resources.

Lily Christensen

County: Fayette County

Troop Advisor: Kristi Hellenbrand

Project Advisor: Natalie Grubbs

Gold Award Coach: Kristi Hellenbrand

Have a Heart Don’t Take Part

Lily made a one-minute PSA video highlighting the awareness of bullying of special needs students at Whitewater Middle School. She chose this subject because she has a special needs cousin who will be attending middle school next year and wanted to bring awareness to others of how, even though someone may have special needs, they are equal to their peers. This video will be shown each year and is posted on the school’s website.

Ashling Clark

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Mari Doherty

Project Advisor: Laura Newby

Gold Award Coach: Maggie Tardif

Harrison Bands Mentoring

Ashling’s project is designed to help the band program recover from the effects of COVID-19, and create better relationships in band. COVID-19 set a lot of young musicians back, creating distance. The relationships in her band program were already distant, so she created a program that would bring together the members while also bettering the members as musicians. Older members were given the opportunity to teach younger members musicianship and create friendships in the process.

Caroline Daniels

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Jennifer Kitchens

Project Advisor: Erica Esslinger

Gold Award Coach: Barbra Foerst

Excelling Our Future

Caroline’s project was a guide to the steps needed to take when applying to colleges and seeking scholarship opportunities.

In the past, this has been a challenging task for students because there are numerous resources available with varying information. In her book, Excelling Our Future, she educates students about the options for a future education. Caroline’s goal was to make sure that all the information on scholarships and the application process was in one place and that all the information was accurate and reliable.

Katherine Collier

County: Cherokee County

Troop Advisor: Angie Mason

Project Advisor: Dan McDade

Gold Award Coach: Luanne Allen

Enriching the Horse Care Community

For Katherine’s project, she enriched the horse care community by creating an informational and educational video that explained proper horse care. She also built hitching posts for a local barn. By doing this, Katherine hoped to solve the root cause of this issue, which is horse owners who are not aware of the responsibility that comes with a horse, and to also reach her target audience (anyone who wants to learn more about care).

Kayden Dean

County: Dekalb County

Troop Advisor: Jacinda Smith

Project Advisor: Judy Fultz

Gold Award Coach: Jacinda Smith

Hunger Counts

Kayden’s project, “Hunger Counts,” addressed the issue of food insecurity. Poverty and unemployment are major underlying causes of the global issue of food insecurity. She addressed the root cause of the issue by reaching out to members of her community through flyers. These flyers linked them to her website, which shares helpful information to aid those affected by the issue. Kayden’s website also provided the date and time of a local food pantry.

Troop Advisor: Sharon Steingruber

Project Advisor: Michelle Hudson Honda

Gold Award Coach: Mary Williams

Favorite Girl Scout Memory: Camping! I loved camping, and every trip had something new and fun about it.

People Of Color Art Curriculum

In order to address the low level of diversity in Georgia art education, Maya led a team to create elementary school art curriculum featuring artists who are People of Color. Growing up, she noticed that not many artists she studied looked like her. Her project gives art teachers a chance to close that gap. Maya created a web-based curriculum that can be easily implemented in classrooms and shared this curriculum with teachers in Georgia. The curriculum will be maintained by her high school’s Art Club. Maya hopes to further encourage nationwide use of the curriculum through our website.

Maya Ballerstedt

Troop 3317 | Gwinnett County

2023 Gold Award Council Young Women of Distinction

“Life is pure adventure.”

Maya Angelou

Nupur Desai

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Jennifer Scott

Project Advisors: Jennifer Gyunn and Gabriel Flemmin

Gold Award Coach: Jennifer Scott

Stranger In Need

Nupur created hygiene kits for the homeless population of Atlanta because she wanted to use her platform to aid others. Her team put together over 200 kits which they then donated to MUST Ministries to distribute. Nupur also led a workshop where she educated teens on how they can make a difference in their community, and created a website where she shared her journey, as well as information on how others can do the same.

Maeve Doyle

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Louise Hamrick

Project Advisor: Patty Childs

Gold Award Coach: Libby Peck

Bee Aware: Save the Pollinators!

Due to increased urbanization and use of pesticides, pollinator habitats have been rapidly decreasing. To combat this issue, Maeve planted a pollinator garden at an elementary and middle school, educated students about the importance of pollinators in her community, encouraging them to create their own pollinator garden, and provided them with the supplies to do so.

Claire Donner

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Kelly Angelo

Project Advisor: Kelly Angelo

Gold Award Coach: Elizabeth Stromberg

Helping Middle School Girls

Claire’s project was to create a club for middle school girls, a place were girls could talk about the challenges that face them at this stage in their life. Her goal was to help girls accept and believe in themselves and to love what makes them unique. It took place once a week, and it is still going on in the middle school at Holy Spirit.

Sofie Ellis

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Kathy Barnett

Project Advisors: Alison Tripp, Stacy Ellis and Lakasha Lee

Gold Award Coach: Kathy Barnett

Supplying School Supplies for Children in Need

Sofie’s target audience were the underprivileged kids at the Title 1 school Ison Springs Elementary. She served them by donating a reasonable amount of backpacks and school supplies for the kids that transfer homes/living situations frequently. This project really helped Sofie display active leadership by giving her the opportunity to educate people on an issue that means a lot to her.

Katherine Euston

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Julie Gosselin

Project Advisor: Shannon Sides

Gold Award Coach: Vena Namukasa

Supporting Equitable Education Through School Supply Drives

Katherine’s project will address the lack of funding for school supplies in a local low-income school district. Not only will it spark a community collection to help right this situation, it will also educate those who are unaware of the current problem that is happening a few miles away. Teachers are given money to purchase school supplies, and in a properly funded, middle-class income area, this amount is not normally enough.

Megan Fitzgerald

County: Dekalb County

Troop Advisor: Kelly Shea-Miller

Project Advisor: Hannah Edber

Gold Award Coach: Susan Lazaro

Planting Seeds For Life

Megan’s project brought students together with a common interest in gardening and horticulture. She started a Horticulture Club at Dunwoody High School and arranged guest speakers and several projects. They installed bird houses, did a planting project at the school as well as at a city park. Students enjoyed connecting with each other and the community after the long days of quarantine.

Marin Faulkner

County: Cherokee County

Troop Advisor: Connie Klements

Project Advisor: Kelly Laurens

Gold Award Coach: Elizabeth Lewis

Vote Local – It Matters!

Voter turnout in local elections is very low, especially low for young voters. To educate young voters on the importance of voting in their local elections, Marin made a video and uploaded it to YouTube. She presented this video to several classes at her school as well, and also went to a college campus to distribute a QR code that was linked to the video.

Brooke Francis

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Jodee Morgan

Project Advisor: Brian Dunson

Gold Award Coach: Jodee Morgan

Nature Center Recycling

“Brooke partnered with CNC staff, friends, and a local tool expert to design, build and deliver three new and improved trash and recycling bins. She learned that since the U.S. does not have a federal recycling program, recycling decisionmaking is in the hands of the local communities. Knowing this and seeing problems with the containers at the CNC, she executed a project to add improved bins and make it easier for the community to recycle.”

Anika Fredericks

County: Fayette County

Troop Advisor: Quynh Hervey

Project Advisor: Kristen Phillips

Gold Award Coach: Donita Lockridge

Prevent Period Poverty

Anika’s project addressed the scarcity of proper feminine hygiene supplies by creating an ongoing collection and distribution for them at a local community center which assists those in need. The initial collection started at the church which sponsors her Girl Scout troop, and many members donated supplies to a collection box in the vestibule where they received brochures that included facts about period poverty to make her community more aware of the issue.

Riordan Gatwood

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Kelly Angelo

Project Advisor: Lisa Regan

Gold Award Coach: Kelly Angelo

Baths for Babies

Families with low income may be unable to afford baby bath supplies. Riordan’s project aimed to solve this by providing hygiene starter packs, so that families could focus on raising a happier, healthier baby, instead of the overwhelming cost. She organized a donation drive at her school to collect baby shampoo, soap, fingernail clippers, and more. Riordan’s school community, as well as an organization called Walking with Moms, donated many supplies for the Pregnancy Aid Clinic.

Addison Gaddy

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Holly Reese

Project Advisors: Brooke McKenna and Chaela Nutor

Gold Award Coach: Alyce James

The LIBERTY Project

The LIBERTY Project addresses the issue of racial trauma and discomfort in kids and teenagers when talking about race. The program educates students on how to identify and process racial trauma, in an easy-to-understand format. The program consists of six sections with an array of videos and texts that students are able to use. Beyond Addison’s involvement, the project will be sustained through an online platform and the Emory pipeline program.

Pavni Goel

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Jessica Weis

Project Advisor: Joseph Covert

Gold Award Coach: Jessica Weis

A Cleaner Community

Pavni’s project addressed the concept of waste management to help limit trash to protect the environment. Her goal was to educate kids about how basic changes can reduce the amount of waste consumed. She partnered with her local library to conduct a recyclable craft workshop and created a home gardening notebook and brochures to be part of the library’s permanent collection. She also made a website, tutorials, and social media posts to promote the project.

Troop Advisor: Virginia Mallard

Project Advisor: Beth Niersbach

Gold Award Coach: Libby Peck

Favorite Girl Scout Memory: My favorite Girl Scout memories are camping at Misty Mountain and our trip to Savannah.

Read To Succeed

Read to Succeed addressed the important issue of childhood reading. 53% of students entering 3rd grade in Gwinnett County are only reading at a Kindergarten level. This project had three parts:

1. Claire educated parents to read 20 minutes each day with their child.

2. Claire’s project collected 500+ children’s books through book drives for charities.

3. Claire built a Little Free Library and placed it in a local playground for families to “Take a Book, Share a Book.”

Claire Brautigan

Troop 4541 | Gwinnett County

2023 Gold Award Council Young Women of Distinction

“When we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better too.”

Paulo Coelho

Tyler Gordon

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Krystal Gambrell

Project Advisor: Malikah Bennet

Gold Award Coach: Erica Scott

The Literacy Figure

Tyler’s project is called the Literacy Figure, a workshop for fourth grade students to improve their reading comprehension and fluency skills. The root cause of her project was a lack of resources and encouragement. Tyler made her project sustainable by recording her reading workshops, which will then be published on her school’s website and replayed for the next class of fourth graders. She chose this project because of her overall love of reading.

Clara Hamilton

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Kristine Walden

Project Advisors: George Pirkle and Matthew Pate

Gold Award Coach: Mary Williams

The Forsyth County History Walk

The issue Clara identified in her community was an absence of resources to teach the history of Forsyth County, Georgia to its people. To solve this, she created four plaques that detail the history of the county at Sawnee Mountain Preserve Park. This project is meant for people of all ages, visitors, and citizens of Forsyth County. It will be sustained by the Forsyth County Parks and Recreation and the Historical Society of Cumming/Forsyth County.

Sara Elizabeth Gump

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Mary Elizabeth Gump

Project Advisor: Shon Cameron

Gold Award Coach: Deborah Foley

Green, White, and Gold

The root cause of Sarabeth’s project was the lack of greenery beside the I-75 interstate on her local trail, inaccessibility to performing arts during the COVID pandemic, and climate change. Sarabeth created a fundraiser to sell roses for people to send to performers after a show since audiences at the performances at her school were limited and oftentimes shows were streamed virtually. All proceeds for the fundraiser went toward planting trees beside the interstate.

Aurora Hampton

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Kristina Hampton

Project Advisor: Josh Ray

Gold Award Coach: Vena Namukasa

Thriving Band Community

During 2020 and 2021 (COVID), participation in band had dropped off dramatically. Band was basically shut down, so music in the schools took a big hit. In order to help reestablish the musical culture in the schools, Aurora fostered the relationship between feeder middle schools and their high school band programs.

Grace Hampton

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Leah Rasori

Project Advisor: Leah Stanley

Gold Award Coach: Stacy Navin

Furkids Animal Rescue Club

The root cause of Grace’s issue is the need for volunteers at the Furkids Animal Shelter. The target audience was Cambridge High School students who could join the club and start volunteering. This is sustainable because the club will last long after she graduates, as new students will lead it.

Charisma Harris

County: Fayette County

Troop Advisor: Jessica Grier

Project Advisor: Dr. Monica Reckley

Gold Award Coach: Deborah Burke Johnson

Multiplication Kits for Kids

Charisma has personally encountered discrepancies in most of her math classes since elementary school. Statistics support they exist. In an effort to address this issue, she compiled and delivered 43 Multiplication Kits for Kids specializing in learning the multiplication tables for third grade students by using a hands-on method to enable retention for future use. Her project will address the issue of learning multiplication knowledge, which will be used in the formative years of education.

Meghan Hamrick

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Louise Hamrick

Project Advisor: Banesa Guaderrama

Gold Award Coach: Kelly Angelo

Choose to Reuse

For her project, Meghan created an educational video and website to inform her community about the dangers plastic bags pose to the environment. She urged them to take a more sustainable approach with reusable bags, and hosted a reusable bag drive with the Environmental Club at her school. She collected over 1,000 bags and donated them to the Community Assistance Center Thrift Store, where they would be distributed free of charge.

Sydni Hayes

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisors: Sheron Hayes

Project Advisor: Tiara Hunt

Gold Award Coach: Barbara Foerst

Documenting Colorism

Colorism is a branch of racism that affects darker skinned people in their ethnicities. Colorism is mostly a subconsciously taught prejudice. Sydni has been victim to colorist remarks and they made her self-esteem plummet when she was younger. So, her Gold Award Project, “Documenting Colorism,” was created to provide girls ages eight through thirteen with the knowledge of what colorism is, how it looks, and how not to promote it.

Brooklynn Hellenbrand

County: Fayette County

Troop Advisor: Kristi Hellenbrand

Project Advisor: Maureen Foreman

Gold Award Coach: Jane Oshita

Lyme Lives Here

Brooklynn educated the residents of Peachtree City and beyond about Lyme Disease by utilizing social media and infographic distribution to local doctors’ clinics. After watching her mother suffer severely from this disease, she wanted to educate people on what the disease is, how to avoid getting infected, and what to do if you do get bit by a tick. Brooklynn created a website Lymeliveshere.com, which has reached over 200 views in five countries.

Snigdha Jannu

County: Fulton County

Project Advisor: Alyssa Millikin

Gold Award Coach: Kimberly Murray

Sharing is Caring –Food Waste and Recovery Project

Snigdha’s project increased awareness on food waste in Metro Atlanta, and encouraged partnerships between restaurants and food recovery organizations. She hosted a Food Waste and Recovery workshop to inspire community members to take action and reduce food waste in their kitchens. Snigdha was able to aid people who are food insecure through food diversion, while also assisting the general population by targeting environmental hazards from food waste.

Kyra Hudson

County: Gwinnett County

Troop Advisor: Ardise Sehested

Project Advisor: Carrie Settles

Gold Award Coach: Dawn Geren

Brookwood Herb Garden

In the hands of this generation, the environment has harshly declined due to pollution, littering, little care, and a lack of education on plant life’s importance to humans. This project established a student-accessible herb garden at Brookwood High School to provide a hands-on learning experience that is beneficial for the environment. Agricultural students are now able to continue the growth of this garden, and they can use it for their personal projects.

Rachel Jay

County: Dekalb County

Troop Advisor: Ellen Etheridge

Project Advisor: Sarah Koenig

Gold Award Coach: Kim Towne

Calming Corner

For Rachel’s project, she made a sensory room to address the needs of kids with special needs. Her sensory room provides a safe space for individuals to unwind, regain concentration, and help overcome their sensitivity issues. She has seen that students’ coordination, social behavior, and cooperation increase with the use of the room.

Sara Garg

Troop Advisor: Seani Serfontein

Project Advisors: Charisse Williams and Gabby Markle

Gold Award Coach: Tracy Smith

Favorite Girl Scout Memory: Across the three troops I’ve been in, my fondest memories are always centered on the Girl Scout community. Whether going shopping at a farmer’s market, camping at a state park, leading a badge activity for my younger sister’s troop, or laughing around a campfire at Camp CEO, friendships bloom.

Sync Poetry for Self-Expression

The pandemic devastated youth mental health. As a poet, Sara knew the power of poetry and harnessed it by creating workshops through her co-founded poetry non-profit Sync Poetry, Matwaala’s youth organization. Across public libraries and children’s hospitals around the country, Sara reached over 600 youth. Her online videos are available to any interested party.

Troop 12511 | Fulton County

2023 Gold Award Council Young Women of Distinction

“It starts with the spark of an idea.... Then, you kindle the fire, reach for the stars and change the world, one person at a time.”

Girl

Riya Jegajeevan

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Kavitha Veeramani

Project Advisor: Emily Lewandowski

Gold Award Coach: Kavitha Veeramani

Career Corner

Focusing on mental health awareness, Riya built a room in the counseling office at school for a place where students to go to de-stress. Being at a rigorous school, it can be difficult for students to not base their self-worth off of their grades. This is why she decided to create this room in order to spread awareness about mental health and suicide. This room consists of different lighting, stress toys, books, games, and journals. I raised over $1000 by selling t-shirts, bracelets, and tote bags in order to get the funds to create this room.

Morgan Jones

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Amy Jones

Project Advisor: Yolanda Robinson

Gold Award Coach: Cori Hembree

Pantry at Griffin Middle School

For Morgan’s project, she built a pantry at a local Title-1 middle school with every supply that a child could need. It had food, clothes and school supplies. The issue of food insecurity is rampant throughout the country and while Morgan felt she couldn’t do much about that worldwide, she could make a truly meaningful impact in her community, by making sure those kids had access to everything they might need.

Emily Johnson

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Pam Johnson

Project Advisor: Doug Carey

Gold Award Coach: Cori Hembree

Revamp the Mt. Zion Fire Pit Area

Emily found that girls in this area don’t have the resources or place to learn the skills around the fire. She rebuilt the firepit area, as well as held classes for girls in the Roswell/ Marietta area. The firepit area now has four benches, a firewood holding area, and a safe fire pit. This project gave such an amazing place for Emily to learn leadership skills and inspire those around her.

Nithilaa Karthikeyan

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Kavitha Veeramani

Project Advisors: Devi Selvakumar, Anandhi Jambunathan and Harini Senapathy

Gold Award Coach: Upasana Gupta

Study Resource for Autistic Kids

Nithilaa’s project was to build study resources for autistic kids. She worked with an organization called Pure Hearts of Georgia, and curated study resources that teaches autistic kids basic life skills. She put together a total of 125 task boxes that teaches five different life skills. Task boxes were intended to promote independence, boost self-esteem, reduce the need for verbal instruction and at the same time, provide an easy learning experience for the kids.

Kaitlin Kelly

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Kathy Barnett

Project Advisor: Vanessa Moulthrop

Gold Award Coach: Kathy Barnett

F.A.C.T.S. (Food Allergy Community Training & Support)

Food allergy advocacy plays a critical role in today’s society. Millions of people suffer from food allergies every year, including Kaitlin’s sister. Her goal was to empower youth so they know what to do in an emergency. Knowing the signs of an allergic reaction, how to call for help and how to administer an EpiPen will save lives. Empowering youth to advocate for their allergy friends makes the world a safer place.

Allison Kitchens

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Jennifer Kitchens

Project Advisor: Megan Volpert

Gold Award Coach: Barbara Foerst

Pride

Allison provided education about the LGBTQ+ community in her book, Pride. She wrote and designed this book and distributed it to several local high school media centers and counseling offices. In her book, Allison provided information about the LGBTQ+ history and a description of terms and pronouns. In addition, she illustrated the LGBTQ+ flags that are featured in her book. She also provided helpful resources for teens, LGBTQ+ allies, and parents. As a part of the community and as an active ally, Allison is continuing to help those who want to become better allies of the LGBTQ+ community.

Brooke King

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Bernadette King

Project Advisor: Clifford Malivert

Gold Award Coach: Lisa Willis

Tennis Time

Brooke’s project addressed the issue of childhood obesity by providing a fun form of fitness through the game of tennis for youth ages eight to thirteen. All equipment for the tennis clinics was provided, so cost would not be a factor. Not only did kids learn a new sport, but they received information about exercising and healthy living that can benefit them in the future. Brooke’s project is being sustained by Sweetwater Tennis Center.

“Be there for others, but never leave yourself behind.”

Dodinsky

Maria Cerbone, page 3

Kahmara Landrum

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Holly Reese

Project Advisor: Ann Marie Lewis

Gold Award Coach: Barbara Foerst

Thinking Differently

Kahmara created the video series, “Thinking Differently: An Inside Look on Dyslexia.” The series tackles the untold stories of dyslexia, a reading disability that affects one in five people. The project features interviews with students, parents, teachers, and tutors who have been affected by dyslexia and sheds light on dyslexia awareness. Each interview provides an inside look into life with dyslexia and provides tips for others who may be struggling or starting their own journey.

Allison Lee

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Tracy Smith

Project Advisor: Catherine Choi

Gold Award Coach: Tracy Smith

Painting is Healing

With the rising threat of Asian hate crimes and the isolation caused by COVID-19, the Asian American community has been discouraged and has since diminished. This project aimed to heal and encourage the local Asian American community to come together with an art project to help freshen up Allison’s Korean church. She hoped to bring together the youth of the Asian community. This project is sustained through the Korean School.

Lindsay Lavelanet

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Bernadette King

Project Advisor: Kelly Herrero

Gold Award Coach: Lisa Willis

Activity Boxes for Seniors (A.B.S.)

Lindsay’s target audience was seniors in retirement homes. Some of them are not allowed to go outside because of underlying medical conditions. They are restricted to staying in the facility or their rooms all day with little to do. Seniors are not staying active when they are inside with nothing to do. Lindsay helped seniors become mentally and physically healthy.

Ashe Lemon

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Renita Kirkland

Project Advisor: John Brandhort

Gold Award Coach: Sharon Hubbard-Belcher

Arts Wonders

Ashe’s project was about educating students on how to express their emotions through art. Finding ways to release their negative thoughts. The root cause of this problem is caused by past trauma in youth lives. She was able to sustain the project by passing out 100 pamphlets but used different colors, shapes, and sizes. She informed readers about Art Therapy and how to reach out if they need further support.

Troop Advisor: Gina Masson

Project Advisor: Ana Bogusky

Gold Award Coach: Dr. Neelu Kalra

Favorite Girl Scout Memory: Sitting around the campfire with my troop! I always loved eating s’mores and telling stories.

Do Better, Buy Less

Fast fashion refers to the production of cheap, unsustainable clothing that harms the environment. Most people have never heard of this term, and aren’t aware of the impact of their clothing. Natalie wanted her Gold Award to spread education and awareness about the negative impacts of fast fashion. So, she created multiple educational resources and held workshops. The resources are on the project’s website, and have also been given to her local high school.

2023 Gold Award Council Young Women of Distinction

Natalie George Troop 12752 | Fulton County

“Stay strong. Stand up. Have a voice.”

Shawn Johnson

Kylie Levins

County: Fayette County

Troop Advisor: Stephanie Koukoutsis

Project Advisor: Zane Taylor

Gold Award Coach: Libby Peck

A Safe Body and Mind

Kylie’s project addressed the issue of girls not knowing all possible safety dangers or how to live safely on a college campus. It is important for girls to know the potential safety dangers and the strategies that go along with them to stay safe in college and throughout the rest of their lives. This project included a safety workshop including self defense, a speaker on healthy relationships, and general college safety for girls.

Molly Malloy

County: Dekalb County

Troop Advisor: Kathy Malloy

Project Advisor: George King

Gold Award Coach: Kelly Angelo

Be Counted: Your Voice, Your Vote

Molly’s Gold Award project encourages voter registration within underserved communities and student demographics. The root of most continued voter inequity on the side of the voters is a lack of education on what rights voters have. Molly’s website and video provides information on how to register to vote, as well as the voter laws in the state of Georgia. She has permanently installed posters linking to her project on the walls of Lakeside High School.

Mackenzie Lundy

County: Gwinnett County

Troop Advisor: Cindy Parker

Project Advisor: Tonya Richardson

Gold Award Coach: Cindy Parker

The Friendship Club (C.U.B.)

The root cause of Mackenzie’s project was lack of inclusion of special education students. She started a club at Cooper Elementary School, where regular education students in grades three through five read and play games with the special education students in the self-contained intellectual disabilities classes. The club is now led by a teacher at the school. Mackenzie was able to get 25 students involved in the club this first year, which exceed her goal of 20 students.

Emilie Masson

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Gina Masson

Project Advisor: Dr. Mary Loveless

Gold Award Coach: Karen Thomas

Teaching COVID

Emilie’s Gold Award focused on increasing awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Few people in her community understood how viruses and vaccines work, and she realized that people couldn’t make educated decisions to protect themselves. Emilie created a series of posts regarding viruses and vaccines and how each affects our bodies for various online platforms. She also organized and facilitated a discussion event featuring several area professionals responsible for making key decisions during the pandemic.

Macy McKenzie

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Holly Reese

Project Advisor: Kirk Canady

Gold Award Coach: Pamela Malinzak

Preservation of Legacies

Macy’s project focused on the preservation of Macedonia African Methodist Church Cemetery. Her project focused on supporting this cemetery by sponsoring clean up days, installing an informational QR code and fundraising for six grave markers for vandalized and abandoned gravesites. She dedicated over 100 hours of service to her Gold Award and received recognition from Johns Creek City Council and the Johns Creek Rotary Club regarding the project.

Madison Mitchko

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Jennifer Skurpski

Project Advisor: Tixie Fowler

Gold Award Coach: Jennifer Skurpski

Bee the Change: Building Pollinator Gardens in my Community

The issue Madison addressed with her project is the world-wide decline of pollinator populations, such as bees, butterflies and birds. She addressed the root cause working with the City of Norcross to develop a pollinator garden/ habitat outside City Hall that is a model for others in the community. She also spent time educating adults and children about the importance of pollinators and assisting with planting pollinator gardens in their own yards and in their community.

Maya McKenzie

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Holly Reese

Project Advisors: Julie Smith and Daniel Horowitz Garcia

Gold Award Coach: Pamela Malinzak

Year of Reflection Project

Maya’s project focused on the preservation of history by recording interviews about the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, she fundraised and donated a bench to Emory Johns Creek Hospital. The target audience for her project included future generations and healthcare workers. From this project, Maya hopes others will understand the importance of history. The bench at Emory served to provide the staff and the community with a place to relax.

Reagan Morgan

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Jodee Morgan

Project Advisor: Brian Dunson

Gold Award Coach: Beth Francis

Recycling Now – Benefits Tomorrow

According to Taylor Houghton’s article, 11 Facts About Recycling, “the EPA estimates that 75% of the American waste stream is recyclable, but we only recycle about 30% of it.” Reagan’s project focused on increasing awareness about recycling. This was done in three ways: she created interactive, seasonal worksheets on recycling for the childrens program at Chattahoochee Nature Center. Reagan created sustainable visual signs for the trash and recycling bins at the center and created a website to educate and promote recycling.

Madeline Murphy

County: Dekalb County

Troop Advisor: Ann Council

Project Advisor: Mandi Bell

Gold Award Coach: Jessica Weis

Making Waves

Lack of education and access to things like swimming lessons are causing thousands of deaths. Maddy’s project addressed this by hosting a water safety fair to help her community gain a basic understanding of water safety. She provided a swim lesson, and introductions to water safety, sun safety, and CPR. Her project will be sustained through her advisor, Mandi Bell, who is the founder of a non-profit to help adverse kids learn to swim.

Taylor Nealy

County: Newton County

Troop Advisors: Kathy Nealy and Tracy Stanley

Project Advisor: Laurie Deemer

Gold Award Coach: Sha Coursey

Shelters for Strays

The animal euthanasia rates in the state of Georgia are unfortunately extremely high, and the only way to decrease these numbers is to decrease the amount of animals entering shelters. In order to do this, Taylor built five shelters and five feeding stations for feral cat colonies in her area. These cats now have access to food, water, and shelter, and therefore won’t need to be brought to an animal shelter by animal control.

Megha Nair

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Priya Nair

Project Advisor: Aparna Bhattacharyya

Gold Award Coach: Barbara Foerst

Stranger Danger Program

Megha’s project sought to address the lack of information and misinformation surrounding human trafficking in her area. She founded a human rights club at her school, helping to lead efforts to work with human trafficking organizations for drives and volunteering. Moreover, she led the initiative to create a PSA for her school, which focused on myths and trafficking signs to over 900 students. Her club, named Rise Haven, continues to maintain her project’s education and service efforts.

Abigail Porter

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Michelle Zimmerman

Project Advisors: Buddy Maleiko, Terri Moore and Tom Powell

Gold Award Coach: Michelle Zimmerman

Community Gardens: Growing Healthy Food, Healthy Kids, and Healthy Lives

The focus of Abigail’s Gold Award Project was to combat many of the negative effects of the COVID-19 lockdowns and school closures on young students and her community. She concentrated on unhealthy eating habits, decreased exercise, and growing social anxiety due to lack of interactions with others. Abigail organized and built a community garden where she provided an environment and opportunities to help teach kids they can grow healthy food, encouraged physical activity through gardening and play, and it provided for safe and fun social interaction with other kids.

Troop Advisor: Susan Stevens

Project Advisor: Faith Uwantege

Gold Award Coach: Kimberly Murray

Favorite Girl Scout Memory: My favorite Girl Scout memory was when my troop traveled to Savannah to visit the Juliette Gordon Low house. It was an amazing trip and I loved experiencing history with all of my friends!

Having Faith

Elle built a new classroom, a playground and a kitchen for The Faith Foundation school in Kinigi, Rwanda. This allowed the school to double enrollment, creating the opportunity for poverty stricken children to break the poverty cycle through education. She also donated school supplies, furniture, a computer, backpacks and raincoats. Elle educated her community on the direct correlation between poverty and a lack of education, and the importance of play and good nutrition in childhood.

Eleanor Morrison

Troop 10451 | Fulton County

2023 Gold Award Council Young Women of Distinction

“Helping others is not only a gift for others, but a gift for yourself.”

Margaret Portman

County: Gwinnett County

Troop Advisor: Sharon Steingruber

Project Advisor: Marilyn Whitmer

Gold Award Coach: Neelu Kalra

Bringing Education Outdoors

Margaret’s project, aimed to draw attention to the lack of outdoor time that young children receive during the school day and how this affects their physical and mental health. Children who are not exposed to an adequate amount of outdoor time often experience depression, lack of creativity, and an overall lack of physical fitness. In order to address this issue in my community, she constructed an outdoor classroom at the Peachtree Elementary School in Peachtree Corners. This area allowed for kids to spend more time outside and also reinforced their learning through an outdoor reading area and library.

Samhita Purushothapu

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Jeanine Ramirez

Project Advisor: Linda Dickinson

Gold Award Coach: Courtney Bernard

Kits for Kids

Samhita’s project addressed the issue of anxiety in children post-pandemic. She created support kits for children, which contained sensory tools and included breathing exercises to follow. These kits were meant to be used at time when the children felt worked up. She worked with her elementary school, specifically with children from first grade through fourth grade. She aims to stay in communication with the school about the effectiveness of the kits.

Jenna Prokash

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Elizabeth Crane

Project Advisors: Jennifer Schroeder and Tracy Schrantz

Gold Award Coach: Peggy Jackson

Books for a Better Future

Jenna’s project addressed the issue of low childhood literacy rates in Georgia. She worked with the North Atlanta Church of Christ to create a reading area for children in low income households. With the help of her team, she collected 746 children’s books to stock the reading area. To promote reading from a young age, she held a workshop to educate parents on the academic and social-emotional benefits of a solid foundation in reading.

Adiva Puttnam

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Priya Nair

Project Advisors: Kate Mowbray and Ganesh Venugopal Gold Award Coach: Kimberly Knighton-Felix

Northview’s Water Pollution Solution

Adiva’s project emphasized the importance of using chemical monitoring to test the quality of local waterways. She implemented a chemical monitoring program in Northview High School’s Environmental Club, where members performed monthly chemical monitoring at the Autrey Mill Nature Preserve and Heritage Center, and she certified eight members in chemical monitoring through Adopt-A-Stream, a state volunteer water quality monitoring program. Additionally, Adiva invited speakers to the Environmental Club to educate members about various environmental topics.

Tara Ravindranathan

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Paige Laine

Project Advisor: Karla Williams

Gold Award Coach: Kelly Angelo

Library for Bridges: A community of early onset dementia residents

Tara’s project addressed the lack of books seen in assisted living facilities. At a local assisted living facility in her area, Bridges at Arbor Terrace, there was no access to books for early onset dementia patients. Tara’s project made a library for Bridges, and created a sustainability program where books are restocked and volunteers read to the residents.

Elizabeth Richter

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Kelly Angelo

Project Advisor: Ximena Capinegro

Gold Award Coach: Kelly Angelo Dress

For Success

Elizabeth’s project aimed at providing underprivileged students in her community with adequate clothing so they could perform better in school. Not having sufficient clothing is directly tied to mental, physical, and emotional issues that can prevent students from achieving higher levels of academic and lifelong success. To address this issue, Elizabeth partnered with her church to collect over 1000 items of clothing which were made available to her local community during distribution weekends.

Maya Reese

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Niki McKenzie

Project Advisor: Isabel Mendoza

Gold Award Coach: Deanna Simmons

Irish Dance in Chairs for Seniors

Senior citizens are the backbone of our communities, and they need to stay active and healthy as they age. Maya created an Irish dance in chair video for seniors and taught them about the importance of staying active. Her target audience gained awareness, an improvement in mental acuity, and exercise skills. Maya’s project was posted on the Irish Dancing Magazine website, where was viewed over 30,000 times and inspired dancers from all over the world.

Isabella Sanchez

County: Gwinnett County

Troop Advisor: Pamela Mathis

Project Advisor: Lisa Neal

Gold Award Coach: Pamela Mathis

Access STEM

Isabella noticed that in many of her STEM classes, there was an imbalance between female and male students. After researching, she found that many students do not receive equitable STEM instruction during early childhood education. She worked to create STEM curricula for educators. Isabella then used her lesson plans for community classes and donated the materials to a local school. Her lesson plans are now accessible to educators anywhere through her website.

Samantha Schoenfeld

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Kristine Walden

Project Advisor: Carrie Hamilton

Gold Award Coach: Mary Williams

Operation ICE

Through partnership with the Georgia Department of Public Health, and Senior Services of North Fulton, along with the creation of the Operation ICE (In Case of an Emergency) website, and a first responder project awareness training video, Samantha’s goal was to educate people on the importance of residential emergency preparedness. In conjunction, she donated 500 Operation ICE kits to senior citizens. These kits can speak for patients in residential emergencies when they, themselves, cannot.

Krysta Schwab

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Sharon Steingruber

Project Advisor: Melissa Mulvaney

Gold Award Coach: Shannon Moretz

Lending Love

Krysta’s project aimed to provide free reading materials to children in lower income areas, to focus on breaking the cycle of illiteracy. Usually, lower levels of literacy are associated with lower income households that are not able to prioritize reading and growing skills in education. By providing access to these materials, the burden is taken off the families, whose main priorities are getting food on the table, clothes, and a roof over their heads.

Jaidyn Schultz

County: Cherokee County

Troop Advisor: Silvita Tenenbaum

Project Advisor: Michele Harcarik

Gold Award Coach: Sonya Mathur

Bee Sustainable

Jaidyn’s project aimed to address the decline of pollinator populations in her community. In order to combat the continuous habitat destruction that these species face, she planted two pollinator gardens at a local elementary school. These contained flowers specific to bee and butterfly attraction; every time she visited her beds, there were pollinators everywhere! In addition to planting, Jaidyn also visited elementary-aged students and taught them about the importance of creating a sustainable environment.

Ambuja Sharma

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Madhu Sharma

Project Advisor: Ashley Agans

Gold Award Coach: Rebecca Woodyt

Teacher Wellness Room

Ambuja’s project was to design, develop, and implement a Teacher Wellness Room at her high school. The concept was a room dedicated completely to faculty, where they can retreat to during the day and prioritize their own mental wellness. She decided to pursue this as her Gold Award after realizing that the pandemic was incredibly taxing on faculty wellness and emotional wellbeing. After implementation, faculty members were able to use the space to their benefit!

Erin Smith

Troop Advisor: Jacinda Smith

Project Advisors: Jennifer Newton and Scott Hague

Gold Award Coach: Sheila Bell

Favorite Girl Scout Memory: Going to Jekyll Island with my troop members at the end of one year! It was so much fun and we have been closer ever since!

Secret Garden

Erin’s project helped created a community garden to combat food insecurity in Lilburn. Food insecurity is when there aren’t easily accessible or affordable sources of food in a community which drives those who are unable to access it, like low-income households, to seek out unhealthy food to eat. Erin created a community garden to supply Lilburn co-op ‘s food drives. Her project will donate twice a year.

Troop 13686 | Gwinnett County

2023 Gold Award Council Young Women of Distinction

“Being a Gold Award Girl Scout is knowing that you really care about the world!”

Erin Shea

County: Gwinnett County

Troop Advisor: Priscilla Hetherington

Project Advisor: Emma Hickey

Gold Award Coach: Lisa Neal

We Did It Together: A Resource for Mental Health

Erin’s project focuses on mental health among high school and college students. She worked with a licensed therapist to create a questionnaire about how people cope with mental health. After hearing responses from students, she designed an ebook to anonymously publish the answers and created informative pages on depression and anxiety. Erin created an Instagram so people could reach the questionnaire and ebook: We_Did_It_Together.

Jaida Smith

County: Dekalb County

Troop Advisor: Shannah Ware

Project Advisor: Jennifer Yearwood

Gold Award Coach: Kenyatta Dean

Project HIP (Hagar House Inspiration and Planning)

Project HIP addressed homelessness, women, and the poverty of the families of Hagar House. There were three major components of the project which included artwork to create beauty for inspiration, provided planners for job, apartment and child-care searches, and toiletries for everyday use. Jaida’s Gold Award Project will be sustained by the Women’s Ministry of New Bethel AME Church who will continue collecting supplies two times a year in support of Hagar House.

Julia Sick

County: Cherokee County

Troop Advisor: Connie Klements

Project Advisor: Wendy Graham

Gold Award Coach: Gloria Avillar

Fill Empty Stomachs One Blue Bag at a Time

Julia’s Gold Award project addressed the issue of the increased food insecurity within Cherokee County due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Her Gold Award, Fill Empty Stomachs

One Blue Bag at a Time, helped to raise awareness within Cherokee about increased food insecurity, which is the lack of accessibility to ever-day food items, by promoting House of Hope’s Blue Bag Program and raising awareness about the food insecurity within the community.

Madison Smith

County: Cherokee County

Troop Advisor: Luanne Allen

Project Advisors: Jennifer Welton and Lisa Grisham

Gold Award Coach: Luanne Allen

Safe Splashes

Madison’s project addressed water safety, specifically centered around the lakefront. Throughout her experiences lifeguarding and with Girl Scouts, she noticed that people, especially parents and children, don’t take water safety seriously because they are unaware of the risks associated with water. To address this issue, Madison created a water safety video and spoke to local elementary students. Her project is sustained by Camp Camellia Rose and social media through the video she created.

Maxine Spencer

County: Dekalb County

Troop Advisor: Laura McEwen

Project Advisor: Gabrielle Markle

Gold Award Coach: Courtney Bernard

Crochet for the Kids

The issue Maxine’s project addressed is emotional insecurity in children undergoing procedures in hospitals. Comfort items like stuffed animals often help children feel more secure when they are nervous. Maxine created two patterns for crocheted stuffed animals to be included in the CHOA Volunteer Toolkit. Her crochet team also donated 42 handmade stuffed animals to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Maxine considered the Girl Scout Promise and Law when brainstorming ways to help her community.

Anvitha Suram

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Madhu Sharma

Project Advisor: Rachel Wittenberg

Gold Award Coach: Shannon Moretz

Art Pals

Art Pals aimed to address the growing mental health crisis within the youth by connecting kids to helpful resources. Art has been a huge part of Anvitha’s life, so the goal of her project was to help others discover what art can do for them. Anvitha’s project donated 120 art supply kits (colored pencils, markers, etc.) to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA). Each kit included an educational coloring book covering hand washing etiquette, alphabet, color by numbers, or mandalas.

Sara “Jay” Strobeck

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Cathy Strobeck

Project Advisor: Farah McIntyre

Gold Award Coach: Cori Hembree

CNC Birds of Prey Audio Tour

Sara created an audio tour of the “Birds of Prey” walk at Chattahoochee Nature Center, in the hopes that she could get people interested in helping the environment and protecting it. The environment is in need of our help, so she decided to make information about some of her favorite animals more accessible and detailed via an audio tour. Then, people can be more aware of not only the animals, but what they can do.

Myles Swearingen

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Leigh Steel

Project Advisor: Megan Hume

Gold Award Coach: Pamela Malinzak

Trailhead to Blue Ridge Chimps

Trailhead to Blue Ridge Chimps takes place at the Project Chimps Sanctuary up in Morganton, Georgia. The root cause to Myles’s project is that there are still chimpanzees residing in a New Iberia research facility, while they could be retired at Project Chimps. Her project tackles the lack of monetary funding by implementing an informational kiosk at the sanctuary. Anyone who visits it is a part of the target audience. It is sustainable because a QR-code at the kiosk can provide information to future visitors.

Ashlee Tam

County: Gwinnett County

Troop Advisor: Kim Towne

Project Advisors: Chris Hardin, Paul Bara and Billqeece Naqawe

Gold Award Coach: Lisa Neal

Suwanee’s History Preservation Project

Girl Scout Ashlee Tam’s Gold Award Project seeks to highlight the many cultural assets of Suwanee. Through indepth interviews with community legends, countless hours of meticulous research, and tours of historical landmarks, Ashlee details the city’s immense history and shares its citizens’ fascinating stories. She has collaborated with city staff to showcase a collection of six exciting preservation videos and notes from her own investigation.

Parinita Vardhineedi

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Michelle Bard

Project Advisor: Alexandra Boss

Gold Award Coach: Lisa Willis

PACE Career Prep

Parinita’s project aimed to help high school students strengthen their interviewing and resume-building skills. Through a series of YouTube videos, she covered how to answer the most common interviewing questions, how to format a resume, and interviewing etiquette. Moreover, Parinita organized a Virtual Career Fair with seven professionals from different establishments. These speakers joined Zoom calls with students and talked about their occupations, helping the attendees narrow down their career interests.

Lena Towne

County: Gwinnett County

Troop Advisor: Kimberly Towne

Project Advisor: Toni Hardy

Gold Award Coach: Lisa Neal

PlayTown Painters: A Work of “heART”

Lena created a public art mural combining the artistry of ten local and diverse artists. The mural squares were painted at the City of Suwanee’s playground park, so that children can enjoy the colorful artwork. She also added permanent sidewalk games such as tic-tac-toe and hopscotch, among others. The artists’ profiles and their selected pieces are preserved on the city’s website.Article/website: https://www.suwanee.com/explore-suwanee/public-art/ permanent-art-collection/work-of-heart

Triya Veeramani

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Kavitha Veeramani

Project Advisor: Stephanie Harrison

Gold Award Coach: Sangeetha Govindarajan

AGNI Dance Club

As globalization continues to take over the world, cultures from other countries are being outshined by Westernization. Triya started an Indian fusion dance team called Agni at her high school to help people learn about, and respect other cultures. Agni provides students a platform to gain confidence to showcase Indian culture through dance. The club was well received, and the social media presence grew. Agni aims to promote tolerance towards other cultures.

Sydney Ware

Troop Advisor: Jacinda Byrd-Smith

Project Advisor: Guyton Daniels

Gold Award Coach: Jacinda Byrd-Smith

Favorite Girl Scout Memory: Going on an end of year trip out of town with my friends. It was such an amazing experience and it definitely improved our bond as a troop.

Project AI (Arts Implementation)

Sydney started her project due to the decline in arts education. It’s been proven that arts help students perform better academically, but many schools cut their performing arts programs because of COVID-19 or lack of funds. So, Sydney created a volunteer organization for teens to teach younger students about performing arts and creative expression. Throughout the year, volunteers will go into summer camps and after-school programs to bring back arts education for young students.

Troop 13686 | Dekalb County

2023 Gold Award Council Young Women of Distinction

“Completing my Gold Award was one of the most challenging things I’ve done as a Girl Scout, but it has definitely been the most rewarding.”

Varna Veeramani

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Kavitha Veeramani

Project Advisors: Devi Selvakumar, Anandhi Jambunathan and Harini Senapathy

Gold Award Coach: Sangeetha Govindarajan

Here for the Differently Abled

The cost of services and study kits for training children with autism is very expensive and not easily affordable for everyone. Varna’s project aimed at being considerate and caring for differently abled kids by conducting a learning session for them, providing reusable kits and online videos, and raising awareness to the community to provide help for such a need. Varna was able to collect 30 kits to teach kids with autism life and sensory skills.

Trisha Vemulapalli

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Julie Neal

Project Advisor: Carrie Toth and Lacy E. Richards

Gold Award Coach: Lori Everette

Solution to Social Isolation

Due to the increased use of technology and the emergence of the pandemic, children have been faced with the problem of social isolation. Trisha’s project was created with the purpose of educating her community on this emerging issue and how building engaging infrastructure can help tackle this issue. The Solution to Social Isolation focuses on creating an interactive piece of infrastructure, a free book library, to help encourage kids to connect with the outdoors and gain valuable social-skills. While building the library, Trisha conducted workshops to instruct kids in her community the building process.

Yashodhara Velayudam

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Kavitha Veeramani

Project Advisor: Imayavan Sundar

Gold Award Coach: Kavitha Veeramani

One Page Ahead

Yashodhara’s project, “One Page Ahead,” aims to help underprivileged children in India improve their English reading and communication skills. Many children in India currently do not have access to an adequate English education. She tackled this issue by developing a curriculum that included reading and grammar lessons and holding weekly sessions with students in India over Zoom. Additionally, she formed a youth council and organized a book drive to create a library in India.

Shrida Venkatesh

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Kavitha Veeramani

Project Advisor: Mamata K Panda

Gold Award Coach: Kavitha Veeramani

The Baby Blanket Project

Lack of understanding of the reproductive system is the main factor leading to teen pregnancies. Through Shrida’s project, she hoped to inform her community about the value of safe sex, while also bringing up issues such as the price of healthcare and the financial burden of having a kid. She partnered with her high school to start a yearly drive for baby blankets, and also donated over 100 blankets to the Helping Mama’s organization.

Dorothy Verner

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Brook Arberg

Project Advisor: Tiffany Sawyer

Gold Award Coach: Brook Arberg

Building Resilience Through Connection

Children in Georgia (and elsewhere) suffer throughout their lives as a result of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), including everything from mental, physical, and sexual abuse to difficulties experienced as a result of poverty, poor nutrition or healthcare, exposure to violence, and other challenges. The Georgia Center for Child Advocacy has programs to educate the community about ACEs. Dorothy helped the Center draft a curriculum specifically for teens to add to their program offerings.

Abigail Waits

County: Forsyth County

Troop Advisor: Aileen Carlstrom

Project Advisors: Martha McConnell, Leslie Storm and Jimmy McConnell

Gold Award Coach: Kimberly Murray

Preservation of Local History

Abigail worked on the often-neglected issue of historic preservation with a three-part project. In the first portion, “Preserving The Past For The Future,” she worked with the Forsyth Historical Society preserving historic documents. Secondly, she restored the vandalized Mount Moriah Cemetery in “Restoring The Past For The Future.” Lastly, in “Preserving Today For The Future,” she designed a time capsule for Coal Mountain Elementary’s 40th anniversary, allowing students to preserve items of today for tomorrow.

Neha Vijay

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Heather Waits

Project Advisors: Devi Selvakumar, Harini Senapathy and Anandhi Jambunathan

Gold Award Coach: Kavitha Veeramani

Refine Your Fine Motors

Neha addressed the lack of tailored content for special needs children of different ages and abilities, by designing and developing workbooks to develop fine motor skills.

She uploaded the PDF workbooks to Pure Hearts of Georgia Website to ensure the project is sustainable year after year as study material in special Ed classrooms in Fulton and Gwinnett county schools. She also distributed 80 laminated workbooks that will be used in rotation.

Maya Walker

County: Dekalb County

Troop Advisor: Katrina M. Walker

Project Advisors: Loretta Paluck, Bri’el Gordon and Haley Pate

Gold Award Coach: Valerie Lawton-Edwards

Swap to Save: Clothing Exchange

Aimed at Fighting Fast Fashion

Maya’s project addressed fast fashion and its detrimental impact on the environment. She organized a clothing swap of over 100 items in order to encourage her community to exchange clothes or buy second hand. Thrifting and swapping reduces stress on the environment, unlike supporting fast fashion companies and buying in tandem with the ever-changing trend cycles. Maya also educated attendees about how they can find sustainable clothing options for themselves, like by using the app “Good on You.”

Samantha Weinick

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Jureen Oddoo

Project Advisor: Amy VanderLugt

Gold Award Coach: Barbara Foerst

Samantha’s Keys to Success

For her Gold Award project, Samantha combined her lifelong passion for music, specifically the piano, with her love for kids. First, she taught piano to beginner students under the age of nine for free. Samantha also created a guide on how to successfully practice the piano, which she shared with several local piano teachers. The piano teachers who received the practice guide are helping sustain the project by sharing the practice guide with their students.

Kaelyn Young

County: Gwinnett County

Troop Advisor: Kelli Robinson

Project Advisor: Altrice Holloman

Gold Award Coach: Kelli Robinson

Destress for the Test

Kaelyn’s Gold Award aimed to help teens through testing anxiety, and to improve the overall mental health of my peers. She did this by holding a “Destress for the Test” event to provide stress-reducing techniques for students before exams. The root cause is that students have significantly high rates of stress and anxiety from taking important exams. Dealing with mental health is critical, especially during exam season when stress levels are high.

Brianna Williams

County: Fulton County

Troop Advisor: Kimberly Knighton-Felix

Project Advisor: Michelle Smith

Gold Award Coach: Shelly Midkiff

Gold Award Financial Advice

Brianna chose a financial empowerment project because it would help with the lack of financial advice and information taught to teens and young adults. That is why she teamed up with Everfi to provide easy and accessible modules about financial literacy. Everfi’s online modules came in handy when the COVID-19 pandemic hit because students now could learn the information at home virtually.

Danielle Zember

County: Cobb County

Troop Advisor: Robin Keith

Project Advisors: Christine Yaeger and Tammy Stubbs

Gold Award Coach: Susan Lazaro

Bags 2 Bins

The goal of Danielle’s project was to spread awareness about the impacts of plastic waste. After researching ways to save plastic from going to the landfill, she created recycling bins out of used plastic grocery bags. Danielle collected 1,000 grocery bags from her community and crocheted them into recycling bins. She then taught her school’s Beta Club how to do this so the project could continue. These bins are now a part of her school’s recycling program!

Silver Award Girl Scouts

2023 Silver Award Woman of Distinction

I Am Enough: Breaking Down Teen Mental Health Stigmas

Troop 15065: Fayette County

Troop Leaders: Andrea Ferguson and Jennifer Wooden Girl Scouts: London Rivers and Gabrielle Ferguson

At London’s school, they decided that positive affirmations and guides to helpful resources were a good start. They identified quotes and affirmations that they thought would be interesting to teens regardless of any age, ethnicity, or mental health need. They created posters that could be hung in the school hallways, bathrooms, and other common areas to help cheer up students as they walked around throughout the day. On each poster they included a website that includes youth mental health resources like books, movies, and websites. They created 16 posters in English and Spanish for this school.

London and Gabrielle’s Silver Award project reached over 2000 students based on the population of their schools. They took action to address the issue of teen mental health stigmas after surveying friends, adults, and doing research on challenges that impact teens in their schools.

At Gabrielle’s school, they determined that positive affirmations, teen friendly resources, and de-stressing toys were the resources needed. They made mini destress stations (6) and shared the design for two (2) small calming corners. The de-stress stations have a bin for sensory toys (fidget spinners, squishy toys, puzzles, rubik’s cubes, different texture balls, affirmation cards, and more) that will help students release emotions or find tools to get help quickly. In addition, they created sixteen (16) English and Spanish positive affirmation posters, and purchased eighteen (18) to be hung around the school, bathrooms, and common areas.

For both schools, they used a QR code on their materials to help students get help anonymously if they want to use that option.

Madison Smith, page 26

Fight for the things you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Marleigh Adams

Mila Adams

Sophie Adams

Taylor Anderson

Dhruti Anupindi

Anatasia Arce

Camila Ardila

Robyn Asbell

Jocelyn Axelrod

June Babcock

Nadia Baker

Mia Balle

Aditi Barde

Zoe Barnes

Nia Batra

Leah Beaubien

Jadah Beauchamp

Addison Beck

Zoi Beeks

Madison Bell

Alisa Belt

Angela Bennett

Kathrynn Benninger

Caroline Benson

Alysia Benton

Charlotte Bergeron

Olivia Blacknall

Samantha Blitzer

Alana Blount

Montana Boggs

Madeleine Bouckaert

Gemma Boyce

Madison Bradway

Emmaleigh Braswell

Kaylyn Braun

Grace Brinkerhoff

Sophia Brittian

Sariyah Brockington

Kathleen Brooks

Mackenzie Brown

Rassie Brown

Madison Bryan

McKenna Bryan

Lila Burrow

Morgan Burson

Zoe Cannon

Miracle CanzaterJohnson

Vivian Cardillo

Sydnei Carter

Nidhi Chandrappa

Allison Chastain

Anna Cheever

Sophia Chilton

Preetika Chunduru

Amelia Cimbalo

Rickelle Clark

Ella Cobb

Timia Coleman

Ravyn Collins

Haley Cooper

Mariah Cornelius

Emma Corso

Valencia Crawford

Claudia Crenshaw

Lily Crick

Tara Cross

Madelyn Davis

Ella De Penning

Kyla DeCambre

Lailah Denny

Taylor DeVane

Lucinda Dignam

Spencer Doenitz

Abby Dowd

Alaina Duman

Olivia Easton

Hasini Edupuganti

Emma Elejalde

Savannah Ellison

Aubrey Endom

Laila Ervin

Kate Evans

Kelsey Fair

Gabby Fays

Gabrielle Ferguson

Mia Ferretti

Isabella Finol-Bishop

Kearstyn Fisher

Kate Fleury

Kacey Floyd

Gnouma Fofana

Genevieve Frank

MacKenzie Freeman

Reagan French

Bridgette Fryer

Layton Gabbidon

Megan Gaither

Bea Galletly

Raina Gant

Katy Gay

Darcy Gaynor

Hana Gebba

Alexis Gentry

Charlotte Gerdes

2023 Silver Award Woman of Distinction

Girl Scout Public Health Patch

Troop 14567: Dekalb County

Troop Leaders: Andrea Ferguson and Jennifer Wooden

Girl Scouts: Gnouma Fofana, Leslie Lutz and Lily Crick

Their solution was to produce a website (gshealthpatch. org) for teens by teens that would be a fun educational tool to demystify and destigmatize public health issues. Plus, they get to earn a patch created in partnership with the CDC Museum. Each member of their team was responsible for research, content creation and project presentation. They planned the project and divided up the work before everyone headed in different directions for most of the summer. Their first major milestone was to have the six learning modules written. By the end of July, we were all back in town and started meeting weekly until everything was complete.

The issue that Troop 14567 addressed was the lack of comprehensive public health education for teens. This leaves them vulnerable instead of empowered. They don’t necessarily understand they have the power to protect themselves and ignite change.

Emrie Giddins

Savannah Giddins

Eleanor Gillispie

Emily Ginzberg

Kennedy Gittens

Ella Gonenne

Joi Gonzalez

Caitlyn Goodwin

Sara Goolsby

Lyla Graves

Miranda Greco

Caroline Green

Claire Green

Calyssa “Dusty” Griffin

Macy Griffin

Gizelle Griffin-McPhail

Abby Guillaume

Dailynn Hall

Maya Hammond

Abbey Hankinson

Layla Haralson

Morgan Harden

Tatiana Harris

Catherine Hasell

Hannah Haskins

Baylee Haslerig

Laurel Hayes

Arabella Hays

Kaylie Hays

Gracie Hayslip

Lily Hebert

Aspen Heimer

Sadie Hernandez

Olivia Herndon

Katie High

Chloe Hightower

Casey Hill

Anderson Hilliard

Lana Hirsh

Morgan Hobbs

Holly Hoffman

Kyndal Holley

Zoe Holmes

Zaryah Housni

Janelle Hudgins

Natasha Hudson

Mary Claire Huff

Claire Hughes

Madeline Hyatt

Amina Ingraham

Bailey Jackson

Ja’zer James

Sydney James

Thenulya Jayasinghe

Ava Jessel

Amariyah Jones

Katelyn Jones

Hannah Jorge

Jocelyn Juan

Samantha Karl

Mattie Kelbaugh

Mariana Kelsh

Leila Kent

Mariann Kersh

Auva Khodakaram

Emma King

Loi Kwan

Kylie Kwon

Ryleigh Labbee

Johanna Lacey

Asha Laskar

Lily Lauterbach

Taylor Leatherwood

Christian Lee

Cecelia Leone

Elizabeth Link

Emma Lisborg

Lucy Little

Nazeefa Loladia

Clarkston Lowe

Annabelle Luffel

Eloise Lumb

Leslie Lutz

Caroline McCann

2023 Silver Award Woman of Distinction #Food4Pets

Troop 383: Cobb County

Troop Leaders: Jane Lloyd and Brook Werner McEckron

Girl Scouts: Marissa McEckron and Koby Wilson

Marissa and Koby established a pet food bank within the St. Vincent de Paul food pantry at Catholic Church of St. Ann’s in Marietta. They assembled a shelf and cleared out space in the pantry for it. They painted signs to decorate that area within the food bank. They did research on healthy and unhealthy foods, pet food banks, and low-cost or free vaccination resources. They created a pamphlet that contains that information about the food bank and distributed the pamphlet to 15 vet offices, rescue organizations, and animal shelters. They also provided the pamphlet to the pet food bank so that it can be distributed to their clients. To secure more donations, they created a flyer asking Girl Scouts troops to donate pet food at their Service Unit meeting and a Service Unit event that their troop hosted. In an effort to encourage more Girl Scouts to participate in similar service projects and make additional donations, they organized a vet clinic day for younger Girl Scouts. They were able to educate them on healthy and unhealthy pet food, as well as the annual costs to

Maggie McClung

Bethany McClure

Marissa McEckron

Iris Mchaggee

Rowen Merritt

Margaret Meyer

Nora Michaels

Sydney Mills

Ayniah Milton

Hannah Minter

Simran Mohamed

Mollie Monk

Lily Monroe

Kennedy Moody

Mackenzie Moore

Ryden Moore

Selina Moore

Maliyah Morris

Nayla Mosby

Carlie Muse

Kate Myers

feed pets. They collected 307 cans of cat food, six bags of cat food, 109 cans of dog food, six bags of dog food, five bags of dog treats, and one dog bone. They also obtained hundreds of can saving lids to keep pet food fresh once a can of food is opened. The St. Vincent de Paul food pantry has agreed to continue to permit donations of pet food to keep their #Food4Pets pantry as a permanent part of the food bank.

Urvini Naidu

Caroline Netto

Sarah Netto

Emma Ngom

Nafissa Ngom

Anike Nias

Mackenzie Nicholaou

Roz “Ivy” Nies

Emily Nilles

Kayla Norman

Adrianna Oliveira

Laura Palacios

Hersheeta Patel

Charlotte Patterson

Danielle Pearson

Myah Pearson

Ella Peterson

Marlie Petite

Leena Phoenix

Eden Piotrowski

Gianna Poage

Devyn Potts

Shravya Prakash

Caroline Preiss

Sophia Preiss

Maddie Preyer

Julianna Priest

Alex Pritt

Jade Pyron

Lianna Realbuto

Aubrey Reaves

Serenity Richmond

Burke Rippeon

London Rivers

Hailey Roberts

Liliana Rochaix

Lily Rogers

Zenadra Roll

Merrick Root

Ella Rosenkoetter

Margaret Rudolph

Ashlyn Rusk

Natalie Ruth

Eliza Saifee

Gabrielle Samuels

Emily Sanders

Addison Sapp

Tess Sauve

AnnMarie Sawyer

Emily Schiffbauer

Amy Schumacher

Camille Scott

Claire Scott

Nia Scott

Sasha Sedykh

Lekha Selvakumar

Harper Seventh

Addison Shafer

Anika Shah

Penelope Shah

Reema Shankar

Marissa Shoaf

Nisa Shringarpure

Jennifer Simons

Saanvi Sinha

Carolyn Skibitski

Susana Slaughter

Camryn Smith

Carleigh Smith

Charlotte Smith

Inara Smith

Anatassia St.Joseph

Cortney Stafford

Zoe Standridge

Alyssa Stanley

Rachael Staskiewicz

Camryn Stegall

Alexandra Stephens

Samantha Sterling

Catherine Stott

Laura Stott

Bailey Stover

Breanna Strong

Fiona Sullivan

Becca Swift

Jordan Teamer

Aarya Tejani

Kavita Tembe

Ava Thomas

Ellen Thompson

Savannah Timbs

Aria Todd

Mary Lynne Traynelis

Mackenzie Trezvant

Aubrey Tribick

Emma Trotti

Alyssa Turner

Caitlin Unglo

Gaby Van Der Lende

Sana Verma

Adriana Verwayne

Alicia Viera

Bethany Viera

Jaanvi Vitkar

Averell VonGal

Savannah Voyles

Rebecca Walburn

Rachel Walker

Stella Walsh

Nala Washington

Holly Wells

Caroline Whitney

Lauren Wilhelm

Amaya Williams

Brianna Williams

Evelyn Williams

Mallory Williams

Paige Williams

Samaya Williams

Katie Williamson

Amelia Wilson

Koby Wilson

Morinne Wilson

Tess Wilson

Mia Winokur

Miranda Wolfe

Bryannah Wright

Annalise Young

Samantha Young

2023 Silver Award Woman of Distinction

Cobb Horizon Calm Room

Troop 383: Cobb County

Troop Leaders: Jane Lloyd and Brook Werner McEckron

Girl Scout: Alex Pritt

Alex wanted to help teens improve their mental health while at school for her Silver Project. She designed a calm room at Cobb Horizon High School that would give students a safe space to deal with stress. She included bean bag chairs, plants, a bookshelf with fidget toys, a water fountain, coloring books and supplies, and made sure all items in the room were calming. She also created a sign for the room and put-up curtains for privacy. The school had a budget for her to use because the counselors wanted this room for their students. The counselor on duty monitors the room. Each student can stay 15 minutes for a maximum of one time per day, and only two people can be in the room at one time. No electronics are permitted. She created a hall pass for the students who need access the room. This room can benefit all 530 students

at Cobb Horizon High School, which is an academic alternative public school in Cobb County. The teachers and administration can also use the room after the students are dismissed for the day.

Bronze AWARD Girl Scouts

2023 Bronze Award Woman of Distinction Safety Patrol

For her project, Savi wanted to create a studentled and staffed organization that would greet students in the morning and enforce hallway safety. She emailed and contacted school staff beginning with her assistant principal and teachers who she thought would be supportive. They connected her to the school secretary who in turn helped her to connect with the principal who was happy to support the endeavor. Then, with the support of sponsors, she sent out flyers, went on the morning news, and publicized safety patrol as much as possible. She

shared forms to all 5th graders to fill out if they wanted to participate in safety patrol; and soon recruited dozens of interested students. After receiving these forms, she talked to the teachers to get a recommendation. Finally, she held a meeting where she explained safety patrol and gave everyone their vests. At last, safety patrol was a reality. Thanks to her work, she began one of the most popular 5th-grade school organizations which the administration will continue to run for years to come!

Troop 22316: Fulton County

Troop Leader: Seema Patel

Girl Scout: (Individual) Savi Garg

Zendaya

Don’t try so hard to fit in, and certainly don’t try so hard to be different, JUST TRY HARD TO BE YOU.

Kaelyn Young, page 32

Sara Elizabeth Gump, page 10

2023 Bronze Award Woman of Distinction

Don’t Get Caught in the Net

session, the troop created an Anti-bullying Bingo game and played it with the kids. They led them in a DIY craft, making buttons with Anti-bullying messages. Finally, they did a role play and then discussed with them how they would handle the situation.

Troop 12321: Newton County

Troop Leaders: Jennifer Dowdy, Kathy Nealy Girl Scouts: Carrigan Burrow, Lacie Dowdy, Lorin Dowdy, Kaitlyn Hill, Averie Hinds, and Kayden Phyall

Troop 12321’s project had three parts. First, they wrote and filmed a movie about bullying and shared it at their school on the morning news. Next, they designed anti-bullying message cards and made them into candy grams, handing out over 1,000 candy grams at various locations including schools, churches, and back-to-school backpack drives. Members of the troop even faced bullying themselves when they tried to hand out the candy grams at our school and had students tear them up and make fun of them. Finally, the troop planned and hosted an anti-bullying workshop for the community. The workshop had separate adult and kid sessions. In the adult session, they led a panel discussion alongside a local school guidance counselor and sheriff’s deputy. The troop shared with the adults their top three concerns for bullying: 1) Kids know bullying is wrong but being afraid to confront it. 2) Kids get mixed messages about how to defend themselves from physical assault by bullies. 3) Bullying is a cycle that needs to be broken, and it starts at home. In the kids

How beautiful this world would be if we all took action for what we believed in.

Samantha Abbate

Olivia Abdullah

Chloe Abraham

Elizabeth Adams

Inchara Aithal

Milana Aithal

Nahia Alishio

Avalyn Allison

Brianna Anastasia

Kaitlyn Anderson

Kaylin Anderson

Lailah Anderson

Trinity Anderson

Avery Andersong

Prisha Andotra

Charlotte Antle

Enya Appel

Emily Austin

Tomi Awoyale

Brielle Baker

Lilith Baker

Alana Baldwin

Malayjah Baldwin

Reese Ballard

Ansley Barnett

Riley Barnett

Emma Barre

Ashley Barrett

Belladay Barry

Isabelle Barton

Stella Barton

Coryn Baxter

Tatum Baxter

Addison Beckhom

Isabella Beirach

Reese Belknap

Charlotte Bell

Lilly Belle

Avi Bennett

Janiya Berry

Julia Birukova

Ashley Black

Camille Blevens

Erin Blitzer

Nicole Bluestein

Annabelle Boatright

Kylie Bonds

Gabby Bothelo

Milan Boulware

Emma Bousarkis

Violet Bove

Hailey Bradshaw

Journee Bratton

Kailee Bridges

Anaise Brown

Wells Brown

Alexis Bruce

Annabelle Brunn

Josie Brunn

Brynn Buchanan

Michelle Buchholz

Sophia Buchholz

Jordyn Bullock

Indie Buning

Sydney Burns

Carrigan Burrow

Evie Burrow

Abigail Calloway

Arianna Carbone

Lola Carlton

Victoria Carney

Ella Carroll

McKinley Carson

Ansley Carter

Sofia Castello

Eva Castleberry

Julia Castro

Lillian Chandler

Christina Chang

Byrdie Chartrand

Peyton Chase

Ellean Chen

Sahasra Chennady

Liberty Christensen

Lilly Christie

Kate Chun

Neala Clark

Eloise Climie

Maryel Cobb

Kaitlyn Cohen

Mirra Cohen

Christian Cole

Caroline Colley

Madelyn Colley

Riley Condella

Madison Cook

A’lyah Cooley

Kaylee Corbin

Marlow Cornwell

Norah Costello

Sophia Costigan

Ellie Coverstone

Reagan Cox

Emerson Craft

Kayla Crane

Charlotte Crawford

Emma Crawford

Mina Creech

Lexie Crouch

Maliyah Cunningham

Mia D’Alessio

Mary D’Alexander

Bailey Daniels

Amber Davis

Laila Davis

Tenley Davis

Sage Delaine

Morgan DeLoatch

Chloe Denver

Alyssa Dewan

Kiely Dey

Phoebe Dillard

Dottie Disney

Lillian Dixon

Nicki Dobbs

Samantha Dorman

Lacie Dowdy

Lorin Dowdy

Ansley Drummond

Katie Dunphy

Chloe Edwards

Mila Edwards

Evangeline Eicher

Isabella Elizarraras

Genevieve Engel

Leah English

Emma Espriella

Zoe Estes

Dylan Evans

Lily Evans

Mariah Evans

Reagan Even

Audrey Ewing-Weyl

Paris Favors

Bess Ferencik

Bethany Ferguson

Lillian Fiebelkorn

Reagan Fields

Abby Flood

Zoe Fonville

Sophie Foraker

Laila Foster

Presley Fournier

Ava Frankel

Naomi Franklin

Christianna Fraser

Everly Freeman

Kate Frere

Audrey Fritchie

Katherine Fritchie

Charlotte Gallant

Lillian Galli

Alexis Gallison

Savi Garg

Skylar Gasaway

Ayla Georges

Bridget Gersh

Kailyn Gersh

Kaitlyn Gersh

Ellis Giguere

Chloe Gillespie

Paris Glass

Anne Goertemiller

Ashley Good

Olivia Gorney

Olivia Grant

Carly Greear

Peyton Greene

Caroline Greer

Alinda Griffith

Rylynn Griffiths

Sydney Grossinger

Mary Gump

Nadia Gupta

Joanna Gustavson

Bridget Hale

Rowan Hall

Caelyn Halron

Violet Han

Eleanor Hanlon

Claire Hansard

Leah Hansen

Madeline Hardy

Liadan Harmer

Emerson Harper

Erica Hartman

Catherine Hasell

Alice Hawkins

Ava Hawkins

Sydney Hayes

Maliyah Hemric

Grace Henry

Evelyn Hentschel

Valeria Hernandez

Amelia Herring

Marina Hersh

Dantas E’silva

Clara Hibbard

Justice Hill

Kaitlyn Hill

Maylee Hindman

Averie Hinds

Julia Holladay

Adyn Honore

Kayla Hopson

Lyla Horner

Hannah Horowitz

Carlisha Howard

Peyton Howard

Megan Hubbard

Alaina Hubble

Isabelle Husby

Courtney Imlay

Lucy Imlay

Kinsey Iredell

Kellyn Isom

Liberty Jablonski

Cymone Jackson

Gabriella Jackson

Zriyah Jacobs

Zoe James

Carolina Jaramillo

Elizabeth Jennings

Regan Jiles

London Joachim

Madison Jobst

Daras John

Amelia Johnson

Anna Beth Johnson

Lila Johnson

Madison Johnson

Rachel Johnson

Harper Jones

Seylah Jones

Rose Kahn

Violet Karakos

Amrutha Kavuru

Emilyn Keiper

Ela Kilbride

Victoria King

Audrey Koch

Sofia Kranz

Ananya Krishnan

Bernice Kristy

Claire Kritz

Saloni Kulkarni

Amelia Laake

Saanvi Lamba

Portia Landon

Kaylee Larsen

Radhika Laskar

Annabel Lassiter

Elizabeth Lawson

Noelle Lawton

Maylene Lee

Manning Lees

Isabel Lemoine

MaKayla Leslie

Avery Lett

Carla Lewis

Anari Lewis-Howard

Sophie Lin

Karen Lopp

Bella Lott

Londyn Lucas

Natalie Lucas

Skylar Mabry

Alana MacNeil

Brooke Magwood

Marissa Mahan

Noelle Mahan

India Mahens

Paige Maiberger

Ansleigh Mannery

Olivia Marek

Kamila Marroquin

Lorelai Marsh

Maria Massetti

Isabel Massey

Charlotte Mattox

Elizabeth May

Emma Mazloum

Chaney McCaleb

Abigail McCollum

Kyndle McDuffie

Logan McIntosh

Isabella McKinney

Katelyn McMillian

Julia McNeal

Zoe McNeil

Blake McQueary

Molly McQuillen

Kenley Meadows

Emma Merrill-Strong

Ahmani Miller

Lucy Miller

Sienna Miller

Bria Milner

Audrey Mitchler

Audrey Mitchler

Kaelyn Mohandas

Emma Mohr

Olivia Mohr

Payton Mohr

Kylie Moody

Dylan Moore

Dylan Moore

Taylor Morris

Trinity Morton

Morgan Moss

Kennedy Moultrie

Peyton Munn

Giana Myers-Gaddis

Thalia Nader

Inakshi Nayak

Josie Neely

Caylee Newton

Riley Nieves

Trystan Nieves

Kathryn Nixon

Sofia Novoa

Nikki Oaks

Lydia Oberg

Emma O’dell

Liliana Olive

Hollis O’Neal

Ava Ordu

Adrianna Ott

Kristina Oubre

Chloe Owenby

Ariana Panthier

Ovee Panwalkar

Claire Park

Evelyn Parker

Isabella Pasmin

Ava Pate

Serena Patel

Charlotte Pendarvis

Lily Penn

Chloe Perozzi

Natalie Perozzi

Laila Person

Gigi Peterson

Brooke Phipps

Kolette Phipps

Kayden Phyall

Addysen Pickens

Giselle Pickens

Amelia Pieper

Elizabeth Pieper

Emma Pike

Caroleena Planer

Eva Polstra

Fiona Pond

Bella Potts

Kaylee Prater

Risa Pratish

Sarah Pressi

Cassidy Prince

Karys Quarles

Katie Ramcharran

Margaret Rankin

Chloe Raymond

Shannon Reding

Brittney Remmy

Ksenia Reshetnik

Keira Reyland

Sydney Rhodes

Daisy Richardson

Kaylie Richie

Bella Grace Ridley

Elle Rijo

Addyson Riley

Daniella Rivera

Kaitlyn Robinson

Jasamyn Rodgers

Fabiana Roldan

Ava Rollins

Karsen Ruth

Bridget Ryan

Scarlett Ryan

Reagan Rycyk

Jade Sales

Jordan Sales

Alyssia Sarkissian

Isabella Sayers

Lauren Schmit

Jessica Scott

Olivia Scott

Mallory Scully

Meena Servies

Alyssa Shabazz

Delaney Shaffer

Anjali Shams

Sydney Sharpless

Logan Shavers

Paisley Shelby

Ana Shepherdson

Maddie Sherwood

Sophie Lou Shiffer

Emma Shrader

Maya Siegel-Wassilak

Olivia Silva

Olivia Silvia

Ivy Simmons

Simona Simokaitis

Davai Simpson

Amelia Siravo

Shiloh Skelton

Carolyn Skibitski

Monroe Smalls

Sarah Hayden Snell

Madalynn Snipes

Sienna Snyder

Sophia Soto

Valentina Soto

Emerson Spann

Marley Spatt

Hannah Lily Spencer

Carmen Sprinkle

Priya Sprinkle

Emily Starns

Lauren Starns

Allison Steinbrenner

Alexandra Stephens

Sydnie Stevenson

Zoe Stewart

Abby Stratton

Zoey Struminger

Lylah Styles

Loren Suarez

Megan Swaim

Evelyn Swinford

Evelyn Swinford

Avery Sycks

Adelina Szczepanski

Eva Szoch

Kyra Tabor

Aarya Talati

Alexis Talhouk

Aarya Tejani

Danielle Therriault

Elle Thieleke

Jolene Thomas

Morgan Thompson

Tais Torossian

Rachel Trapp

Olivia Traylor-Jimenez

Sophie Trevisan

Kinsley Trombly

Allison-Marie Turner

Lilly Turner

Ah’lai Turnipseed

Alice Van Duyne

Sophia Vazquez

Avery Walker

Kimberly Wang

Alison Ward

Emily Ward

Bryssan Washburn

Aileyah Washington

Poppy Watson

Katie Waugh

Hana Weber

Libba Weitz

Allison Wells

Kira Wells

Naomi Wells

Winifred Wheeler

Jordan White

Leila White

Makenzie Whiten

Summer Whyte

Kamarii Wiggins

Aubrey Williams

Autumn Williams

Graeylyn Williams

Kailani Williams

Mallory Williams

Isla Wilson

Tiffany Wilson

Rebecca Winget

Ella Wingfield

Brooke Winokur

Mia Winokur

Madeline Withers

Stevie Jane Woods

Eyla Woosward

Gianna Works

Ava Wright

Mya Wright

Tallulah Wright

Alexa Wynn

Claire Yin

Addison Zortman

2023 Scholarship R ecipients

Congratulations to all our 2023 Scholarship Recipients!

Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta, Inc. is pleased to be able to continue the scholarship tradition established in 1993. The scholarships, which are for graduating high school seniors, recognize outstanding Gold Award Girl Scouts by helping them further their educational opportunities. Recipients may choose their place of higher learning; it may be a college, university, or technical school, in or out of state.

This year

$61K in scholarship money is being awarded to Gold Award Girl Scouts

Recipients are chosen by the Girl Scout Gold Award Scholarship Selections Committee, which reviews each application using a point system. Points are given based on leadership activities, involvement in the community, academic achievement, and, most importantly, the Girl Scout Gold Award project. Fifty percent of the total score is based on the quality and community impact of the project.

Scholarship Recipient Gold Award Project Title

Shweta Awasthi Bridge Over the Anxiety

Margaret Beltrami The Importance of Bike Helmet Safety

Sara Garg Sync Poetry for Self-Expression

Natalie George Do Better, Buy Less

Meghan Hamrick Choose to Reuse

Brooke King Tennis Time

Allison Kitchens PRIDE

Jenna Prokash Books for a Better Future

Isabella Sanchez Access STEM

Maxine Spencer Crochet for the Kids

Ashlee Tam Suwanee's History Preservation Project

Lena Towne PlayTown Painters: A Work of "heART"

Abigail Waits Preservation of Local History

In honor of Helen Eidson, mother of Ann Hooper, high school seniors who have earned their Girl Scout Gold Award are eligible for this scholarship, designated for books and supplies.

Sponsored by Novelis, Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta awarded two scholarships to girls who have shown an interest and passion for STEM and the environment in both their Gold Award projects and their future career paths.

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors and Program Partners

2023 Board of Directors

Officers

Sonnet C. Edmonds, Chair

Kathy Waller, Vice Chair

Monique Honaman, Board Secretary

Fran Gary, Treasurer

Directors at Large

Erik Bryant

Vivian Greentree

Marcia Jerding

Amir Kazmi

Soon Mee Kim

Susan Lazaro

Kathleen Marran

Cathy C. Miller

Ellie Morris

Vish Narendra Condace Pressley

Denise Quarles

Denise Reese

Elizabeth Schiavo

Tequila Smith

Barbara Whiteside

Josh Williams 5601

800.771.1139

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Sandi Moody

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