2024 Gold Award Yearbook

Dear Gold Award Girl Scouts and Families,

This year, we celebrate the spectacular accomplishments of 207 exceptional young women who were inspired to change the world.

Collectively, you provided an astonishing 16,560+ hours of service. In doing so, each of you recognized your potential to lead with purpose and acted with courage, confidence, and character to embrace new challenges, address areas of critical need, utilize innovative problem-solving, and display empathetic leadership—all of which have prepared you for vast triumphs and endless possibilities in your bright futures.

You’ve proved that your power to create a better, barrier-breaking future—for every girl and every woman, everywhere—is limitless.

And when girls and women succeed, we’re all golden.

Girl Scout sisterhood is forever and earning Gold is just the beginning. We cannot wait to witness all the amazing ways you leave your mark on the world. We welcome you as a lifetime Girl Scout member and a champion of girls for years to come.

On behalf of Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles members, volunteers, board members, and staff, congratulations on a job remarkably well done, and thank you for being the changemakers our world needs.

Yours in Girl Scouting,

Theresa Edy Kiene Chief Executive Officer

THE GIRL SCOUT

GOLD AWARD

What is the Gold Award

Gold Award Girl Scouts are rock stars, role models, and real-life heroes. How do they do it? By using everything they’ve learned as a Girl Scout to help fix a problem in their community or make a lasting change in their world. And you don’t have to be a seasoned activist or star student to get there. Girl Scouts who want to get involved and go for the Gold Award get a team of trusted adults and leaders in their community to guide them through challenges and lead them to success, step-by-step. There’s no other program like it.

Earning the Gold Award requires spending at least 80 hours planning and implementing a challenging, largescale project that is innovative, engages others, and has a lasting impact on its targeted community.

The prestigious award recognizes Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts— girls in grades 9-12—for outstanding accomplishments in leadership, community service, career planning, and personal development.

Starting in 1916, the best and brightest undertook projects that improved their communities—and the world. The Golden Eaglet, the highest award in Girl Scouting from 1916-39, sparked the beginning of a long tradition of recognizing the extraordinary efforts of extraordinary girls. From 1940-63, the Curved Bar Award was the highest honor in Girl Scouting. From 1963-80, the highest award was called First Class. And since 1980, the Gold Award has inspired girls to find the greatness inside themselves and share their ideas and passions with their communities.

Nationwide, only 6 percent of all eligible Girl Scouts achieve the Gold Award. And out of 112 Girl Scout councils, Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles (GSGLA) continuously boasts the highest number of girls reaching Gold each year.

Girls who earn their Girl Scout Gold Award automatically enter the military one rank higher, qualify for college scholarships, and are eligible for additional national service awards.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Autumn Aldritch

Project GOAL’d

Autumn’s Gold Award Project, titled “Project GOALd,” impacted her community by taking her passion for bullet journaling and teaching goal-setting workshops to students at the Boys and Girls Club. Providing students with their own journaling supplies, she taught through live journal demonstrations and her own video lessons over the course of three months. Through surveys and reflections, she found that many students enjoyed bullet journaling, and had applied the planning system to their own lives.

Macie Allen

Effects of Single Use Plastics and Sustainable Alternantives

Macie’s Gold Award Project, “Effects of Single Use Plastics and Sustainable Alternantives,” focused on educating younger Girl Scouts and community members about the negative effects of single-use plastics. She shared sustainable alternatives to single-use plastics and provided them with a handmade, machine-washable reusable snack bag to use.

Natalia Amaya

Anxiety and Impact on Education

Natalia’s Gold Award Project titled, “Anxiety and Impact on Education,” addressed the issue of anxiety in teens and its impact on their education by creating pamphlets that list the top three reasons of anxiety in teens along with coping mechanisms to address each. The pamphlets address overthinking, social and public anxiety, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) as well as mindfulness. The pamphlets will help teens understand these issues and use the coping strategies. Natalia hopes that teenagers will then be able to excel academically without having to be overly concerned about their anxieties.

Leya Amin

French Classroom Beautification

Leya’s Gold Award Project titled, “French Classroom Beautification,” made an impact on her community by creating a relaxing garden and beautifying the current french classroom in order to provide an improved learning environment that gives students passion and excitement for the language.

Ava Anderson

Creativity Circle: Supporting Mental Health & Wellness through Creativity

Ava’s Gold Award Project titled, “Creativity Circle: Supporting Mental Health & Wellness through Creativity,” addressed the issue of lack of access to the arts by raising funds and donations to assemble 200 art supply kits to donate to Union Rescue Mission (Los Angeles) and the women and children residing at Hope Gardens (Sylmar, CA). Ava also created art guides that included 24 step-by-step instructions on how to create original artwork. In addition, Ava’s website and social media campaigns raised awareness of the issue of the importance of the arts for all members of society.

Anne Asai

Protect My Earth

Anne’s Gold Award Project titled, “Protect My Earth,” made an impact on her community by teaching kids the importance of protecting the earth through interactive lessons on climate change, saving water, and waste management.

Juliana Atikian Aviles

Peer Mentorship and Connectivity

Juliana’s Gold Award Project titled, “Peer Mentorship and Connectivity,” addressed the issue of lack of connectivity of high school students by implementing relationshipbuilding structure and activities in schools. Juliana hosted a mixer event through an early college program at her school to promote mentorship and support from other students. Juliana also initiated program study groups to promote academic success along with social emotional health among students. Finally, Juliana implemented peer guidance talks through her school’s Wellness Center to promote student mental and emotional health, student wellbeing, and peer connectivity.

Kimberly Backes

Girl Scout Local Adventures Website

Kimberly’s Gold Award Project titled, “Girl Scout Local Adventures Website,” made an impact on her community by providing a website containing descriptions of activities that troops have done, which were organized by service unit and troop level. Troops can view activities other troops have done in their local area to get ideas for their troop. A troop can also add to the website by submitting descriptions of activities that they have done.

Hanna Bae

Fostering Access and Inclusivity

Hanna’s Gold Award Project titled, “Fostering Access and Inclusivity,” addressed the issue of a lack of access to American Sign Language by learning ASL and putting on workshops in her community to teach younger students and her peers basic American Sign Language words, numbers, and phrases. She also made and distributed brochures that outlined a brief overview of the language (including basic signs and further resources to continue learning ASL).

Ellysee Baker

International Education For The Future

Ellysée’s Gold Award Project titled, “International Education for the Future,” addressed the issue of access to international educational opportunities globally by sharing with students and college counselors the benefits of studying abroad as a first-time freshman and how any student can apply regardless of their financial background. PowerPoints, brochures, and handouts for students and staff were created to explain the different steps in exploring, choosing, and applying for programs and how financial aid can be applicable. The focus was to explore how studying abroad prepares students for the future by offering new perspectives, learning how to navigate different cultures, working with diverse peers, and learning to communicate in other languages.

Kiyomi Banta

Preserving Japanese American History

Kiyomi’s Gold Award Project titled, “Preserving Japanese American History,” made an impact on her community by providing an educational documentary that highlighted authentic stories of the Japanese incarceration camps from World War ll as a resource to the youth at Gardena Buddhist Church’s summer school students. After traveling to Manzanar Historic Site, interviewing survivors about their experiences, organizing key points in history, and collecting archived images from the Japanese American National History Museum, this project was successfully edited into an 11-minute film made without any fundraising. This project will be sustained beyond involvement as it is a historical asset for educating our youth.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Bethany Beeler

Mental Health Awareness Book:

“Willow’s Worry”

Bethany Gold Award Project titled,

“Mental Health Awareness Book:

‘Willow’s Worry,’” addressed the issue of mental health awareness for children. It provides tips and techniques on how to handle stress and anxiety attacks. The book was read to 10 Girl Scout troops, Boys and Girls Club, Mental Health Club, and several elementary and junior high classrooms. A copy of the book was lent to each group along with a pamphlet and curriculum for repeating the lesson. The book is available now on Google Docs for free.

Ayana Bhatt

Historical Journey of Cerritos

Ayana’s Gold Award Project on the “Historical Journey of Cerritos,” made an impact on her community by educating the community on the historical sites of the City of Cerritos, with presentations to elementary schools, and residents of the city through a walking tour. The city also has a permanent portfolio of her project for patrons to reference at any time.

Isabella Bonaccorso

Raising a New Generation of Readers

Isabella’s Gold Award Project titled,

“Raising a New Generation of Readers,” addressed the issue of illiteracy in children by implementing reading programs and granting access to a diverse collection of books through a Little Library. The goal was to spark a passion for learning in local children and transform reading into an enjoyable activity. Through these initiatives, children witnessed notable enhancements in reading skills, phonics recognition, and comprehension.

Tamara BotwinLazarow

Cancer Support and Awareness Club at Redondo Union High School

Tamara’s Gold Award Project titled, “Cancer Support and Awareness Club at Redondo Union High School,” made an impact on her community by creating a safe and inclusive environment for students to join. The students learned about multiple different types of cancers and the experience that comes along with the diagnosis and treatment. The club made a positive contribution to the South Bay Community of local cancer patients and their families by completing volunteer activities and events, and volunteering with national cancer support organizations.

Kate Boylan

Close to My Heart

Kate’s Gold Award Project titled, “Close to My Heart,” impacted her community by using her personal experience as a camper at Camp Del Corazon to give back. She did this by spreading awareness to the community about what the camp is about and getting those eligible to join. She also made blankets for the kids in the cardiac unit of the children’s hospital with a mention of the video to provide comfort with the blankets and knowledge about Camp Del Corazon.

Sydney Buck

The Vault Beautification

Sydney’s Gold Award Project titled, “The Vault Beautification,” made an impact on her community by creating more interest and awareness of the Drama Department campus wide as the “Vault” is located within close proximity to the lunch area. The increased visibility significantly boosted student interest and enrollment, enhancing the school’s CoArts pathway awareness. Additionally, it provided an aesthetically appealing storage solution for the Drama Department.

Avalon Burzynski

Be Like an Otter, Stay Safe In and Around Water!

Avalon’s Gold Award Project titled, “Be Like an Otter, Stay Safe In and Around Water!” made an impact on her community by educating community members on the importance of water safety, and the dangers in and around different bodies of water. Through collaboration with her local church, Avalon hosted a “Water Safety Day” where families in the community were invited to come and take part in a three-hour workshop where they were taught first aid and water emergency skills, as well as identifying potential danger scenarios and what to do if they occur. She additionally created pamphlets on water safety and pool rule sheets that were distributed to local residents with the help of her community partner.

Brooke Campbell

Project MelaNOma

Brooke’s Gold Award Project titled, “Project MelaNOma,” made an impact on her community by presenting to and encouraging young children, ages 8-12 years old, in her community to take charge to protect their skin from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Her project reached hundreds of children and parents, informing them on the importance of sun safety, as well as how to protect their skin from the sun through the development of a sun safety video game called Sun Run, an educational website, use of social media, and brochures for both children and parents. In addition, she partnered with her local YMCA and a local elementary school to host sun safety workshops.

Christina Canton

The P.A.L.M. Project

Christina’s Gold Award projected titled, “The P.A.L.M. Project,” which stands for Positive Affirmations, Love, and Motivation, addressed the issue of mental health. Through a creatively designed website, numerous amounts of mental health resources can be accessed along with articles that were written to learn more about mental health awareness. Christina also created positive affirmation stickers that students can grab at the West Ranch High School Wellness Center, or print at home by following the instructions on the website.

Kalila Ashley Caringal

Keep Calm and Color On

Kalila’s Gold Award Project titled, “Keep Calm & Color On,” made an impact on her community by providing a local hospital’s low-funded pediatric unit with educational coloring books. The result of the global Covid-19 pandemic lead to the elimination of toys in pediatric units to prevent bacterial transfer. Kaila’s coloring books, crafted and created by a team of volunteers, help provide a sustainable form of entertainment for hospitalized children.

Martha Carrillo

Library Mailboxes

Martha’s Gold Award Project, “Library Mailboxes,” made an impact on her community by providing a free, accessible box full of books for her elementary school. Many children struggle with their literacy as some don’t have books at home to read. The Library Mailbox allows students of the school and children of the community to be able to obtain book(s) without charge. A child should read at school and home, which can create a bond and a habit for the child to excel in the future.

Camilla Chan

Hidden Jewels of Asian Cultures

Camilla’s Gold Award Project titled, “Hidden Jewels of Asian Cultures,” addressed the issue of racism towards the Asian community by teaching 500 students about different Asian cultures through interactive handson activities, filming and posting five YouTube vlogs about local LA Asian communities, and publishing and distributing 700 copies of her book “Hidden Jewels of Asia” across the nation.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Willa Chandler

The Impact of Toxins in Skincare Products

Willa Gold Award Project titled, “The Impact of Toxins in Skincare Products,” addressed the issue of carcinogenic toxins in everyday skincare. She created workshops, educational pamphlets, and books to increase awareness and raise money for the Julie Shulman Breast Cancer Foundation. Her goal was to reduce the risk of cancer, autoimmune disease, and reproductive challenges by educating others on potentially harmful ingredients in skincare and provide resources for safe dermatology.

Rachel Chen

Teen Financial Literacy

Rachel’s Gold Award Project titled, “Teen Financial Literacy,” made an impact on her community by addressing the lack of financial literacy being taught in classrooms today and creating a free, easily accessible financial literacy curriculum that anyone, regardless of their income, could learn from. By filming videos posted on YouTube, developing practice questions, and a pamphlet that could be followed without difficulty, Rachel was able to educate many on money management and provide the resources needed for them to do well in the future. Not only was it promoted by 5050 Leadership, but the foundation also introduced the curriculum to Mind Matters Southern California, a nonprofit organization helping high schoolers in underserved communities prepare for the future which ultimately helped the project become more widespread.

Allison Chieh

Better Environment, Better Tomorrow

Allison’s Gold Award project titled, “Better Environment, Better Tomorrow,” made an impact on her community by addressing the issue of environmental sustainability and of the lack of awareness and education on the topic. She developed and implemented lesson plans in this area to students. Through hands-on activities, videos, infographics, and a website, she ensured these students felt interest and urgency in the environmental dangers and that these lessons would be continued in the school for years to come.

Tara Chu

Skills for the Future

Tara’s Gold Award Project titled, “Skills for the Future,” addressed the issue of lack of personnel in programs after Covid by holding workshops and providing the younger students with more experience. This is so that when they are older, they can pass down their skills to incoming students with more efficiency so that the teacher has more time to cover more material.

Sydney Cong

Adulting: A To-Do List

Sydney’s Gold Award Project titled, “Adulting: A To-Do List,” addressed the issue of young adults being underprepared when moving out, dealing with change, and knowing the proper resources for school and employment.

Katia Corletto

The Spirit of

Gratitude

Katia’s Gold Award Project titled, “The Spirit of Gratitude,” positively impacted Shriners Medical Center in Pasadena. As a patient herself in the hospital, she saw the need to help other patients become more comfortable in a hospital setting by making activity and snack packs for kids. She also volunteered over 60 hours of her time to work with the physical therapy department.

Allison Cunningham

Catching the Future

Allison’s Gold Award Project, ‘Catching the Future,’ impacted her community by enhancing access to high-quality catching instruction. She developed specialized clinics and instructional videos with accompanying booklets for the Westchester Del Rey and surrounding Softball Little Leagues. These resources aimed to educate both young players and volunteer coaches on proper catching techniques, emphasizing that quality sports instruction should not be exclusive to the affluent.

Mckenna Dahlen

Saving Monarch Butterflies and Other Pollinators with Native Plants

Mckenna’s Gold Award Project, ‘Saving Monarch Butterflies and Other Pollinators with Native Plants,’ addressed the decline of monarch butterflies and the misconceptions about milkweed and native flora. Collaborating with the Arroyos and Foothills Conservancy, she established a pollinator garden featuring milkweed and native plants to support monarchs, bees, and hummingbirds. Mckenna organized a Volunteer Day to engage community members in building the garden and conducted workshops for the community and younger Girl Scout troops to further educate and involve them in conservation efforts.

Sophia Daurio

Period Products for All

Sophia’s Gold Award project titled, “Period Products For All,” made an impact on her community by providing free and equitable access to menstrual products to low-income families in her school district. She ran product drives, volunteered at giveaway events, and donated a shelving unit to house bins of products in a local free store. Her project has helped over 150 families by reducing the strain that the cost of menstrual products causes.

Morgan Davidson

Creation Station: Art Therapy Studio

Morgan’s Gold Award Project titled, “Creation Station: Art Therapy Studio,” addressed the issue of the rising mental health concerns among our youth. Morgan refurbished a room at the Santa Monica Boys and Girls Club, investing more than $2,000 in the redesign and stocking of supplies. The room enables youth to disengage from social media while making healthy connections and freely expressing themselves.

Angelina Del Gaudio

Rams Without Limits” (RWOL); Transformative Power of Dance and Sense of Belonging

Angelina Del Gaudio’s Gold Award Project titled, “Rams Without Limits” (RWOL); Transformative Power of Dance and Sense of Belonging” addressed the scarcity of platforms engaging neurotypical and disabled students by founding an after-school dance program. RWOL has evolved beyond a high school dance initiative; it serves as an educational tool, challenging stereotypes and fostering compassion through diverse strategies such as positive media portrayals, and advocacy for equal performance opportunities. RWOL has also become a collaborative hub, fostering cross-referrals, program development, and resource sharing with notable organizations. The adaptability of RWOL makes it conducive to replication in diverse cultural contexts, contributing to its global resonance which she aims to challenge misconceptions about the capabilities of individuals with disabilities on a broader scale.

Delaney Ehrman

Keeping Our Oceans Clean!

Delaney’s Gold Award Project titled, “Keep Our Oceans Clean!,” addressed the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans by teaching the world how to help prevent further damage to our environment. Delaney led two beach cleanups, in collaboration with Heal the Bay, and educated her volunteers on proper recycling techniques. Additionally, she created a documentary posted on YouTube, designed and donated a coloring book to the Heal the Bay Aquarium, and inspired the world to help end the current suffering of marine life.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Amanda Eisen

Sphero Workshops

Amanda’s Gold Award Project titled, “Sphero Workshops,” made an impact on her community by bringing miniature robots to Shriners Children’s Hospital, giving patients newfound access to robotics and STEM. She worked with patients before and after surgeries to help distract and encourage recovery. Her project did not stop there, as she created kits including activities, a robotic sphero, and a custom-made booklet, in both English and Spanish, to leave at the hospital for future use.

Lucine Ekizian

Journaling and Personal Expression

Lucine Ekizian’s Gold Award Project, “Journaling and Personal Expression”, addressed the issue of mental health and wellness, and a lack of personsal expression for students. Lucine developed a curriculum focused on mental health and wellness, and how the implementation of journaling will aid in these issues. Lucine taught workshops to high school students, grades 9-12.

Ellery Engstrom

Building Literacy through

Books

Ellery’s Gold Award Project titled, “Building Literacy through Books,” made an impact on her community by teaching young children how to read. Ellery wrote and illustrated 10 picture books in English and Spanish, created activities correlating to each book, led classroom visits to teach the curriculum she created, recorded story times for each book, and visited a young Girl Scout troop to share her project. Through her project, Ellery was able to help many children develop literacy skills. She was also fortunate to learn a lot from the experience of working with the children, and they created strong bonds with each other.

Kori Epling

Preschool

Outdoor Reading Center

Kori’s Gold Award project titled, “Preschool Outdoor Reading Center,” made an impact on her community by creating a comfortable space for preschoolers to explore the world of books. She built a weatherproof shed for the playground, hosted a book drive color-coded the books by age/reading level and sewed vinyl sit-upons so the children would have a place to sit and read their books under the tree.

Mattea Fisher

Mental Health Matters

Mattea’s Gold Award Project titled, “Mental Health Matters,” addressed the issue of teen mental health by reducing stigma, raising awareness, and empowering teens to recognize and offer appropriate support to friends experiencing mental health challenges. Through peer education, creating print and digital resource materials, and engaging students in open conversations, this project improved mental health literacy among high school students. Mattea published articles in the school newspaper, created a website, and trained peer educators who will continue this important work. This project was inspired by Mattea’s experiences with anxiety and passion for helping others to live their best lives.

Alexis Fitzgerald

ALF - Building the Brand with Purpose

Alexis’ Gold Award Project, ‘ALFBuilding the Brand with Purpose,’ revitalized community awareness and engagement for the Assistance League of Flintridge (ALF). She educated and led a team of ALF employees and volunteers to enhance their community engagement through improved social media presence and outreach efforts. Over three and a half months, these initiatives doubled their social media followers and boosted volunteer and youth participation. Alexis presented her project to the National Assistance League leadership and was selected as a keynote speaker for ALF’s 70th anniversary celebration.

Casey Folau

Maternal Heath Issues

Casey’s Gold Award Project, ‘Maternal Health Issues,’ addressed the challenges faced by mothers in southeast Los Angeles, including postpartum depression and childrearing difficulties. She collaborated with Harbor Pregnancy Center to provide maternal resources to needy families. Casey actively participated in five health fairs and led five mental health workshops to raise awareness of maternal health challenges. Additionally, she organized drives to collect baby and child care items for donation to the Harbor Pregnancy Center, supporting families in need.

Kaitlyn Fukumoto

Empathy

in Action

Kaitlyn’s Gold Award Project, ‘Empathy in Action,’ revitalized the Volunteer Center by designing and painting murals that visually expressed the organization’s mission of empathy. She also produced cards based on these murals for volunteers, including members from the World Changers Club and a 1st Grade Daisy Troop, to color and personalize for distribution by the Volunteer Center. Kaitlyn shared her project management experience with a younger troop, guiding them to create mini murals inspired by the ‘Empathy in Action’ theme.

Erica Galvez

Murals for the Wellness Center

Erica’s Gold Award Project titled, “Murals for the Wellness Center,” made an impact on her community by beautifying the Wellness Center of her local high school to encourage more students to take care of their mental health.

Mohuli Ganguly

Youth Support Workshops

Mohuli’s Gold Award Project titled, “Youth Support Workshops,” made an impact on her community by exposing girls to different fields of science through simple workshops with hands-on experiments as a way to provide proper exposure and ignite a possible passion for science in the girls. Her project also aimed to shed light on the importance of understanding and destigmatizing mental health.

Grace Garrity

MIND Your Health

Grace’s Gold Award Project, “Mind Your Health,” addressed the issue of mental health for kids ages 12 to 18. Grace looked at ways to ease the stress and anxiety for kids her age by interviewing professionals who used Yoga and Meditation to ease stress and anxiety. Then, Grace organized a week of activities at her school for her peers to attend. She held a meditation and yoga event at school for all, organized stress-relieving crafts, and made mental health journals for the girls at school. The students enjoyed all the organized events, which was great timing as final exams were approaching in the next two weeks.

Jiayue (Abby) Geng

Life Skill and Food Education for the Community

Abby’s Gold Award Project, “Life Skill and Food Education for the Community,” made an impact on her community by providing families in transitional housing with a selfwritten cookbook and essential kitchen utensils. She worked with Door of Hope, a nonprofit organization that works to put a roof over families with children and empower them with practical cooking skills and healthy eating habits. She is thankful for all the help she received throughout her journey and would like to give a special shout-out to Ms. Lisa Begerow, her troop leader, and Ms. Ali Burnison, her wonderful community partner.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Tara George

Crisis Kit

Tara’s Gold Award Project titled, “Crisis Kit,” addressed the issue of teens refusing to reach out for help with their mental health by providing a prerecorded call center. With help from teachers, parents, students, and Girl Scout leaders, the website CrisisKit. org amassed over two dozen clips of life advice and support to answer teen’s most common problems. Crisis Kit also features a resources page with professional help and pickme-uppers.

Saxton Gilmore

H.E.A.L.T.H.Y. (Healing Energizing Active Lifestyle To Help You)

Saxton’s Gold Award Project titled, “H.E.A.L.T.H.Y. (Healing Energizing Active Lifestyle To Help You),” addressed the issue of childhood obesity by teaching children strategies to select and incorporate healthy meals into their regular diet. Saxton demonstrated ways to make better meal choices, reduce stress, improve their overall health, and ways to improve mental alertness. By tackling the issue of childhood obesity, Saxton hopes to reduce the risk of disease, reduce bullying that many may have dealt with because of their weight, and help to improve the quality of life.

Leah Glass

Outdoor Mental Health Space

Leah’s Gold Award Project titled, “Outdoor Mental Health Space,” addressed the issue of student mental health by contributing to an outdoor garden at a school in her community. She also made calming resources readily available to students and teacherd, and taught students about being aware of their mental state.

Ainsley Gulden

The Diverse Sides of STEM

Ainsley’s Gold Award Project titled, “The Diverse Sides of STEM,” addressed the issue of increasing girls’ interest in STEM by writing a children’s book about the many careers available. She also hosted activity days where youth participants used household materials to conduct experiments tied to different fields of STEM. The young students explored areas that excited them with these hands-on activities and discussed what types of careers related to each experiment.

Sierra Hall

Improving Footprints Preschool

Sierra’s Gold Award Project, “Improving Footprints Preschool,” addressed the issue of education issues in a low-income preschool by building garden boxes with a shade structure around it to protect the plants from the heat. Preschoolers planted their favorite plants in them, and afterward, they planted seeds were able to watch their seeds grow into beautiful plants.

Stephanie Harada

Community and Communication

Stephanie’s Gold Award Project titled, “Community and Communication,” made an impact on her community by creating a technology center and painting a mural for the residents of The Terraces, an assisted living community. The technology center has enabled the residents to video conference with family, friends and telehealth professionals. Classes were held for residents to address issues of internet safety and help improve their technological proficiency.

Emily Hernandez

All Hands on Deck

Emily’s Gold Award Project, ‘All Hands on Deck,’ promoted physical education and civic engagement by mobilizing community members to enhance the learning environment of a small Catholic school in her area. Her efforts led to the acquisition of new playground equipment, creating a positive impact on the students, evidenced by their heartfelt thank-you letters. This experience not only fulfilled Emily by brightening the students’ days but also fueled her hope that it would inspire them to pursue their philanthropic activities, aiming for lasting global change.

Liz Hernandez

Give an Item, Take an Item Gold Award Girl Scout

Stephanie Ho

Revitalizing Durfee School

Stephanie’s Gold Award Project titled, “Revitalizing Durfee School,” made an impact on her community by regrowing Durfee School’s outdoor classroom. She planned a new plant landscape and put native plants in the outdoor classroom area with the help of community volunteers. Additionally, she created educational video lessons of various grade levels for the school.

Phoebe Ho

The

Neuro Movement

Phoebe’s Gold Award Project titled, “The Neuro Movement,” made an impact on her community by creating a documentary about dance as a form of art expression to promote the benefits of movement. She taught dance classes each week to display how dancers did not need to be a certain type of person, while also advocating for dance to benefit cognitive function. In these classes, she introduced activities and lessons of connecting memories and the mind to the body and physical function.

Montserrat Hidalgo

Lowering Surface Temperatures

Montserrat’s Gold Award Project titled, “Lowering Surface Temperatures,” addressed the issue of urban heating by planning and leading community volunteers in planting 40 CA Native Plants and painting the concrete pathway of the new garden with specific paint to lower the surface temperature by 11 degrees Fahrenheit. She also provided resources and partnered with organizations to teach the community how to fight and advocate for environmental justice.

Angela Hoffmann

How to Get a Job

Angela’s Gold Award Project titled, “How to Get a Job,” made an impact on her community by providing job training materials on how to find the right job for you, write a resume, and prepare for an interview. Learning these skills makes people more confident and successful when seeking employment. It can empower teenagers and young adults to be independent, become positive contributors to society, and reach their full potential.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Suji Hong

Building Hygiene Habits in Children to Prevent Illness

Suji’s Gold Award Project titled, “Building Hygiene Habits in Children to Prevent Illness,” addressed the issue of children’s health and safety in schools by working with elementary schools to instate proper hygiene habits. She created and sent visual posters and an informational video, detailing these habits to serve as reminders to the students to follow them daily. She also shared her project with a local Daisy troop.

Annabelle Hsieh

Eating Disorder & Mental Health Awareness

Annabelle’s Gold Award Project titled, “Eating Disorder & Mental Health Awareness,” made an impact on their community by breaking the stigma surrounding mental health at their school. They reached out to parents and students in their community, providing education workshops to talk about what eating disorders are, the different types of eating disorders, and how to help someone struggling with an ED. To make a lasting impact, Annabelle created a video series of their presentation and other interviews to provide as a resource for their school’s wellness center.

Charlotte Hsu-Kwan

Hug A Bug

Charlotte’s Gold Award Project, “Hug a Bug,” addressed the issue of negative stigma associated with insects by creating coloring booklets for young elementary school students. These booklets contained information about what insects are and why they are so beneficial to our ecosystems and to us, as humans. They were hand-drawn and filled with fun insects, flowers, and other items for the students to color.

Molly Huang

Project

No Distance

Molly’s Gold Award Project titled, “Project No Distance,” made an impact on her community by encouraging high school clubs to host interactive events and activities where all students on campus were able to participate. She helped make campus communities more inclusive to those who could not financially afford a club membership by encouraging clubs to host events for both non-members and members. Through presentations, workshops and collaborations, clubs across campus experienced an increase in student engagement and student interactions which inspired her student-body to work with her to implement a permanent solution that made open events a requirement to all 62 clubs on campus. To increase the impact her project had on her community, she created an online pledge where over 72 club officers across 4 different school districts pledged to host two open events every semester.

Phoebe Huang

Children’s Book With Feminism

Phoebe’s Gold Award Project titled, “Children’s Book With Feminism,” addressed the issue of restrictive gender roles by creating a book discussing gender roles, making the book accessible to a large audience, and giving presentations with the book about gender roles.

Abigale Hwang

Expression Through Art

Abigale’s Gold Award Project titled, “Expression Through Art,” made an impact in her community by teaching the children of the Boys and Girls Club how to express their emotions through art.

Sydney Hyon

The Library Project

Sydney’s Gold Award project titled, “The Library Project,” made an impact on her community by drawing attention to local libraries through community-wide events. She forged lasting partnerships between her high school and the community library, created the first Library Club at her school, and created volunteer opportunities for students in the process. She also hosted a ‘Blind Date with a Book’ event at her local library in addition to many smaller events at her school library, inviting other students and community members to become more involved and willing to see the library as a space to also meet new people.

Olivia Ip

Fempowermint

Olivia’s Gold Award Project titled, “Fempowermint,” addressed the issue of student-athlete’s mental health by creating awareness of the issue. The project also provided resources on how to maintain a healthy balance between school life and sports. Olivia’s project created a positive environment at Polytechnic’s girl’s locker room by updating the locker room.

Darcy Ireland

Puppy Paw Pads for Guide Dogs and Service Dogs in Training

Darcy’s Gold Award Project titled, “Puppy Paw Pads for Guide Dogs and Service Dogs in Training,” made an impact on her community by spreading awareness on guide dogs by holding booths at local events and creating informational videos. She also helped a local troop earn their Guide Dog Patch. Additionally, she created 150 Puppy Paw Pads, an instructional tool, to improve the training of guide dog and service dog puppies.

Koraima Jaramillo

Not a Victim: ¡Victoriosa!

Koraima’s Gold Award Project, “Not a Victim: ¡Victoriosa!,” positively impacted her community by empowering domestic violence survivors with resources to improve their self-worth and self-image. The initiative led these women to transform their outlook, helping them to feel beautiful and foster a positive perception of themselves.

Zaria Jefferson

Dance 4 Expression

Zaria’s Gold Award Project titled, “Dance 4 Expression” addressed the issue of mental health and wellness in her local community. She addresses this issue by talking about how to use dance to express emotions and manage the problem of mental health and wellness to overcome challenges. She taught her community the healing power of movement as it relates to mental health.

Kaylee Jenkins

Understanding Food Allergies

Kaylee’s Gold Award Project titled, “Understanding Food Allergies,” made an impact on her community by educating elementary students about food allergies and how they can impact their peers. Kaylee created an animated short film addressing topics such as what food allergies are, the signs/symptoms of food allergies, how to prevent allergic reactions, and how to help someone having an allergic reaction. She presented her project to elementary schools and younger Girl Scout troops.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Teya Jieanu

Children in Poverty

Teya’s Gold Award Project titled, “Children in Poverty,” addressed the issue of poverty awareness and how it affects the health and wellbeing of many children. She created an abundance of ways to advocate, spread awareness, and take action on the struggles happening. Teya held multiple workshops and planning meetings, with educational presentations in person and on Zoom to educate her school peers, her troop and invited community as well as foreign country members. She also built teams and together created an outstanding media campaign including a website, 1 large video and over 40 info-graphics as well as held a donation drive successfully collecting 102 large trash bags of clothing for the Hope the Mission homeless shelter.

Alexa Johnson

Voting Resources for Youth and Teens

Alexa’s Gold Award Project titled, “Voting Resources for Youth and Teens,” made an impact on her community by providing resources on voting and the government. Alexa created a website and pamphlets with valuable information for kids of all ages to utilize.

Noelani Joo

The

Impact of Asian Women in World

History

Noelani’s Gold Award Project titled, “The Impact of Asian Women inWorld History,” made an impact on her community by addressing the lack of information taught about Asian women in history curriculums. She created a lesson presentation on five of history’s most impactful and inspiring female Asian leaders and taught it to elementary school students both in person and online. Additionally, she recorded a video of her lesson and shared it on both YouTube and the homepage of her community partner, the Filipino Cultural School.

Camille Jorenby

Emergency Preparedness Workshops for Low Income Seniors

Camille’s Gold Award Project titled, “Emergency Preparedness Workshops for Low Income Seniors,” addressed the issue of a lack of emergency preparedness resources designed for seniors. She helped combat this issue by holding workshops for elderly community members, making first aid kits with them, and creating safety pamphlets.

Madison Kalenik

Saving SoCal’s Native Plant Life

Maddie’s Gold Award Project titled, “Saving SoCal’s Native Plant Life,” made an impact on their community by supplying White Point Nature Preserve with native plant protections and education. Maddie built a fence to shield White Point’s natural habitat from human interaction and helped lead a hike that relayed its significance. She also created an informational coloring book that included the importance and beauty of the native plant species.

Haley Kaneshiro

Itsumo Omoidasu - Always Remember

Haley’s Gold Award Project titled, “Itsumo Omoidasu - Always Remember,” made an impact on her community by bringing awareness to the current generation about caring for the elderly. Highlighting the daily struggles that may be faced for the older generation, she informed many younger kids about ways they may help assist them. Through four workshops impacting over 200 kids, she successfully emphasized the importance of always remembering to care for our elders.

Ashley Keelin

Uplift and Inspire

Ashley’s Gold Award Project titled, “Uplift and Inspire,” addressed the issue of the isolating negative effect that two years of the pandemic has had, and continues to have on people today. Because of this, she has challenged herself to use her love and skill in art to contradict this negative feeling and design five encouraging watercolor paintings that are meaningful to the city and highlight the beauty of everyday life. These art pieces have been printed and installed in various locations along Rosemead Boulevard, and with 35,000 people driving by them every day, they continue to bring out the beauty in her community and inspire both residents and visitors through the power of art.

Jillian King

Turn the Tide: Black Kids Swim Too Jillian’s Gold Award Project titled, “Turn the Tide: Black Kids Swim Too,” addressed the issue of the importance of black and brown kids learning how to swim and be safe around water; both life-saving skills. It also aimed to educate the community on how limited access to pools due to segregation and generational fear of water is still having an impact on underrepresented communities today. Jillian’s project provided workshops and resources to help underrepresented youth see that they too belong in the pool.

Riley Koebel

Guiding the Way: Videos for Guide Dogs of America

Riley’s Gold Award Project titled, “Guiding the Way: Videos for Guide Dogs of America,” made an impact on her community by encouraging members of the community to raise puppies for Guide Dogs of America. Riley created 5 videos to highlight the puppy raising process and the impact the program has on everyone involved. She also hosted 3 workshops to educate younger Girl Scouts about Guide Dogs of America and encourage their families to get involved.

Riya Korde

Equal Writes

Riya’s Gold Award Project titled, “Equal Writes,” made an impact on her community by promoting youth perspectives on global social justice issues. Riya initiated engaging discussions on current events which members used to create written content to be published on the organization’s website and Instagram account. Equal Writes addresses diverse topics such as human rights, equality, and environmental justice and empowers community members to become informed advocates.

Divyansha Kumar

Stem Careers for Kids

Divyansha’s Gold Award Project titled, “Stem Careers for Kids,” made an impact on her community by encouraging young students, especially young girls, to pursue careers in STEM. She did this by conducting multiple classes in which she taught fun science topics and connected them to careers that could interest the kids. At the end of the classes, the students gave a final presentation project to show which career they liked the most.

Katelyn La

Waste Less to Save the Earth

Katelyn’s Gold Award Project titled “Waste Less to Save the Earth” made an impact on her community by educating school staff and students on recycling, placing bins and posters for recycling, and encouraging younger Girl’s Scout to better the environment through recycling.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Robyn Lam

Educating Youth About Native Plants

Robyn’s Gold Award Project titled, “Educating Youth About Native Plants,” made an impact on her community by addressing the harmful effects of climate change. She hosted workshops to educate her community on the topics of droughts and native plants and improved her local elementary school’s garden by planting native plants and renovating the old structures to create a safe environment for her community and the animals nearby. After attending the workshops that Robyn hosted at the newly restored garden, members in the community joined the gardening club to maintain the garden and they continued to spread awareness on ways we can work together to reverse the effects of climate change. The garden at her local elementary school is now a Certified Wildlife Habitat filled with native plants, which has created a welcoming home for all animals nearby.

Addison Lee

Poetry for Mental Health

Addison’s Gold Award Project titled, “Poetry for Mental Health,” made an impact on her community by providing access and exposure to poetry to elementary school students. Through workshops, educational booklets, and book donations, she was able to work with over 200 students across 3 different schools.

Kaitlyn Lee

Alzheimer’s Alleviation Activities

Kaitlyn’s Gold Award Project titled, “Alzheimer’s Alleviation Activities,” made an impact on her community by designing activities that slowly work to reestablish cognitive functions for those with Alzheimer’s by stimulating mental and motor skills. She partnered with a local nursing home to provide activities and work with the residents. The activities were made from household items and she created instructional PDFs for long-term sustainability.

Sophia Lee

Omid for Girls (Math for Afghan

Girls)

Sophia’s Gold Award Project titled, “Omid for Girls (Math for Afghan Girls),” addressed the issue of education inequality for girls living in Afghanistan by leading a team of four high school female volunteers through an 8-week virtual math tutoring program. Each tutor met with her student once a week for an hour, where the Afghan girls had the opportunity to grow their math skills and develop friendship with a similar aged female volunteer. Afterwards, Sophia presented her project to younger Girl Scout troops to spread awareness about the unjust situation for girls in Afghanistan.

Ella Lesnever

Boost Title 1 Sports

Ella’s Gold Award Project titled, “Boost Title 1 Sports,” addressed the issue of underfunded athletics at her high school by starting the non-profit, Blair Boosters. Blair Boosters is a 501(c)(3), student-founded nonprofit that aims to bridge the gap in funding as well as teach and encourage the sports teams at Blair High School how to fundraise to make high school sports accesible to all students.

Maya Liu

A Bridge to Legacy

Maya’s Gold Award project, “A Bridge To Legacy”, made an impact on her community by helping kindergarten youth strengthen their reading and Motor skills which due to COVID and online schooling lacked. She worked with Family Forward Learning Center in Pasadena to provide aid in reading and sharpening fine motor skills on Saturdays. She also Donated 60 boxes of supplies for students to use at home and school, in the boxes contain, scissors, crayons, glue, and pencils Etc.

Lauren Lopez

Mental Health and Identity Exploration

Lauren’s Gold Award Project, “Mental Health and Identity Exploration,” empowered students transitioning from middle school to high school to participate in discussions on mental health

and self- identity exploration. Through initiatives like a community newsletter and interactive presentations, the project encouraged students to explore and appreciate their identities while equipping them with the knowledge to support their mental health and that of their peers. This project aimed to foster a space where young minds could learn to navigate their mental health with confidence and pride in their unique identities.

Georgia Lorette-Warner

Green Machine

Georgia’s Gold Award Project titled, “Green Machine,” revitalized the greenhouse at her high school, fostering a community within the school’s environmental club. The project extended its reach by sharing regular updates and gardening experiences through a dedicated website, connecting with broader communities.

Pearl Luc

The World’s Our Oyster Pearl’s Gold Award Project titled, “The World’s Our Oyster,” made an impact on her community by providing relatable and relevant mental health resources to adolescents and young adults. Her podcast featured topics such as boundaries, friendships, social anxiety, and neurodiversity, combining research, personal anecdotes, and guest hosts who are professionals in the psychology/mental wellness field. Her website also featured researched resources, playlists, and activities catered to current generations.

Megan Ly

Appreciating Healthcare Workers

Megan’s Gold Award Project titled, “Appreciating Healthcare Workers,” made an impact on her community by boosting morale in healthcare workers during the Covid-19 Pandemic. Seeing the struggle and lack of spirit in healthcare settings, Megan wanted to show her appreciation for the healthcare workers working so tirelessly to protect the country. She created and distributed candy wreaths along with handmade cards to workers.

Jasmine Lyn

Photography Hacks for Seniors

Jasmine “Jazzy’s” Gold Award Project titled, “Photography Hacks for Seniors,” made an impact on her community by designing and teaching workshop to teach seniors how to use their iPhones for photography. Jazzy created booklets with directions to support seniors bridge the gap between technology and the struggles of aging. She also developed and hosted in-person workshops for local senior to teach hands-on photography skills.

Sharonlen Ma

The Natural Ways to Prevent or Delay Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes Sharonlen’s Gold Award Project titled, “The Natural Ways to Prevent or Delay Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes,” made an impact on her community by delivering comprehensive diabetes awareness initiatives. Through engaging workshops, informative seminars, and awareness booths, Sharonlen successfully reached over 700 participants across diverse age groups and backgrounds. Her project not only educated individuals on recognizing symptoms and assessing risks but also fostered lasting behavioral changes, promoting healthier lifestyles and contributing to the overall well-being of her community.

Ella Magtoto

Trails Etiquette: Paving the Path to Safety & Cleanliness!

Ella’s Gold Award Project titled, “Trails Etiquette: Paving the Path to Safety & Cleanliness!,” addressed the issue of the lack of awareness among trail users about regulations stemming from ineffective communication and inconsistent enforcement by trail management authorities. Ella tackled this issue by leading the promotion of educational videos across various platforms, conducting the implementation of signage along trails, organizing educational trail days, and creating informative bulletin boards, empowering hikers with the knowledge they need to navigate trails responsibly and safely. Through these initiatives, she aimed to improve trail users’ understanding of regulations and foster a safer and more sustainable trail environment.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Sydney Magtoto

Breaking Barriers on Wheels: Enhancing Independence and Inclusive Mobility

Sydney’s Gold Award Project titled, “Breaking Barriers on Wheels: Enhancing Independence and Inclusive Mobility,” addressed the issue of limited independence and mobility experienced by adults with disabilities when using the public transportation system. Sydney designed a comprehensive curriculum tailored to the specific needs of individuals with disabilities, empowering them with the knowledge and skills required to confidently navigate public transportation. Through this initiative, Sydney aimed to foster autonomy, self-reliance, and inclusivity, enabling adults with disabilities to actively participate in society and lead fulfilling lives while promoting a more inclusive and equitable community.

Naomie Martinez

Teen Mental Health Awareness

Naomie’s Gold Award Project titled, “Teen Mental Health Awareness,” made an impact on her community by presenting to teens and their parents different mental health disorders along with at-home coping strategies. She hosted engaging workshops at her high school and a local middle school showing students how they can reduce their stress. She also created an educational pamphlet in English and Spanish and crocheted 100 Worry Worms with her team.

Katelyn Matarese

Better,Stronger, Faster, Greener

Katelyn’s Gold Award project titled, “Better, Stronger, Faster, Greener,” created an organized and weatherproof storage space for her track team’s valuable equipment, leading to much less waste as the equipment will now last longer and remain in better shape.

Eleanor Mather

The Native American Teen Writers Project

Eleanor’s Gold Award Project titled, “The Native Teen Writers Project,” made an impact on her community by creating a website for Native American teenagers to submit and publish their voices through writing.

Kylie Mathews

Situational Awareness Training

Kylie’s Gold Award Project titled, “Situational Awareness Training,” addressed the issue of young women’s personal safety by creating a video presentation that addressed common situations where young women might be in danger. The video then shows tactics to prevent an attack in the first place and defend against one if necessary. This presentation was given to people in person and is available on YouTube by request.

Clare Maurer

Elementary Campus Beautification

Clare’s Gold Award Project, “Elementary Campus Beautification,” enhanced hands-on learning for young students, teaching them independence, problem-solving, and decision-making through a studentled planting initiative. Kindergarteners, organized into cohorts, learned basic gardening skills, fostering a sense of achievement and skill acquisition. The project extended beyond the school, with each student receiving a takehome planting kit to further develop their gardening skills independently.

Victoria McLurkin

Thinking Outside the Plastic

Box

Victoria’s Gold Award Project titled, “Thinking Outside The Plastic Box,” addressed the issue of plastic pollution and improper waste disposal by creating a curriculum for her school’s Marine Biology class. She taught the classes about how marine life is

impacted by plastic pollution and why plastic is so harmful to the well-being of marine life. Victoria also met with Brownie troops and organized a fun activity to teach them about reducing waste and one’s carbon footprint.

Anayah Mehdi

It All Begins With Health

Anayah’s Gold Award Project titled,

“It All Begins With Health,” made an impact on her community by creating informational pamphlets and raising awareness about maintaining personal hygiene to prevent sickness and disease. She distributed these pamphlets alongside hand sanitizers to Montessoris, one of the most common germ-spreading places. She also conducted interactive presentations where she broke down the information to the young students. Additionally, she translated her pamphlets into Urdu and extended her outreach to the underprivileged communities in Pakistan.

Melina Mehta

We’re

Here to Cheer

Melina’s Gold Award Project titled,

“We’re Here to Cheer,” made an impact on her community by creating a safe and supportive environment for children and adults with special needs to get involved in a sport. Her summer cheer camp ran in partnership with The Friendship Foundation to help students gain confidence, sociability, and athletic skills. Kids were able to form new bonds with volunteers and learn to express themselves through dance.

Lillian Meier-Nava

Bridging the Gap

Lillian’s Gold Award Project titled, “Bridging the Gap,” addressed the issue of autism awareness by educating teens and young adults about autism with the goal of increasing empathy and understanding. She worked to create an educational pamphlet that’s been shared across her community and hosted three social gatherings where teens with and without autism could come together in a safe environment to interact, learn from each other, and make long-lasting friendships.

Ada Meighan-Thiel

Art for Abolition

Ada’s Gold Award Project titled, “Art for Abolition,” made an impact on her community by giving a platform for system-impacted artists to share their work.

Madison Yoshiko Mendoza

Asian Culture Appreciation Club

Madison’s Gold Award Project titled, “Asian Culture Appreciation Club,” addressed the issue of a lack of Asian celebration and representation during AAPI Month at her high school and combating Asian hate by creating a club that educated students about ten different Asian countries and their cultures. Madison Yoshiko taught her peers about the countries: Cambodia China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, The Philippines, and Vietnam through crafts, music, food, games, and more. During AAPI Month, Madison held a 2-day AAPI Month Fair with her club members for the WISH Charter Middle School and decorated the school with the decor she and her club members made in her club meetings. Together with her club and fair, education, and awareness of the richness in Asian culture, she hopes that they will contribute to the stop of Asian hate crimes.

Sophia Mendoza

Introduction to Music

Sophia’s Gold Award titled, “Introduction to Music,” addressed the issue of inequality in musical education and opportunity among lower-income communities. She created and published a completely free and beginner-level music theory course online, allowing for increased access to learning regardless of location of socioeconomic status.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Twyla Metcalfe

Compost Conversations

Twyla’s Gold Award Project titled, “Compost Conversations,” made an impact on her community by teaching the youth about sustainability. She held lessons about composting, soil, and trash at a local elementary school. She engaged with her community by creating a pamphlet about composting and held public seminars answering questions about sustainable practices. Lastly, by adding compost collection bins to her campus and holding school-wide assemblies, she started a club on her campus to teach older students about composting and how to collect waste sustainably and educate others.

Samantha Milazzo

Little Libary in Laundromats

Samantha’s Gold Award Project, “Little Libraries in Laundromats,” made an impact on her community by helping people with lower incomes have access to certain areas, such as a laundry mat, where they could enjoy a good read while waiting for their clothes to be cleaned. Samantha believes this is a great alternative and resource to playing with electronics and this solution can be sustainable for the future.

Sara Mirtorabi

Fly High With Military Pride

Sara’s Gold Award Project titled, “Fly High With Military Pride,” addressed the issue of proper flag etiquette/ flag code by illuminating the flag at her local high school. She reused the floodlight behind the stadium’s scoreboard and installed a photocell sensor to do so. With this, the light would be kept on from dusk till dawn. By having this light cast on the flagpole, her community can follow the flag code and honor those who have sacrificed their lives to serve our country, all day every day.

Airi Montoya

Open Books and Open Hearts

Airi’s Gold Award Project, “Open Books and Open Hearts,” created a lasting impact by founding a club where students could share their literary passions, discussing favorite authors and genres. This initiative also led to the establishment of the school’s first active library, stocked with books recommended by students, thus providing wide-ranging access to literature. With the library operational, Airi guided club members in stress-relieving activities that promoted reading, like making bookmarks. Additionally, she organized a special event where local elementary school students were invited to her high school for a day filled with reading-themed activities, fostering a love of literature across different age groups.

Paige Morales

S.T.E.A.M. Exploration

Paige’s Gold Award Project titled, “S.T.E.A.M. Exploration,” addressed the issue that not enough children, especially girls, have enough access to STEAM education, programs, or female role models in their communities, which has impacted the diversity and understanding within the field. She addressed this issue by hosting her own STEAM-based workshop in which both girls and boys, grades 4-6, were able to attend and dive deeper to further learn about the different aspects of STEAM via hands-on experiments. She also brought her experiments/curriculum to the La Casita Girl Scout Day Camp to provide young Girl Scouts, ages 3-13 years old, with an introduction to the aspects of STEAM with her selfcreated experiments.

Natalia Nagy

High School Survival Guide

Natalia’s Gold Award Project titled, “High School Survival Guide,” addressed the issue of teenage mental health, social relationships, and academic organization during high school. With the help of her project advisor and peers, she put together a seventy-five-page book containing information, activities, tips on being one’s best self, how to organize one’s academic life more efficiently, and how to cope with stress and anxiety caused by school or other factors. She also conducted presentations

addressing these topics with future high schoolers and created YouTube and Instagram accounts with even more information. Finally, she made the booklet available to future generations by putting it in the libraries of the three Arcadia middle schools and at Arcadia High School.

Lauren Nguyen

The San Gabriel Valley Humane Society Animal Enrichment Project

Lauren’s Gold Award Project titled, “The San Gabriel Valley Humane Society Animal Enrichment Project,” made an impact on her community by installing new canopy covers to provide dogs shade during the Summer. Lauren conducted workshops where she taught girls how to make hundreds of toys to donate to dogs and cats, and collected additional dog and cat toy donations.

Makaila Niezgodzki

Snuggle Bug

Makaila’s Gold Award Project, “Snuggle Bug,” impacted her community by assembling and distributing 280 comfort bags, providing warmth and a constructive distraction for recipients coping with difficult experiences. Each bag contained essentials like a beanie, blanket, reading books, a handmade bookmark, a coloring book with pencils, markers or crayons, stuffed animals, slippers, and a water bottle with a handmade koozie. Additionally, Makaila conducted six workshops for the House of Ruth and other groups, teaching knitting, sewing, and crocheting. She complemented these workshops with three instructional YouTube videos and pamphlets for each skill, further broadening the project’s reach and impact.

Abigail Norman

The Guide to Healthy Eating

Abigail’s Gold Award Project titled, “The Guide to Healthy Eating,” made an impact on her community by educating students on the importance of healthy eating. She created a cookbook that included all kinds of cultures and recipes. She also conducted workshops in to teach how to make foods like sushi and fruit kebabs.

Cosette Okker

Teen Driver’s Safety and Education Cosette’s Gold Award Project titled, “Teen Driving Safety and Education,” made an impact on her community by raising awareness of teen driving risks, as well as strategies to help prevent car crashes--a leading cause of death among teens. Through booths, workshops, and the distribution of resource materials at her high school, students and their influencers learned about driver and passenger safety, traffic laws, leading causes of crashes, tips to prevent injuries and fatalities, how to obtain a driver’s license and permit, and how parents can help their child stay safe while driving.

Mihiro Okubo

Innovation in the Little Tokyo Sparkle Community

Mihiro’s Gold Award Project titled, “Innovation in the Little Tokyo Sparkle Community,” made an impact on her community by connecting a larger, younger audience who could guarantee the continuity of its cleanup events through the designing of a custom website for Little Tokyo Sparkle. In preparation for the event, she obtained local businesses’ support to help sustain the event to which those businesses are being featured on the website. At the cleanup event, she implemented proper waste disposal by setting up waste disposal stations, then she recruited and educated participants who could help oversee those stations.

Audrey O’Rafferty

The Kids in Need Club

Audrey’s Gold Award Project, “The Kids in Need Club,” addressed the issue of education inequality in Pasadena through her school supplies club. Audrey’s club hosted school supplies drives with multiple local libraries to spread awareness in the community. The club has presented the issue to both younger Girl Scouts and her school community. In addition, Audrey’s club has worked with local Title One public schools to donate supplies.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Cordelia O’Rourke

Cali Kids Compost

Cordelia’s Gold Award Project titled, “Cali Kids Compost,” addressed the issue of food waste by creating and implementing student-led composting programs at 3 local elementary schools and composting 600+ lbs of food waste.

Clara Ortega

Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Garden

Clara’s Gold Award Project, “Monarch Butterfly & Pollinator Garden,” addressed the issue of the declining population of Monarch Butterflies and pollinators by creating a thriving garden filled with native California milkweeds and plants at Marshall Fundamental School. Clara also made presentations to middle school classrooms and younger Girl Scout troops to educate them about the importance of protecting Monarch Butterflies and other pollinators in our environment.

Sissy Scout Page

Weighted Blankets: Working for

Change

Sissy’s Gold Award Project titled,

“Weighted Blankets: Working for Change,” made an impact on her community by providing weighted blankets to individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to help them overcome the dysregulation they may feel and give them more power to control their emotions. She held workshops to teach the community how to make weighted blankets, and at these workshops, she gave presentations to help combat misconceptions about the commonly misunderstood diagnosis, autism. She delivered 11 weighted blankets to Villa Esperanza, the school she was working with, and created a video to continue to teach others how to make these weighted blankets.

Tessa Paoletti

Pass it On

Tessa’s Gold Award Project, “Pass It On,” tackled textile waste and supported diverse socioeconomic groups through principles of Reuse, Reduce, and Recycle. The project facilitated clothing swaps and donations, allowing those in need and those with surplus to benefit mutually, all while contributing positively to environmental sustainability.

Jaime Petty

Build Me Up Benches

Jaime’s Gold Award Project, “Build Me Up Benches,” addressed the issue of students struggling with mental wellness by leading workshops on stress management techniques, creating a cartoon production to raise awareness about mental wellness that was shown to her high school student body, and constructed 2 benches to provide students a place to relax and decompress.

Gabriella Pizana

Social Media and its Effect on Human

Trafficking

Gabriella’s Gold Award Project, titled, “Social Media and its Effect on Human Trafficking,” made an impact by hosting workshops that informed people about tactics that human traffickers use. Additionally, Gabriella made 60 care packages that were distributed to women who are currently being trafficked. She also created a 7-minute video discussing human trafficking.

Juliette Preciado

Blue Wave Dreams

Juliette’s Gold Award Project titled, “Blue Wave Dreams,” made an impact on her community by offering free swim lessons to children and Girl Scouts while also organizing workshops to educate their parents on basic life-saving techniques and water safety. Juliette’s efforts have taught over 20 children and Girl Scouts to swim confidently and without fear and raised awareness of drowning prevention. By providing access to free swim lessons, she has equipped members of her community with essential skills for a lifetime of safe water activities.

Mishari PrewittCampbell

My Impact on Mental Improvement through Sports

Mishari’s Gold Award Project titled, “My Impact on Mental Improvement through Sports” (M.I.M.I.S), addressed the mental health of athletes by providing them with resources via a website she created. Mishari also hosted sports and beyond days in the inner city and provided them with ways to learn more things they may be interested in, to discover new things about themselves.

Lindsey Prieto

Girls Belong in STEM

Lindsey’s Gold Award Project titled, “Girls Belong in STEM,” made an impact on her community by bringing awareness and emphasis on the underrepresentation of women in the STEM field and the wage gap in the STEM workforce.

Adrianna Procida

What Can’t Be Seen

Adrianna’s Gold Award Project titled, “What Can’t Be Seen,” made an impact in the community by bringing awareness and educating teenagers from the LA county area about blindness, disabilities, and mental health. Adrianna wrote, illustrated, and self-published her book in English, Spanish, and audio. She donated two hundred books to students in LA county. She presented her book in various schools, book fairs and community festivals.

Josieanna Procida

The Gut: The Second Brain

Josie’s Gold Award Project titled, “The Gut: The Second Brain,” made an impact on her community by teaching the importance of healthy eating habits. The students learned the direct connection of our gut and depression. This project speaks directly to the 20% of adolescents in the United States suffering depression and to those suffering in silence, as well.

Hannah Pung

Calming Room Beautification

Hannah’s Gold Award Project titled, “Calming Room Beautification,” addressed the issue of poor mental health in young children by creating the Calming Room. She worked with a Title 1 school to take an old classroom they had and refurbished it into what is now called the Calming Room. In this process, she received monetary donations, as well as furniture, book, and toy donations to be used for this project. The room is now being used every day by the students at Nelson Elementary School and is the home to the school psychologist and occupational therapist.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Margaret Purcell

School Garden for Fresh Produce Access

Margaret’s Gold Award Project titled, “School Garden for Fresh Produce Access,” made an impact on the community by building a garden at a high school in Downtown LA that experiences food insecurity. Margaret taught girls how to grow and sustain the garden, as well as how to harvest it to bring home.

Madison Quintanilla

Cubs Den

Madison’s Gold Award Project, “Cubs Den,” addressed the issue of poverty by creating a giving closet. The closet is open to those who need need clothes and can’t afford them.

Julianna Ramirez

Children’s Literacy: Hope for the Future

Julianna’s Gold Award Project titled, “Children’s Literacy: Hope for the Future,” made an impact on her community by addressing the issue of low children’s literacy by giving students confidence in their reading, helping them challenge their current reading skills, and instilling the importance of literacy at a young age. This was done by starting a children’s book club at Family Promise, a nonprofit organization helping low-income families, and meeting three times a week during the summer of 2023. The library at Family Promise was also refurbished with donations collected throughout the Gold Award process.

Mia Ramos

Mental Health Awareness: Student Athlete Edition

Mia’s Gold Award Project titled, “Mental Health Awareness: Student Athlete Edition,” addressed the issue of the stigma around student-athlete mental health by joining The Hidden Opponent campus captain program, a non-profit focused on ending the stigma of mental health in sports. She then founded the chapter at her high school, leading over 10 mental health advocacy events for different sports. She also hosted a coaches session with a sports psychologist to better educate her school’s coaches on the importance of mental health, and how to implement it into their coaching styles.

Carissa Rayer

Children’s Prayer Garden and Devotional

Carissa’s Gold Award Project titled, “Children’s Prayer Garden and Devotional,” addressed the issue of children’s mental health by creating a welcoming outdoor space and curriculum for children to safely gather, study, pray, practice mindfulness, or meditate. This is a need that became clear for the children in one of the largest churches in Carissa’s community during the pandemic as well as in schools. This project assisted in improving the mental and spiritual health of children in her community.

Heidi Repp

Care for the Earth, and the Earth will Care for You!

Heidi’s Gold Award Project titled, “Care for the Earth, and the Earth Will Care for You,” made an impact on her community by holding three workshops to spread awareness about the California drought and ways to reduce water waste, planting a native garden at La Canada High School, and passing out seed bombs to community members to start their own native garden.

Natalie Richards

Project Gratitude

Natalie’s Gold Award Project titled, “Project Gratitude,” made an impact on her community by teaching kids and teens about the positive impacts that gratitude and global perspective can have on one’s life. She hosted presentations, workshops, and an event and created a full gratitude journal as a resource for kids to use.

Evelyn Rodriguez

Love from Up Above

Evelyn’s Gold Award Project titled, “Love from Up Above,” addressed the issue of our community’s lack of resources, specifically for children who have lost a sibling to a miscarriage, stillbirth, or infant loss. This is something close to my heart as I am siblingless due to my mom losing my little sister due to stillbirth. I wrote a story and grief support booklet to help surviving children and families navigate the challenging situation of losing a sibling and an infant and offer peace to them. I donated booklets to our local library and school district to use in their community resource guide. I also uploaded a digital copy posted on a national pregnancy and infant loss website, which is free for anyone to use. This booklet shows those experiencing this that they are not alone in their grief, that what they feel is valid, and that there is light on the other side of the tunnel during this difficult time.

Lauren Rooke

Bedding for the Homeless

Lauren’s Gold Award Project, “Bedding for the Homeless,” made an impact by working with LA Family Housing to provide for those experiencing homelessness in LA County. She sewed comforters for their housing facilities and shared instructions with local sewing guilds to get other sewers involved at the time and in the future. Additionally, she created hygiene kits to be handed out on the streets by collecting toiletries in donation bins around her community.

Bella Roosa

Healthy You, Healthy Me

Bella’s Gold Award Project titled, “Healthy You, Healthy Me,” made an impact on the community by educating young girls at school about the importance of building healthy relationships. She also reached a broader audience through social media, posting videos and slideshows.

Jenna Root

Mental Health Garden

Jenna’s Gold award project, “Mental Health Garden,” addressed the issue of mental health and the environment by making a garden to help the environment and help people with mental health at Sierra Vista Junior High School. The school’s many programs can use the garden for different purposes, most importantly the mental health club that is now responsible for the garden. Additionally, the project addressed the issues in workshops for Daisies, Brownies, and Juniors that they were able to attend.

Sohana Sahni

Arcadia Online: The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health

Sohana’s Gold Award Project titled, “Arcadia Online: The Effects of Social Media on Mental Health,” addressed the issue of social media addiction by creating an educational exhibit at the Gilb Museum of Arcadia Heritage detailing the negative effects of social media on mental health. Her exhibit consisted of research regarding the neurological effects of prolonged social media use, surveys of local students and teachers, oral testimonies from various community figures, and a concise plan on how to break phone addiction.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Quincy Sakai

Cranes for a Change

Quincy’s Gold Award Project titled, “Cranes for a Change,” made an impact on her community by bringing people together through culture. She achieved this by holding monthly origami club meetings for children at her local library, where they would learn a new figure and the significance behind it. Another action that Quincy took was creating a community mural at the Maya Salon which allowed people of all ages to engage in art while learning about culture.

Emily Samaniego

Get Active

Emily’s Gold Award Project titled, “Get Active,” addressed the issue of unhealthy lifestyles by providing accessible materials on ways to live healthily. She created booklets, a website, and an Instagram account to share ideas and plans for increasing daily activity. She also organized wellness days, yoga lessons and walk-a-thons to encourage people to be active.

Camryn Sample

Bridging the Gap with Books

Camryn’s Gold Award Project, “Bridging the Gap with Books,” addressed the issue of poverty. She built a library at the United Way Mile High in Denver for young adults who recently aged out of foster care. To make books more accessible to this population she created the library in the office where they meet with their case workers. Over 400 new and like-new books were donated to this library.

Nicole Samson

Pillowcases for Patients

Nicole’s Gold Award Project titled, “Pillowcases for Patients,” made an impact on her community by bringing comfort to the patients and families during their hospital stay at Long Beach Memorial Hospital. These pillowcases help to personalize a

patient’s room and recognize each patient’s interests with the unique fabrics used. The joys and smiles created from these pillowcases are priceless and everlasting.

Natalia Sanchez

Comfort for Families from Domestic Abuse

Natalia’s Gold Award Project titled, “Comfort for Families from Domestic Abuse,” addressed the issue of the lack of awareness of Domestic Abuse by hosting workshops and seminars to inform younger Girl Scouts, as well as the people of her community what Domestic Abuse is. She did this by partnering with the Women’s and Children’s Domestic Abuse Center to gather information to share during these workshops.

Giavanna Santoro-Huie

Healing Youth Through The Arts

Gia’s Gold Award project titled, “Healing Youth Through The Arts,” made an impact on her community by providing safe spaces for art youth leaders to learn about the mental health struggles elementary school kids are facing. She held a number of meetings via Zoom and in person at The Hive in Pomona College. She hosted guest speakers from LA County Arts and Florida International University who shared their tips and tricks on the subject. Art youth leaders then took these tactics to help children express their feelings through trauma-informed art instruction at Sumner-Danbury Elementary School.

Alyson Sasaki

John Adams Playground Project

Alyson’s Gold Award Project titled, “John Adams Playground Project,” made an impact on her community by increasing the students’ fitness levels during recess at her former school, John Adams Elementary. She used bright colors and encouraging words to paint line-up lines, hopscotches, an obstacle course, and a copycat game on the blacktop so that students would play during recess and would not return to the classrooms still

full of energy. In addition, Alyson created a math center in one of the teacher’s classrooms by labeling bins, presenting fun math games, and adding new math posters.

Krrishika Saxena

Prioritizing Health: Educating the Youth

Krrishika’s Gold Award Project titled, “Prioritizing Health: Educating the Youth,” addressed healthcare disparities and lack of education by writing educational blogs for a multinational Indian healthcare company and teaching kids in her local communities first aid skills. Krrishika contacted the CEO of Cartula Health India to collaborate on providing accessible healthcare services, and wrote blogs on healthcare topics reviewed by their doctors for posting on their social media platforms, reaching thousands of people. Additionally, she conducted first aid workshops, focusing on bleeds, targeting students, kids from local temple groups, and a Girl Scouts troop to empower them with emergency response skills from a young age through hands-on demonstrations, videos, presentations, and practical exercises.

Carly Scolaro

Lacrosse Goalie Camp

Carly’s Gold Award Project titled, “Lacrosse Goalie Camp,” made an impact on her community by introducing girls to a new position and teaching them the basics of the position. Which helped provide new goalies for the high school program.

Abigail Shaffer

Take Action

Abigail’s Gold Award Project titled, “Take Action,” made an impact on her community by inspiring other students at her school to take action and get involved. She created a club at her school that allowed students to come together and talk about the issues in their community and brainstorm how they can help. The club ended up helping four different organizations over the course of the school year.

Kaylie Shippy

Wolf Sanctuary Beautification

Kaylie’s Gold Award Project, “Wolf Sanctuary Beautification,” aimed to combat wolf endangerment by renovating a local wolf sanctuary, thereby highlighting its vital role. She crafted personalized signs that depicted the individual stories of the wolves and installed an arbor to greet visitors embarking on the live wolf walk. Additionally, the sanctuary was enhanced with a collection of colorful hand-painted rocks, tree charms, and decorations, adding vibrancy and life to the space.

Sanne Sirmenis

A Safe Place

Sanne’s Gold Award Project titled, “A Safe Space,” made an impact on their community by providing a safe space for queer youth and allies. Sanne dedicated time and effort to creating a place that encouraged queer joy and was accepting of anyone and everyone who was in need of this space. This project ended up being a safe space not only for those who joined, but as a nongirl in Girl Scouts, a safe space for Sanne themself, proving the monumental impact that this space had on all who got involved with it.

Hailey Soh

From China to Chinatown: Po Po’s Perspective

Hailey’s Gold Award Project, “From China to Chinatown: Po Po’s Perspective,” made an impact on her community by directing a documentary that educated locals about the history of Chinatown, and its significance to the Chinese immigrant community. She also discussed issues like gentrification, which has become more rapid in recent years. Other components of her project included organizing a tour of the Los Angeles Chinatown and presenting to Castelar Elementary and a monthly member meeting at the Chinese Historical Society of Southern California.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Shelby Solomon

Building Golden Bridges

Shelby’s Gold Award Project titled, “Building Golden Bridges,” made an impact in her community by sharing and distributing mental health resources. She also used social media to share resources, wrote and coded a creative story on the platform Episode, established a mental health club, and started an anti-suicide initiative at her high school.

Catherine Som de Cerff

Just Keep Swimming

Catherine’s Gold Award Project titled, “Just Keep Swimming,” addressed the issue of childhood drownings by providing 92 children in underserved neighborhoods with free swim lessons. Students living in a beach city deserve to know how to swim, even if their families cannot afford lessons. Through learn-to-swim lessons, these children gained a life-long skill of water safety and a reduced risk of drowning.

Samantha Spaulding

Senior Center Hydroponics

Samantha’s Gold Award Project Titled, “Senior Center Hydroponics,” made an impact on her community by creating activities and making their outdoor area more lively. Along with her team, they built a hydroponics garden that is wheelchair accessible and a great learning experience. She also painted a mural to brighten up the garden and the walking path.

Camber Strope

Make Your Mark! The Meaningfulness of Art

Camber’s Gold Award Project titled, “Make Your Mark! The Meaningfulness of Art,” made an impact on her community by teaching watercolor painting to seniors at the East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center. Not only did the classes teach them how to paint

with watercolors, but these classes also demonstrated how art benefits them and enabled them to gain confidence while learning a new skill.

Sophia Stuart

It Makes Her Unique

Sophia’s Gold Award Project, “It Makes Her Unique,” addressed self-esteem and body-image issues among young girls. Sophia wrote and published a children’s book, then toured her community reading and gifting copies of the book to schools, libraries, and other venues targeting young children, to bring awareness that we are all beautifully unique.

Ella Sundberg

Hives of Hope

Ella’s Gold Award Project titled, “Hives of Hope,” addressed the decline in the bee population by organizing several workshops across the San Fernando Valley. These workshops were designed to educate the local community about the importance of bees and how to assemble a bee fountain, providing bees with a reliable water source. Each participant had the opportunity to decorate their own bee fountain and take it home to place in their garden. Additionally, Ella created an Instagram account to share additional information and planted bee fountains in her local high school garden.

Kathryn Takata

Little Dresses for Africa

Kathryn’s Gold Award Project titled, “Little Dresses for Africa,” made an impact on her community by raising awareness about the global impact of fast fashion, exploitative labor practices, and its detrimental effects on the environment. Kathryn coordinated a gently used bed sheets drive at her school and organized a sewing event where volunteers upcycled the materials collected to sew dresses for girls pursuing educational opportunities in Africa. Education changes the future and stops the cycle of poverty and through this project, Katie demonstrated her commitment to education, the environment and supporting girls around the world.

Lindsay Tang

Finding Food Security for Kids

Lindsay’s Gold Award Project titled, “Finding Food Security for Kids”, addressed the issue of food insecurity for children by working with the Volunteer Center’s Food for Kids weekend meal bag donation program. She organized and revamped their food pantry and assembly room operating procedures and also recruited and trained volunteer groups, ensuring a robust support network for the future. This also involved setting up a more efficient system for receiving donations, categorizing, inventorying and storing food by expiration date, resulting in a significant increase in capacity to both receive donations and distribute meal bags to local schools while reducing food wastage.

Shijia Tang

Mental Health Awareness

Shijia’s Gold Award Project, “Mental Health Awareness,” impacted her community by establishing a club at her high school to promote mental health awareness and combat stigma. The club organized various events, including talks by guest speakers, de-stress activities, and informational sessions on mental health topics, educating students about the importance of mental wellness. This initiative is set to continue, ensuring that future generations will also benefit from increased awareness and education, thereby permanently transforming the school’s culture around mental health.

Ivory Thompson

Girls in Robotics: Level Up

Ivory’s Gold Award Project titled, “Girls In Robotics: Level-Up,” addressed the issue of the disparity of women of color pursuing careers in Robotics Engineering. Ivory seeks to raise awareness about opportunities in the robotics field and the resources available. She conducted a Day In Robotics at the Beehive, a high-tech center in South Los Angeles where more than 70 middle school girls from the community had handson experiences with robots and technology, as well as the chance to talk to college recruiters from USC, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State LA and El Camino Colleges.

Kylie Thompson

ACL JourKnee

Kylie’s Gold Award Project titled, “ACL JourKnee,” addressed the issue of rising rates of ACL tears in female sports by partnering with Cedars Sinai Kerlan Jobe to spread awareness on ACL tears and their prevention program. She hosted an ACL Symposium with the team doctors from LA Angels and LA Galaxy to spread awareness in her community. She also worked with them to demonstrate the prevention program to various sports teams and even her own district’s PE Department to get them to adopt the program.

Katelyn Tong

First Aid for Kids

Katelyn’s Gold Award Project titled, “First Aid for Kids,” made an impact on her community by educating young kids about the basics of First Aid. By demonstrating First Aid techniques using hands-on activities, this helped the kids understand the concepts in front of them. She also taught them what to do in different real-life emergencies with worksheets and crafts that explained the different emergencies. With the help of the local fire department, she had the firefighters and paramedics speak about what they do and explain how first aid is important.

Karis Toy

Welcome to the Well

Karis’ Gold Award Project titled, “Welcome to the Well,” made an impact on her community by creating a safe space for students at Shery High School. The purpose of this space was for students to get their social, emotional, and mental needs met. She led a team of students from that school in order to ensure that the space reflected the needs of their peers to its fullest capacity.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Marlee Turner

Providing Protection and Peace to Homeless Women

Marlee’s Gold Award Project titled, “Providing Peace and Protection to Homeless Women,” made an impact on her community by providing 100 safety kits to the unhoused survivors of domestic violence that Sojourn, A Program of the People Concern (her community partner) serves. She also developed a curriculum detailing the difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships and resource materials to combat unsafe domestic situations for middle school students. This curriculum was shared with over 150 students. Lastly, she shared information on the connection between domestic violence and other subjects, such as climate change, in an Instagram account with over 100 followers.

Dominique Vasquez

A Healthier, Happier Life

Dominique’s Gold Award Project titled, “A Happier, Healthier Life,” addressed the issue of low blood donations by hosting a series of blood drives. Dominique partnered with the American Red Cross to host 3 bi-monthly blood drives over the course of six months. Dominique had nearly 100 donors across all three drives and collected over 250 pints of blood. Dominique’s final blood drive was the largest with the most donors in the Los Angeles area for the month of November.

Amethyst Vasquez

Recognizing Native Americans of JBHS

Amethyst’s Gold Award Project, “Recognizing Native Americans of JBHS,” impacted her community by enhancing awareness of indigenous land, culture, and the people within it.

Giuliana Ventimiglio

Be a Gem, Come and Learn STEM

Giuliana’s Gold Award Project, “Be A Gem, Come Learn STEM,” impacted her community by addressing the underrepresentation of STEM courses for young girls in middle school. She accomplished this by traveling the valley and visiting other troops where she conducted workshops that consisted of fun activities from lava lamps to paper airplane models.

Francesca Villain

Social Media Outreach

Francesca’s Gold Award Project, “Social Media Outreach,” impacted her community by enhancing the South Bay Outreach Center’s social media presence to engage high schoolaged volunteers. Her efforts not only secured permanent volunteers for the center but also raised awareness among teens about the severity of food insecurity in their community, empowering them to take active roles in addressing this issue.

Lina Wallgren

Butterfly and Bee

Preservation

Lina’s Gold Award Project titled, “Butterfly and Bee Preservation,” addressed the struggle for the survival of bee and butterfly populations in our environment. She worked with Descanso Gardens in La Cañada by creating brochures for visitors and laminated pamphlets for long-term use at the gardens that discussed ways to increase population and pollination. She also led workshops for younger Girl Scout troops to teach about the importance of butterflies and bees to our ecosystem, followed by a hands-on activity. Lastly, she held a workshop at her high school about how to make sustainable bee homes.

Chloe Wang

Volleyball Program at Boys and Girls Club

Chloe’s Gold Award Project, “Volleyball Program at the Boys and Girls Club,” made an impact on her community by providing young aspiring athletes unparalleled access to volleyball, completely free of charge. Without any

barriers based on skill level, Chloe’s initiative ensures that every child could participate and thrive, fostering a culture of inclusivity and empowerment within the community.

Loise Wardhana

Building a Better School CommunityOne Board at a Time

Loise’s Gold Award Project titled, “Building a Better School Community - One Board at a Time,” impacted her community by creating a mobile and multi-paneled curriculum board for Villa Esperanza School for the developmentally and intellectually disabled. Each panel focused on a specific life skill such as food groups, spelling, and clothing for the students to practice. Each panel concept had accompanying activity resources such as tiles and magnets to help the faculty facilitate a multitude of engaging activities for their students.

Kennedy West

Swimming for Life

Kennedy’s Gold Award Project, “Swimming for Life,” impacted the community by highlighting the crucial need for children to learn swimming as a vital life skill. Addressing the scarcity of accessible swimming lessons and the higher drowning rates among minority children in underserved areas, she developed a digital directory of affordable swimming programs for parents linked to local preschools and afterschool initiatives. As a junior lifeguard, Kennedy offered free swimming lessons and collaborated to integrate her water safety video as a mandatory educational tool before swimming field trips.

Hanami Wexler

Period Empowerment Project

Hanami’s, “Period Empowerment Project,” addressed the issue of period poverty and period stigma by leading awareness workshops and creating a video and website. She also organized community period product drives and partnered with a company to collect period products valued at over $16,000, and hand-sewed hundreds of period packs filled with donated products for 220 foster care youth in Los Angeles.

Mikayla Wong Diallo

D.R.E.A.M

Mikayla’s Gold Award Project, “D.R.E.A.M.,” positively impacted Marshall Fundamental School by raising awareness about special education and disabilities, aiming to diminish stereotypes within the school community. She established a club and conducted workshops to educate students. This initiative fostered an inclusive environment, creating a supportive space where special needs students could feel accepted and build friendships.

Leah Woods

Plan ahead and Be Prepared

Leah’s Gold Award Project titled, “Plan Ahead and Be Prepared”, made a positive impact on her community by creating user friendly emergency safety training materials and an “At A Glance” safety pamphlet that is now located in all the classrooms on the La Cañada Presbyterian Church campus. Multiple groups utilize the church campus throughout the week and service many different ages. Leah consulted with a safety and security expert to ensure current best practices were implemented in the plans, trainings and all printed materials.

Claire Wu

Safety First

Claire’s Gold Award Project titled, “Safety First,” addressed the lack of accessible self-defense and personal safety education for children by establishing a youth seminar, imparting invaluable self-defense skills and lessons aimed at building strong values and confidence. Through meticulous planning and execution, she tailored her program to be inclusive and impactful for children of all backgrounds, enriching it with hands-on activities and expanding its reach by training volunteers and offering the seminar for free. Furthermore, Claire has extended her initiative’s impact by creating YouTube videos, making the seminar’s key points accessible to a global audience, and furthering her mission to equip children with the knowledge and skills for personal safety and confidence.

2024 GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARDEES

Katelyn Wu

Wellness Soars With Butterflies

Katelyn’s Gold Award Project titled, “Wellness Soars with Butterflies,” addressed the issue of butterfly extinction through the creation of two homemade garden boxes to house milkweed plants for a local elementary school. Monarch butterflies only lay eggs on milkweeds, so the implementation of milkweeds will nurture the butterfly population and mitigate the endangerment of butterflies. Katelyn led two presentations with the school and her fellow Girl Scouts to educate others on the importance of butterflies in our ecosystem and how we can do our part in helping.

Alison Yamada

Helping Our Humane Society

Alison’s Gold Award Project titled, “Helping Our Humane Society,” made an impact on her community by aiding the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society’s lack of resources due to the coronavirus. She designed videos and flyers to spread awareness and hosted educational workshops with high school clubs and local Girl Scout troops. In these workshops, she spoke on the issue and how to help, as well as had the audience make fleecefabric blankets to donate to the humane society, with their effort culminating in a donation of 75 blankets.

Malia Yee

Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital Library for NICU Unit

Malia’s Gold Award Project titled, “Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital Library System for the NICU Unit,” made an impact in her community by giving over 100 caregivers and parents books to read to their newborns. Supporting shared reading within families in the NICU. She also created a useable book system in the library.

Hannah Yi

Positive Environment in the Locker Room

Hannah’s Gold Award Project titled, “Positive Environment in the Locker Room,” addressed the issue of negative self-esteem among middle school girls by painting encouraging murals on the locker room stall doors. The stall doors had various sayings on them, and the mirrors were beautified with stickers and positive messages.

Isabella Yoon

Teaching Tennis

Isabella’s Gold award project called, “Teaching Tennis,” made an impact on her community by introducing 7th, 8th, and 9th graders to tennis through a clinic she held over the summer. This clinic allowed those students to join her high school tennis team that was short of players. She also created and filmed videos teaching high school tennis players and parents tennis etiquette and basic information.

Samantha Zaidman

Castaic High School Class of 2023 Commemorative Wall

Samantha’s Gold Award Project titled, “Castaic High School Class of 2023 Commemorative Wall,” made an impact on her community by highlighting the first-ever graduating class, bringing art and color to a plain wall, and educating students on how the school began. Each senior’s name was on a tile with an image representing an activity that they were involved in. Future Coyotes can view this piece of art for years to come and each Senior class will add to the timeline that appears on the bottom of the wall that defines their year.

Justine Zee

Therapeautic Activities for Special Needs

Justine’s project, “Therapeautic Activities for Special Needs,” addressed the issue of special needs therapy sessions not being engaging enough. She created activities for special needs children at the nonprofit “Home of Angels” and taught their staff the curriculum on how to use the activity to cover the sustainability aspect. Justine also shadowed many therapy sessions to see her project in action and to continuously improve her creations. These activities ranged from crafts, exercise playlists, photo cards, games, etc.

The following Girl Scouts also earned their Gold Award:

Bella Astin

Picture Paw-fect

Carni Boynerian

Youth for Nature: Environmental Education Program

Samantha Chang

Spreading the News!

Sarah Chung

Period Product Accessibility Project

Chelsea Fung

I Care, Eye Care

Maya Karni

Maya’s Declassified College Survival Guide

Ena Kawauchiya

Save Animals from Being Tested

Lillian Raesler

The Cosmos At Camp Stevens

Jasmine Senteza

Kids Just Want To Have Fun!

Sandrine Sugden

Bishop Montgomery High School Mental Health Resources

Siena Urquiza

Composting Awareness to Create a Better Future

Wendy Waite

Fentanyl Awareness and Overdose Prevention

Anika Wong

Kids Reading Corner

Kimiko Yamaguchi

The Importance of Food to Japanese Culture

to the 2024 Gold Award Girl Scouts

Thank you for making the world a better place through your creativity, tenacity, and passion. You are inspiring.

WE’RE SO PROUD OF YOU! Congratulations

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mia Britel Chair

Renee Fraser Vice Chair

Denise Gutches Vice Chair

Tania Van Herle Vice Chair

Andy Park Vice Chair

Erin Oremland Secretary

Michelle Wroan Treasurer

Carolyn Cassidy

Dean Catalano

Roxanne Diaz

Monique Earl

Sonia Endler

Dave Gallagher

MacKenzie Green

Sheetal Medatia

Jim Niemiec

Nina Skorus-Neely

Dawn Solér

Anna Tom