#HatNotHate & Highest Awards

#HatNotHate

Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont newest program partnership is with #HatNotHate, a non-profit organization that launched in 2018 that encourages kindness through creativity. The signature of the organization is the blue hats, which are made and distributed to youth across the country as a way to empower those who wear them to show kindness, as well as represent awareness, peace and solidarity in who they are.

As part of this partnership, a new #HatNotHate patch program will be available to girls and troops, starting in October 2023, and GSCP2P is hosting a patch design contest for girls, with one girl’s design being chosen as the winning entry for the new patch.

#HatNotHate founder, Shira Blumenthal, was the keynote speaker at our Highest Awards Ceremonies in May, sharing her experiences and tips with the girls about bullying prevention and the impact it has had on her life.

HIGHEST AWARDS MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE

During the 2023 membership year, we recognized hundreds of girls for earning their Girl Scout Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards. These projects teach girls important skills like critical thinking, project management, problem solving, active leadership, teamwork and volunteering, while helping them to discover they have the power to make a difference in their communities and world. Congratulations to all our Highest Awards girls!

· 124 Bronze Award Girl Scouts, with over 2,480 hours of leadership and service delivered to our communities.

· 105 Silver Award Girl Scouts, with over 5,250 hours of leadership and service delivered to our communities.

· 47 Gold Award Girl Scouts, with over 4,240 hours of leadership and service delivered to our communities.

GOLD AWARD SPOTLIGHT JOSIE MANTER

Kernersville, NC

Josie’s Girl Scout Gold Award project, which was titled “How to Stress Less and Learn More”, created a website (www. stresslessandlearnmore.com) and YouTube channel to help kids with the transition from elementary to middle school. The website includes tips on transitioning to a new school environment and different stress coping mechanisms, as well as how to manage anxiety. The YouTube channel has videos on how to make stress-relieving toys and fidgets and locker tutorial videos, such as how to open a locker and how to organize one.

Josie was recently chosen as the National Gold Award Scholarship winner for Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont. Every year, Girl Scouts of the USA awards one scholarship per council to a Gold Award Girl Scout. Recipients are selected based on their project exemplifying the core components of the Girl Scout Gold Award and demonstrating extraordinary leadership that drives lasting change within the community and beyond. Josie received $10,000 in scholarship monies.

SILVER AWARD SPOTLIGHT GIRL SCOUT TROOP 2449

Maiden, NC

Girl Scout Troop 2449 in Catawba County worked with Rising Hope Farms to complete their Girl Scout Silver Award. The farm is a non-profit organization that provides riding lessons to children with special needs. The girls made therapeutic items to be used during these lessons. Some of these items included colorful signs with words of encouragement or bean bags to use for games. The girls also added a new item- the horseshoe tree. Instructors can hold up the tree and riders ride by and place horseshoes or rings on the tree limbs.

BRONZE AWARD SPOTLIGHT GIRL SCOUT TROOP 2331

Rural Hall, NC

Girls in Girl Scout Troop 2331 completed their Girl Scout Bronze Award by building a community library for Old Richmond Elementary School. They were also assisted by second year Brownies in this project, making it a great way to get the younger girls prepared for their own Highest Award projects.