Gold Award Girl Scout Class of 2020 Made possible by:
About the
Girl Scout Gold Award Earning the Gold Award is a Girl Scout’s highest honor. This prestigious award is earned by a select group of Girl Scouts who demonstrate a higher commitment to improving communities and advocating for lasting change. The Class of 2020 numbers 50 Girl Scouts from across our 30-county footprint in Central and Northeastern Pennsylvania. Each girl uses her own values and skills to identify a community issue she is passionate about and then determines the topic and audience for her project. Mentors work with each Girl Scout to support the development of her project, along with each girl’s Gold Award Advisor. All of the projects completed this year will have a lasting and positive impact on our region and beyond. The Class of 2020 has exhibited outstanding leadership, exceptional organizational skills and a sincere commitment to investing in their communities. Congratulations!
Class of 2020
Gold Award Girl Scouts Rylee Arenson
Lords Valley, PA • Pike County Art Education • Classroom Mural for Circleville Elementary Rylee painted a colorful mural at the Circleville Elementary School to help inspire kids to create their own art masterpieces. She held a painting workshop to discuss the importance of art along with the use of color and techniques.
Talie Arner Nesquehoning, PA • Carbon County STEM • Repairing Shelters and Self-Esteem Talie wanted to promote self-esteem and positivity in her community, as she saw that bullying was an extremely prevalent issue. She chose to restore bus shelters and designed them to promote positive messages for passengers and other commuters.
Miranda Beaver Selinsgrove, PA • Snyder County Art • Beautification and Sharing of History of the Gutelius House Museum Miranda increased awareness of the Gutelius House Museum in her local community and worked with the museum to enhance the landscaping.
Jenna Biago Kingston, PA • Luzerne County Health • Words of Hope Jenna created a booklet full of motivational messages and quotes about happiness focused around God, to give to hospital patients and their families. Five centers accepted her booklet, allowing her to make an impact in many families’ lives.
Summer Breen York, PA • York County Education • Sit-Stay-Read Summer planned and implemented a program at her local library for children to read to dogs. The program is meant to instill confidence in the children’s reading skills by allowing them to practice with an unbiased audience.
Kailey Bridgeman Clifford Township, PA • Susquehanna County STEM & Education • Intro to Computer Programming Course Kailey designed and implemented a week-long computer programming course for middle and high school students. Her project provided students with a unique opportunity to learn computer science and worked to generate interest in the field.
Anne Castellano Harrisburg, PA • Dauphin County Elderly Issues • The Arts Through the Generations: Afternoons with Annie Anne noticed a lack of volunteers and variety of activities offered at a local retirement community. To address this issue, she recruited young volunteers to help with a variety of activities for the residents.
Karen Catherine Philipsburg, PA • Centre County Elderly Issues • Memory Book Karen saw the issue of declining mental recall in residents of a local nursing home. She addressed the issue by developing a Memory Book of photos of local sites and points of interest for use as a means of assisting with memory recall. The Memory Book will remain in the nursing home to be used by staff.
Kaitlyn Cromer Harrisburg, PA • Dauphin County Animals • Joy with Dogs Kaitlyn trained her dog to become a certified therapy dog so they could go to nursing homes, libraries, and hospice care centers together and share the joy that animals can provide.
Kailey Defina Scranton, PA • Lackawanna County Arts, Culture, & Heritage • Scranton’s Music Mentors Kailey created a free music program for students in the Scranton area to learn the joys of music. By providing a free opportunity, Kailey eliminated the obstacle of cost that many students face when trying to learn a musical instrument. This program will be continued by Kailey’s classmates.
Hailey Dudinyak Hazleton, PA • Luzerne County Religion • Roar Vacation Bible School! Hailey scheduled and designed a week-long Vacation Bible School program at her church. Each day was different and specific to the lesson they were learning that day. Overall, she achieved her goal of bringing kids and adults together to spread the love of God in her church community.
Gabrielle Edwards Moscow, PA • Lackawanna County Art & Community • Community Mural Gabrielle painted a mural on the Jefferson Lion’s Club building showing a lion with different clubs and organizations in her town as the mane. This brought her community a sense of pride and unity.
Alexis Fischer Middletown, PA • Dauphin County Outdoors • Church Beautification Alexis led a team to construct a retaining wall at her church. This helped to create a safer and more beautifully landscaped outdoor space for members of her church, daycare, preschool, and community members.
Eirinn Flanagan Hummelstown, PA • Dauphin County Life Skills • Book Club for Dyslexic Children Eirinn wanted to address the issue of dyslexia in her community. She conceived and ran a book club for children who were struggling to read. By using graphic novels, she was able to engage with children who might normally be opposed to reading.
Taylor Gonet Port Matilda, PA • Centre County Environment & Sustainability • Millbrook March Compost Site Taylor saw the impact of waste and overfilled landfills on her community. She designed a compost site in order to combat this issue and educated her community about alternatives ways to dispose of food waste.
Karly Gudykunst New Milford, PA • Susquehanna County Education • Little Free Library In an effort to help children read more, Karly set up a little free library in her town’s park to show youth that you can read anytime, anywhere. She also organized a monthly story area.
Elora Herron Nanticoke, PA • Luzerne County Animals • Rescue the Cat Rescue! Elora partnered with a local cat rescue to collect donations and create a website to raise awareness and provide information on stray, homeless, and abused cats in PA.
Amanda Houser Zion Grove, PA • Schuylkill County Homelessness • The Blessing Bag Project Amanda held a collection asking the community to donate necessities to the homeless. Meetings were held to put the bags together and discuss how to keep the project going in the future. To spread awareness, she made pamphlets, flyers, and social media postings.
Robin Hoy Mechanicsburg, PA • Cumberland County Mental Health • L3 Look, Learn, Live Robin brought the Aevidum club, a nationwide movement focusing on mental health, to her high school. She raised awareness by putting pamphlets in the nurse’s office, starting the banana campaign, and organized activities during suicide prevention week. This included positive sidewalk chalk, playing morning music, and posters.
Makayla Huffman Stroudsburg, PA • Monroe County Life Skills • Teenage Driving Makayla’s project addressed the issue of safe teen driving. She created an event at the local firehouse and set up stations for teenagers to get information about topics such as pumping gas safely and preventing drunk driving.
Lindsey Kieffer Lewisburg, PA • Union County Elderly Issues • Bringing Back the Gardening Days Lindsey wanted those in assisted living facilities to be able to continue their love for gardening. She created raised garden beds so that residents were able to bend down to care for the plants.
Kylie Knipe Enola, PA • Cumberland County Environment & Sustainability • Rain Garden Kylie chose to address the issue of sustainability and the environment by building a rain garden at her high school. She also educated elementary school students about the benefits of a rain garden and created educational materials.
Hannah Kunetz Hazle Township, PA • Luzerne County Arts, Culture, & Heritage • Improvement of Concession Stand Hannah worked with her team to make improvements to her school’s Marching Band concession stand. The project increased the functionality of the concession stand and increased the efficiency and popularity of the stand.
Taylor Mattias Dillsburg, PA • York County Health • Inspirational Bathroom Stalls Taylor noticed a lack of motivation and inspiration in students at her school. To address this issue, Taylor designed and created inspirational bathroom stalls to inspire creativity in students.
Makayla McCartan Carlisle, PA • Cumberland County Education • Stand as One Club Makayla started the Stand as One Club to provide students with the opportunity to learn life skills such as communication, leadership, soft skills, and preparing for an interview. Club members had the opportunity to hear from guest speakers and participate in open discussions.
Lilly Merendino Enola, PA • Cumberland County Life Skills • The Caring Closets Lilly addressed the issue in her community of lack of basic clothing supplies for students in her school district. She set up Caring Closets in two elementary schools in her school district and held donation drives to fill them with gently used clothing.
Sarah Moore Bloomsburg, PA • Columbia County Health • Healthy Habits in Motion Sarah’s project, Healthy Habits in Motion, taught children about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle by introducing them to the importance of exercise and yoga practices. She planned learning sessions geared toward grades K-3 and used a fun approach to learning yoga- Alphabet Yoga. Her project helped children gain an understanding of the importance of yoga as exercise and its role in a healthy lifestyle.
Julia Moran Jefferson Township, PA • Lackawanna County Arts, Culture & Heritage • Denise Edwards Memorial Theater Camp Julia saw a need for more theater opportunities for children in her area. She organized and implemented a Theater Camp for children grades 3-4 to learn about theater.
Jasmine Moss Windsor, PA • York County Mental Health • Expressions Workshop Jasmine taught classes to children in her local community about how to manage conflict in a respectful way. She introduced the kids to art therapy as a healthy way to handle emotions.
Kendall Myers Mechanicsburg, PA • Cumberland County Homelessness • Red Apron Meal Kits Kendall came up with 12 meal kit recipes, using the basic food products available at the Salvation Army Harrisburg Food Pantry, along with items donated through her food drive. 900 meal kits with recipes were distributed.
Gabriela Nahm Hummelstown, PA • Dauphin County Education • The Refugee Literacy Project Gabriela collected 150 children’s books and audio recorded 50 of them to donate to the Lancaster Refugee Center. She organized the books by difficulty and even made infographics on how to use the audiobooks. This gave immigrant children at Reynolds Middle School direct access to these stories.
Aubree Narus Harrisburg, PA • Dauphin County Outdoors • Holy Name of Jesus Prayer Garden Aubree repaired and refurbished the garden at her church and added bibles, a prayer box, and rosaries. She spoke with the church’s “Rosary in the Garden” group about the definition of prayer and the importance of it.
Kylee Noble Middleburg, PA • Snyder County Animals • Ashburns Farms Outreach and Education Kylee noticed a lack of volunteers and involvement at a local rescue farm. To address this issue, she used her knowledge gained from volunteering at the farm to recruit more volunteers with public outreach. She also built tortoise shelters as an additional component of her project.
Erminia Pituch Lords Valley, PA • Pike County Health • Emily Pituch Girl Scout Blood Drive Erminia brought together over thirty people to donate blood to those in need of it. She also held another blood drive in honor of her mother, which had over twenty donors.
Rhiannon Potter Starucca, PA • Wayne County Military/Veteran Affairs • Salute to the Veterans Rhiannon cleaned and repaired the Veteran’s memorial in her community, planted flowers and shrubs, and created an archive of Veterans in the local cemetery. By verifying the names, dates of service, and grave locations, she was able to place markers and flags at the Veteran’s memorial and cemetery.
Jenna Prestianni Lords Valley, PA • PIke County STEM & Education • Mobile Makerspace and STEM Station Jenna created a mobile makerspace for kids and teachers to have access to STEM materials during the school day. Lesson plans accompanied the makerspace so that teachers could easily implement the programs in their classes.
Sarah Rosenberger Albrightsville, PA • Carbon County Outdoors • Prayer & Pollination Garden Sarah saw the issue of declining pollinators in her community and around the world and wanted to do something about it. By designing and building a Prayer & Pollinator garden at her local church, she helped to increase the pollinator populations and gave churchgoers a place for peaceful reflection.
Rachel Saxton Clarks Summit, PA • Lackawanna County Restoration • Restoration of the Community Room at Fleetville Fire Co. Rachel met with members of the Fleetville Volunteer Fire Company to redo their community meeting room. A lot of work had to be done including drywall, painting, adding a window, and flooring. A dedication ceremony was held when it was finished and the room is being used more than ever.
Margery Schnarrs Camp Hill, PA • Cumberland County Life Skills • Get in the Game Gery saw dwindling interest in Field Hockey in her area. She addressed this issue by partnering with the high school team to host a clinic for middle school students. In the coming years, the high school field hockey team will take over this clinic program in the hopes that more girls will become interested in middle school and continue into high school.
Katelin Schooley Harrisburg, PA • Dauphin County Sports and Outdoors • GS & Panther Blocks Katelin worked with an engineering firm to design and build dugouts for the local junior varsity baseball team.
Autumn Sena Winfield, PA • Union County Poverty • Dress A Girl Autumn worked with her local community to create and donate dresses to inspire at-risk girls around the world through an organization called Hope For Women. She was able to donate more than her original goal of 100 dresses, due to the outpouring of support.
Melody Sharp Port Matilda, PA • Centre County Education • Teach American Sign Language Melody increased awareness about the importance of learning ASL and the certification process to members of her community. By creating an informational document and other educational materials, she encouraged educators and students to become ASL certified.
Emily Snyder Halifax, PA • Dauphin County Disability Issues • Operation Seeing for Those in Need For her Gold Award, Emily raised and trained a seeing eye dog. After raising and caring for the dog since December 2018, he will be paired with someone in need. In addition to raising the dog, Emily also attended educational events to educate the public about the importance of seeing eye dogs.
Morgan Steiner Gouldsboro, PA • Wayne County Sports • Team Building Soccer Clinic Morgan noticed an issue with confidence and team building between the middle and high school girls’ soccer programs at her school. She developed an indoor soccer skills clinic to address this issue. This clinic will be continued for future years.
Reagan Steiner Covington, PA • Lackawanna County Disability Issues • Holiday Extravaganza Reagan planned and implemented a Holiday Extravaganza for students and individuals with special needs. This event brought the community together and developed relationships between her classmates and people with special needs
Neeraja Sundara Mechanicsburg, PA • Cumberland County Environment & Sustainability • Buds for Bees In order to address pollinator decline due to the loss of biodiversity in PA flora, Neeraja created “Bee Pods” to be distributed throughout her community. These pods contained seeds to be planted by those who attended her informational workshops. Overall, Neeraja distributed over 100 Bee Pods through her project.
Carley Trostle Mechanicsburg, PA • Cumberland County Outdoors • Kneeling Altar with Cross Carley used almost all recycled materials to make a beautiful outdoor worship space at her church. The flagstone patio has a stone kneeling altar with benches and a cross behind the altar.
Chloe Wegrzynowicz Catawissa, PA • Columbia County Mental Health • Believe After two of her student peers passed away due to ongoing battles with depression, Chloe spent nearly 110 hours creating a documentary, mural, and website on the relationship between confidence and high school. She was able to show her documentary that includes three individuals and their stories of bravery to the school she attends.
Hope Widmer
East Stroudsburg, PA • Monroe County Civic Engagement • Inclusion Hope created an Inclusion Fair to address the lack of resources and ways to find information in her community. Hope also compiled information into a presentation on inclusion to share with Troop Leaders and other members of her community.
Kailen Winkelblech Centre Hall, PA • Centre County Remembrance • Mr. William “Bill” Arnold Memorial Bench Kailen honored a member from her church who passed away, Mr. Arnold, by adding a memorial bench outside of her church. She also had her pastor hold a ceremony with friends and family of Mr. Arnold to dedicate the bench to him.
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