2020 Gold Award Girl Scouts

THE 2020

GOLD AWARD

GIRL SCOUTS

Congratulations to this year’s

Gold Award Girl Scouts!

The Gold Award is the highest award a girl can earn in Girl Scouting. An award with national standards, it acknowledges an individual’s accomplishments, leadership, commitment, creativity, and personal effort in trying to make the world a better place. Each Gold Award project solves a community issue and improves lives while girls build their personal leadership skills and inspire others to community action.

A Gold Award Girl Scout’s accomplishments reflect leadership and citizenship skills that set her apart as a community leader. The award is a major milestone in a girl’s life and an extension of all she has learned through her Girl Scout experience.

The Girl Scout Gold Award recognizes that for girls to become leaders, they need to become knowledgeable, involved, and proactive. They need to lead the way.

Discover Connect

- Girls understand themselves and their values and use their knowledge and skills to explore the world; - Girls care about, inspire, and team with others locally and globally;

Take Action

- Girls act to make the world a better place.

Above all else, the achievement of the Gold Award makes a girl understand what a difference one person can make, what one girl in a leadership role can do, and how one person’s vision can inspire positive change.

2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Skyler Arpin LISBON Blankets for Kids Skyler worked with a volunteer group called Project Outreach at her school to teach them how to make tag blankets, leading to the creation of 200 blankets.

These blankets, meant to help babies become accustomed to different textures, were donated to the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. Project Outreach will continue to make these blankets every year.

Olivia Avery LISBON Replay Sports

Olivia recognized that the cost of sporting equipment was a barrier to children participating in sports and wanted to help even the playing field. For her project, she worked with the Griswold Youth Center to start a sports equipment closet, where the community is able to donate their gently used sports gear. The donations are then utilized by families and children, so that no child is excluded from sports because of lack of equipment.

Molly Birdsall BROOKFIELD Brookfield High School Orchestra

Molly created the first string orchestra at Brookfield High School. She helped students who were passionate about music find a community that felt the same way. Molly worked with the Board of Education to approve the class and has been recruiting students to join the program.

Rachel Blanchard VERNON ROCKVILLE Girls in S.T.E.M.

Rachel noticed that young girls oftentimes felt less confident about their technological abilities, so she set out to prove that girls are just as capable by starting a female led robotics team. This team encouraged teamwork, research, and problem solving while exposing girls to important STEM skills.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Caroline Blum STAMFORD Stamford Goes Strawless Caroline wanted to bring attention to the issue of single-use plastics, especially plastic straws, in the town of Stamford. She worked with government officials to pass a plastic straw ordinance and held presentations to educate the public about the negative effects that plastic has on our environment.

Isabella Bonvisuto WETHERSFIELD Charming Church Choir Corner Isabella believes music brings us together, and wanted to help the music ministry at the Church of the Incarnation in Wethersfield operate more efficiently. She worked with the choir to institute an organization system for music, robes, and equipment, so they can keep their focus on making music.

Meg Boucher ENFIELD Flag Etiquette and Retirement Meg wanted to educate young children about the proper care and treatment of the American flag. Through several workshops and lessons, she taught students about flag ceremonies, folding, and etiquette.

Sharon Bourk ENFIELD Air Quality Sharon implemented the air quality flag program into Saint Bernard’s School.

As part of the program, a set of Air Quality Index flags were purchased, and Sharon conducted age-appropriate lessons for several groups. The flags and program helped students see the correlation between air quality and air pollution.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Laura Bretter EAST HAVEN Cleanable Cat Room Laura wanted to make it easier for volunteers at the Animal Haven to clean the cat room and educate others on caring for pets. For her project, she designed and built a cleanable cat tree for the shelter and educated the volunteers and staff on how to keep it clean. She also created a presentation that she shared with her school, library, and local animal shelters.

Grace Bronner WILTON Guide to Gluten Free Grace researched the impact of being gluten-free and how accommodations can be made in mainstream restaurants. She created a guidebook with simple changes restaurants could make and spread awareness through a social media page. The cookbooks that she made were printed and distributed among several restaurants.

Claire Brunner NEW CANAAN Watson-Symington Wetlands Raised Walkways Claire led a team to construct raised walkways through the Watson-Symington Wetlands, where during the wet season, water accumulation leads to exposed roots and a muddy trail. She built 144 feet of continuous walkways made of water resistant materials to ensure year round access to the trail.

Julia Callis KILLINGWORTH Recipe Board on Wheels After speaking to the Clinton Shoreline Soup Kitchen and Pantry, Julia learned that many of the fresh produce and herbs were going to waste because visitors didn’t know how to use them. To combat this, she created a mobile recipe board that can be filled with recipes relating to that week’s selection of fresh produce. A recipe book was also produced, that users could take home as well.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Caterina Carson NEW CANAAN Malta House Welcome Garden For her Gold Award, Caterina constructed a welcome garden at The Malta House. In order to make the building appear more friendly and welcoming, she built a seating area, added garden elements, and planted a variety of plants in the garden beds and pots. She then established the Malta House Garden Club to oversee the upkeep of the area.

Elizabeth Casolo OLD GREENWICH Young Filmmakers and Journalists Workshop Elizabeth created the young filmmakers and journalists workshop, a weeklong workshop meant to introduce career and future paths that involve film-making. The program was free of charge and educated youth about journalism as well as video production.

Krishna Chilakapati SOUTH WINDSOR Senior Citizen Nostalgia Krishna created a documentary about the history of the town of South Windsor. She wanted to help people in the town learn more about the town’s past and she decided to tell the story through the perspective of senior citizens who had spent their entire lives in the town.

Sanmati Choudhary FARMINGTON Internet Safety Sanmati focused her Gold Award project around a modern issue, internet safety. She taught girls between the ages 8-13 years old. Sanmati held an after-school session that educated students about the importance of internet safety. The session consisted of education about privacy settings, digital footprints, and password strength.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Margaret Czepiel HAMDEN Empowering Young Female Songwriters Margaret wanted to empower female songwriters, and she did so by leading monthly meetings. At the meetings, she created an environment where the girls could learn from one another and share music. Additionally, she interviewed female songwriters and produced videos to share their advice with those just starting out.

Meghan De Gray NORWALK Bat Box Meghan built a bat box that was installed at the Maritime Aquarium in Norwalk. She focused on the restoration of bat populations and, to spread the word, she hosted workshops with local students.

Rebecca Dollahite MADISON Combating Hunger One Space at a Time Rebecca wanted to provide a more professional, welcoming atmosphere to her local food pantry by creating a uniform look to the space and did this by painting and creating curtains for the room. She also addressed a safety concern by installing a ramp to make the space more accessible for all clients.

Elena Dreier MADISON Project Music Unites Us (Project MUU) Elena established the Music Unites Us program for disadvantaged students at Leupp School on the Navajo Nation in Arizona. She supplied instruments, lesson books, and school supplies, intending to have students develop a shared understanding and appreciation of music through a partnership with students in her own community.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Anjali Duenwald REDDING Constructive Crafting Anjali created a program to provide structured arts and crafts for elementary school students for the Family and Children’s Aid organization in Danbury.

The program provided children with all supplies and instructions needed, with the goal being to provide a creative expression outlet for students.

Julianna Fabrizi WESTBROOK A Historical Walking Tour of Westbrook Juliana wanted to help more people feel knowledgeable and educated about the history of Westbrook. She did extensive research to develop a walking tour of the town that showcases the history of many homes and local cemeteries.

Addison Foley MILFORD Milford Rain Garden Addison learned about the danger of chemical runoffs and developed the Wasson Field Rain Garden to combat pollution. Her garden was constructed in a position to collect clay runoff from the fields that would otherwise harm natural waterways.

Gerri Fox WILTON Repurposing Retired Tennis Balls to Better our Environment Gerri noticed that tennis balls were piling up in her home and community, creating toxic waste that was harmful to the environment. To prevent this waste from piling up in landfills, she began a program in her community for tennis players and families to recycle their unusable tennis balls and educated them about the impact of the used tennis balls on the environment.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Caitlin Gannon ENFIELD Bee Aware Caitlin saw many statistics about declining honeybee populations and felt compelled to educate more people about it. To do this, she wrote and published a children’s book and presented it to have children become more educated and aware.

Julia Godvin EAST BERLIN BCC Richard Room Remodel Julia wanted to make sure the Richard Room at Berlin Congregational Church met the needs of the many groups that utilized the space, which had become worn down from heavy usage without proper maintenance. Julia led her team in renovating and modernizing the room, ensuring that groups will be able to use the space for years to come.

Rachel Goldschmidt WEST HARTFORD Atom and the Beginning of the Universe Rachel wrote and illustrated a book about the big bang theory to combat the low percentage of girls who pursue S.T.E.M.-related careers. Her book, titled “Atom and the Beginning of the Universe” will be professionally printed, bound, and distributed to different schools, libraries, and reading programs.

Ashley Granquist WEST HARTFORD Opening Young Eyes to S.T.E.M. Ashley worked with five elementary schools in her hometown to increase students’ exposure and interest in S.T.E.M. Throughout the schools, they worked to create S.T.E.M. ambassadors, increase S.T.E.M. literature in libraries, and run MakerSpace activities. She developed a curriculum around parachute design and helped students feel more confident about getting involved with S.T.E.M.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Amanda Hill NEW CANAAN Preserving and Ensuring Trail Access For her Gold Award Project, Amanda constructed 160 feet of wooden walkways along a hiking trail at Still Pond Preserve in New Canaan. She built four separate sections, all of which were previously prone to flooding rendering them impassable. Her project increased accessibility for activities such as camping, hiking, and outdoor recreation, as well as spread information about the outdoors.

Carissa Horton VERNON / ROCKVILLE Bats: The Unwanted But Very Much Needed Organisms Carissa decided to focus her projects on bats, an essential part of the Connecticut ecosystem. She helped educate people about rapid habitat loss that bats are experiencing, and she also built and placed five bat houses in the town of Vernon.

Emily Johnson NEW CANAAN Encouraging Teen Girls to Consider S.T.E.M. Careers Emily identified the need for an increase of young women and girls in S.T.E.M. and decided to create a platform to educate young girls. Her project, called “What’s Your Job?” is a YouTube channel that she created and curated with speakers who are in S.T.E.M. careers.

Kimberly “Kimmie” Johnson NEWTOWN TEAMHealing (Teen Assembly for Mental Healing) After seeing the impact of a major loss in her community and the gap in mental health resources available to teenagers, Kimmie started TEAMHealing – Team Assembly for Mental Healing. This group of teenagers is dedicated to compiling and maintaining mental health resources for teens to help fill this gap in resources, and the group continues to update add to the resources.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Gabrielle Johnston EASTON Stress Relief Murals Gabrielle created a series of sidewalk murals that are available at Hellen Keller Middle School that can be colored in by students (and teachers!) with chalk to help them relax. This series of murals has now been named the “Tranquility Trail” as it helps users relieve the stress from a busy school day through art therapy, and the Murals club at the school will add more murals to the pathway.

Elizabeth Joy MIDDLETOWN Music Class for Blue Dragons Preschool Elizabeth’s gold award established a music education program at a local preschool that blended music and movement. As part of the program, she developed a reproducible curriculum and trained classmates in the execution of each music lesson.

Zoe Kaputa SOUTH GLASTONBURY GHS Online Arboretum Zoe wanted to provide her community with an easy way to learn about their local ecosystem by starting an online arboretum. She documented over 300 trees at Glastonbury High School and created an online tree-walk that contained specific information for 14 different trees.

Emma Kersting NEW FAIRFIELD The Give Back Garden Emma wanted to ensure her local food pantry was able to provide fresh produce their families. As part of her project, she grew a “Give Back Garden” to help fill that need, and was able to use it to raise awareness about the importance of donating fresh food in addition to shelf stable goods to local food pantries.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Olivia LaBella WATERTOWN Growing the Game Olivia created and taught a six-week lacrosse clinic for girls aged K-5 in her town. During this clinic, she discussed healthy relationships, team-building, and effective skills within the sport. She worked with a team and ran the clinic for free.

Ava Lashgari CANTON Gymnasts Taking Charge Ava focused on developing healthy habits for at-risk children on the Island of Sint Maarten. To do this, she started a gymnastics class that taught basic exercises and healthy eating habits all while providing a fun way to stay active. Other volunteers from Player Development continue to run the program today.

Olivia Licata NEW CANAAN Mental Health Awareness at New Canaan High School Olivia focused on mental health and disorders that were not regularly addressed at her school. She helped teens understand their feelings and take advantage of the resources that were available to them. Olivia created a mini-documentary and had a panel of professionals visit her school to discuss insightful coping mechanisms and healthy habits.

Rose Lockery BRANFORD Captain Training When Rose became a sports team captain at her school, she realized there wasn’t much training to prepare her for the role. To combat this, she developed and implemented a captain training program for the sports team captains at her high school, which included job descriptions, strengths inventories, and leadership building activities.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Michelle Marty SHELTON Huntington Chapel Shed Addition & Restoration Michelle assisted her local community by restoring and building additional storage space for the Huntington Chapel. The chapel will now be able to use the expansion for recreation. The Venture Crew, an affiliated group, will receive additional space that did not exist before.

Adriana Mazza STORRS Supporting Our Local Parks Adriana encouraged outdoor recreation and exercise by making her local park more accessible. She worked with the Conservation Commission and Town Manager on a plan to make the park more stroller and family friendly. She gathered a team and went on to create three benches and boardwalks that are now distributed throughout the park allowing families the opportunity to enjoy their time there.

Clare McCurley FAIRFIELD Days of Helping Clare noticed many older members of her community could no longer maintain their yards by themselves, and wanted to provide a way to help them with these tasks. Through “A Day of Helping,� Clare led a group of teens and adults in traveling from home to home to help clean and maintain the properties. This event will be held yearly by the youth ministry at her church.

Octavia Molkenthin DARIEN RALY - Relax. (Get) Active, and Love Yourself (a tennis program at a youth center) For her Gold Award project, Octavia created RALY- Relax, get Active, and Love Yourself. She worked with DOMUS Kids, a Stamford-based organization, to organize, plan, and lead tennis clinics for high-risk and vulnerable youth in grades K-5 where clinic attendees learned confidence while getting active.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Ashley Morrell GROTON For the Love of Skating Ashley wanted to ensure that new skaters knew how to be safe on the ice and avoid injury. As part of her project, she established an ice skating safety curriculum at her local rink and hosted an Ice Safety Day. She also created an informational safety video to be used by the skating rink in their Learn to Skate classes.

Katherine Morse STAFFORD SPRINGS Bee Happy Katherine brought awareness of dwindling bee populations and how this impacts the environment through her project, Bee Happy. She educated her community and peers about mason bees and encouraged people to help build homes for the bees so they could repopulate and thrive locally.

Jillian Murray MIDDLEBURY Bobcat Clinic Community Outreach Jillian organized and implemented a donation system for the Bobcat Community Health Alliance in Bridgeport. Donations of clothing and toys will be used to meet the basic needs of patients at the clinic and encourage them to return for necessary preventative care and health screenings.

Alizabeth “Gracie” Neville REDDING Pet Educated!

Gracie addressed the questions that arise when getting a pet. Her project, “Pet Educated,” described the importance of proper pet care and the value of adopting, rather than buying animals. She partnered with a local animal shelter, Danbury Animal Welfare Society, who also distributes the coloring book Gracie created.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Johannah O’Brien NEW CANAAN Catching Up with Sound (A Hearing Aid Book) Johannah wanted to generate awareness of hearing aids. After getting hearing aids as a young girl, Johannah noticed that there was little to no representation of hearing aids for young girls. Johannah decided that she would remedy this by writing and publishing a picture book called, Catching Up With Sound. The book addressed life with hearing aids and branched into a mission about spreading awareness and understanding.

Sarah Peng OLD GREENWICH Cheerleading Concussion Safety Sarah brought greater awareness about concussion symptoms and stunting safety in cheer. To do this, Sarah developed presentations and pamphlets for all levels of cheerleading in her town. This information is being used to prevent concussions whenever possible and, if they do occur, to identify and treat them to mitigate their impact.

Audrey Pizzolato PURCHASE The Importance of S.T.E.M. for Girls in Underprivileged Communities

Audrey highlighted and addressed the importance of S.T.E.M. for girls in underprivileged communities by creating and teaching a robotics course to a group of middle school students.

She created a four-week summer program that focused on teaching, coding, and robotics. She increased the confidence of young girls and inspired them to pursue S.T.E.M. even after the program had ended.

Madeline Plumb TRUMBULL Milford: A Tour Through History Madeline’s passion for history encouraged her to create a guided walking tour through her town, Milford. Her tour is complete with maps, audio devices, and an interactive virtual tour. Her goal is to educate community members and emphasize the value of historical preservation.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Maria Proulx GALES FERRY Recycle for a Cleaner Earth: Students Receive a Bottle Filling Station and Learn

Maria wanted to combat the issue of excessive plastic waste in her school community, and she did so by educating students about the importance of recycling. She produced informative videos, posters, brochures, and surveys to help increase student awareness and understanding of the issue. She worked with the administration to also install a water-bottle filling station and encourage sustainability.

Gabrielle Puttock OAKVILLE Creative Writing Workshop Gabrielle created and implemented a writing workshop aimed at helping middle-school-aged children through the creative process. She created custom worksheets and activities, designed specifically for middle schoolers to help develop skills and knowledge both at home and at school.

Emma Ratnavel RIDGEFIELD Brain AVM Awareness

Emma worked hard to spread awareness about a little-known, though dangerous illness known as AVM, or arteriovenous malformation. The disease, if not diagnosed properly, can have life-altering effects. Emma was inspired to spread awareness after her father was diagnosed with the disease, and she worked with teams at Yale Medical Health Center and other medical professionals to produce social media pages, health events, and more. Her work was shared internationally across several countries, and she hopes to continue this work after she graduates.

Hannah Reifler HAMDEN Senior-Living Raised Garden Bed at The Towers Hannah wanted to provide a recreational activity to residents at the Towers, a senior living home. She tackled this goal by researching, designing, and building two raised garden beds that are watered through irrigation tubing.

The garden beds are even accessible to those residents in wheelchairs ensuring that all residents can enjoy them.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Cassie Reilly MIDDLEBURY Driggs Elementary School Lacrosse Clinic Cassie wanted to inspire inner city children who were facing hardships to find their passion. To do this, Cassie designed and ran a lacrosse clinic that helped students create healthy outlets, develop positive relationships with law enforcement, and understand the dangers of substance abuse. Children were, in turn, inspired, motivated, and more prepared for their futures.

Alaiana Robert EAST HAVEN Exploring Creativity Alaiana’s project explored the lack of creative outlets for stress. She developed resources for students of all ages and taught classes to encourage them to think imaginatively, collaborate with others, and express their emotions artistically.

Stephanie Rota GREENWICH Planting Lots of Awesome Native Treasures (PLANT) Stephanie planted a pollinator garden of native plants at the Greenwich Audubon center. Her project seeks to combat a global loss of pollinator populations through educating and encouraging her community to plant pollinator gardens full of native plants as part of the landscaping at their homes.

Faith Ruggiero EAST WINDSOR Safety for Society Faith wanted to help her community understand and be self-aware while addressing safety concerns. To do this, she created and implemented a safety fair in her hometown that was meant to educate people about safety in their everyday lives. To keep the education going, the safety fair will continue to be offered annually.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Elise Russell WESTON Braid It! Through Elise’s project, young girls were taught how to upcycle old t-shirts into cute and functional headbands that they could wear and share. She taught the girls the process of learning, which included success, failure, and “all the smiles in between!” The Weston Library has offered to continue to host “Braid it!” classes in the future.

Julia Sacchi KILLINGWORTH You’re Unique: Building Self-Esteem by Being You Julia’s project focused on building self-esteem through being yourself. She combined games, art, and literature to teach lessons about self-esteem to local kindergarteners. These lessons provided the children with tools to remind themselves about their positive qualities that they can utilize for years to come.

Katarina Sauter RIDGEFIELD Early Childhood Learning Through Reading Buddies Program

Katarina addressed the issue of unequal access to early childhood education in underserved communities by beginning a partnership with Brass City Charter School in Waterbury, and Westover School. Younger students were able to develop reading skills while working with positive role models, and each student was provided a book to add to their home libraries.

Jessica Schafer MYSTIC ASL Story Time Jessica wanted educate the youth in her community to American Sign language. In order to do this, she held a series of weekly story time programs at local middle schools. The ASL club will continue to utilize her curriculum to build lesson plans and schedule programs.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Megan Shiring GLASTONBURY Music and Arts Camp Gives Back Megan wanted to instill a love for giving back on campers at the Music & Arts Camp in Glastonbury. Campers were able to complete service for their community under Megan’s direction, which included decorating baked goods for a local senior center and making dog toys for the local animal shelter.

Residents of the senior center were also invited to attend the final camp performance.

Celia Sokolowski NEW CANAAN Bat House Project Celia assembled a team and built bat houses for her Gold Award project, Save the Bats! The team installed five bat houses in three local parks while simultaneously educating the public. The project emphasized that bats are a critical part of the ecosystem and vital to communities.

Grace Steenburgh SOUTHBURY Installation of “Classified Item” Drop Off/Exchange Sign Grace addressed safety concerns that arose from selling and exchanging goods online. For her Gold Award project, Grace created a “Safety Exchange Zone” at the Southbury Police station that was well-lit, accessible, and known by the community.

Gabrielle Sweet UNIONVILLE Lake Garda Hiking Trails Improvement After realizing that the Lake Garda Hiking Trails were in need of repair, Gabrielle sought to make hiking trails more accessible and informational. The project included repairing bulletin boards, clearing trails, updating existing maps, and developing digital maps that are housed on the Lake Garda Improvement Association website.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Sarah Tata OAKVILLE Stereotypes of Statistics For her Gold Award Project, Sarah confronted gender bias head-on by creating a video that examined gender stereotypes in modern media and how these outlets can impact the growth and future choices of young girls. To spread the message further, she paired her video with interactive workshops for young girls in her community.

Emily Teixeira OAKVILLE GWIM’s Kids Corner Creation Emily worked to build a more accessible and organized children’s section of the food pantry at the Greater Waterbury Interfaith Ministries (GWIM).

Emily decluttered the area, constructed new and more efficient shelving, and added a mural to bring joy to the children who utilize the pantry.

Olivia Trosen ENFIELD Skin Cancer Awareness Olivia’s Gold Award project educated middle school-aged children about the dangers of skin cancer and instructed them in preventative measures.

She was able to expand her project to the entire school system and to the community through a recorded presentation to the Enfield Board of Education.

Leila Troxell WESTON My Book Buddy

Leila created a book buddy program for reluctant readers ages 7-9. In this program, a high school student was paired with a younger student, and together, they read and completed activities designed to strengthen the student’s comprehension and understanding. The program helped young students feel excitement and pride in their reading abilities.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Nicole Vaccaro MADISON Science In Your Life Nicole wanted local elementary students to value science and see its importance in their lives, so she organized and hosted after school science workshops for children. These workshops inspired students to take an interest in science through hands on activities.

Ayden Van Deusen SOUTHBURY Owl Box Restoration at Bent of the River In her Gold Award Project, Ayden identified that owl populations nationally were plummeting, and she was able to directly address the issue and spread critical information through a club, an animated YouTube video, and a newspaper. In her town, she addressed the immediate needs of the owl population through the construction and installation of owl boxes.

Keelin Virgulto MADISON Buddy Bench Keelin created and implemented a Buddy Bench with a corresponding curriculum at Ryerson Elementary School in Madison. The Buddy Bench creates empathy and kindness among students by creating a system where peers could work together and signal when they need a friend, ultimately eliminating loneliness.

Sarah Wallett WILLINGTON Music Making a Difference Sarah saw the power music therapy had on others and wanted residents at Mansfield Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation to benefit as well. To do this, she constructed a music therapy chart for the center and bridged the generation gap by involving her high school choir in hosting sing-a-longs and performances.

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2 02 0 G O L D AWA R D G I R L S C O U TS Katherine Weiss CANTON NICU Comfort Octopuses Kate wanted to help premature babies at Hartford Hospital and did so by leading a team in crocheting octopuses with tentacles. When placed in the NICU, these octopuses simulate umbilical cords and provide comfort to each infant while reducing the likelihood the infant will pull on their tubes. She also created an instruction manual with pictures and an accompanying video that beginners can use to create more octopuses.

Shelby Whitehead KILLINGWORTH Students and Gluten Free Diets in School After realizing students with gluten allergies could not participate in the foods class at her local middle school, Shelby knew she needed to take action.

Shelby worked to develop a curriculum for this class that utilized gluten-free options for the recipes and also provided the class with gluten free cooking supplies to avoid the problem of cross-contamination. She then educated her community by creating a pamphlet about gluten-free diets.

Catherine Windover SOUTHBURY Mental Health Awareness and Empowerment Catherine began a mental health awareness and empowerment program at her high school and within her community through the creation of the group, “Active Minds.” Through this group, adults and students were able to speak openly and learn about mental health and mental illnesses. Additionally, Catherine held a Mindfulness “Stress-Less” workshop to help members of the community deal with stress in proactive and healthy ways.

Mackenzie Zeytoonjian FARMINGTON Give and Receive In her Gold Award project, Mackenzie started art classes for special needs children where students were empowered to make an impact in their community while creating art for the Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

The art helped create an environment of safety and security in the hospital.

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Girl Scouts of Connecticut 340 Washington Street, Hartford, CT 06106 (800) 922-2770 | gsofct.org | @gsofct The Gold Award Committee is composed of caring and dedicated volunteers. Each committee member mentors girls as they embark on their journey toward the Girl Scout Gold Award, offering advice, support, and guidance along the way. These committee members’ efforts ensure the success of our GSOFCT Gold Award Girl Scouts, and their dedication is what makes our Gold Award program possible. Thank you for an excellent year.

Did you know? Ɩ The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest leadership award a Girl Scout can earn. Less than six percent of all Girl Scouts earn the Girl Scout Gold Award. Ɩ A Gold Award Girl Scout is entitled to enlist in the armed forces at a higher pay grade than individuals who have not earned the awards. Ɩ A growing number of colleges and universities across the country recognize the achievement of the Gold Award through college admission and scholarships.

GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARD FAMILY: Golden Eaglet 1916 - 1939 Curved Bar Award 1940 - 1963 First Class 1963 - 1980 Gold Award 1980 - Present

The Girl Scout Mission Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.

La Misión de las Girl Scouts Girl Scouts ayuda a las niñas a desarrollar el valor, la confianza en sí mismas y los principios para hacer del mundo un lugar mejor.

The Girl Scout Promise On my honor, I will try: To serve God and my country, To help people at all times, And to live by the Girl Scout Law.

La Promesa de Girl Scouts Por mi honor, yo trataré: de servir a Dios y a mi patria, Ayudar a las personas en todo momento, y vivir conforme a la Ley de Girl Scouts.

The Girl Scout Law I will do my best to be honest and fair, friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, courageous and strong, and responsible for what I say and do, and to respect myself and others, respect authority, use resources wisely, make the world a better place, and be a sister to every Girl Scout.

La Ley de Girl Scouts Yo me esforzaré por: ser honrada y justa, cordial y servicial, considerada y compasiva, valiente y fuerte, y responsable de lo que digo y hago, y por respetarme a mí misma y a los demás respetar la autoridad, usar los recursos de manera prudente, hacer del mundo un lugar mejor, y ser hermana de cada una de las Girl Scouts.