Whiteside Girl Scouts Host Ceremony for Highest Awards
Morrison, IL – Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois’ Whiteside Service Unit hosted a ceremony presenting Girl Scout highest awards to local Girl Scouts on Monday, May 21, at Northside School in Morrison. The ceremony included recognition for Carolyn Graham, a local Girl Scout who has earned Girl Scouting’s highest award—the Girl Scout Gold Award. Girl Scout Samantha Carpenter was not able to attend the event but also earned her Girl Scout Gold Award in the 2017–2018 Girl Scout membership year.
Samantha Carpenter of Fulton earned her Girl Scout Gold Award through her project, How Smoking Can Affect a Family. Samantha was acutely aware of how smoking can affect families, having previously lost her own father to lung cancer. Her goal was to ensure middle school students were made aware of how smoking affects the human body. Samantha worked with medical professionals to gather and share accurate information before giving an in-person presentation at a local middle school where over 250 students heard her strong anti-smoking message. She also recorded her presentation onto CDs, so her project can be shared with schools nationwide.
To earn her Girl Scout Gold Award, Carolyn Graham of Fulton addressed the dramatic decline of pollinators in her Pollinator Garden project. She knew increasing awareness of the need for pollinators and the benefits of native plants would go a long way towards educating the public about this important environmental issue. She led a team in establishing a garden of native plants at Andersen Nature Center and created a public awareness campaign on how everyone can help prevent the decline of pollinators and how native plants help address part of the problem. Andersen Nature Center will continue to maintain the garden and spread Carolyn’s message to center visitors over the years!
The event included a Bridging Ceremony where Girl Scouts at each level walked across the bridge to the next level of Girl Scouting, along with 5-year pins for Girl Scouts who achieved this membership milestone. Girl Scout leadership was also recognized with presentation of the Summit Award, earned by completing three Journeys in a single Girl Scout level, and the Junior Aide Award, earned by Girl Scout Juniors by making and completing a plan to work with Daisies or Brownies on one of their Journeys. Girl Scouts who earned the Girl Scout Bronze Award, the highest award a Girl Scout Junior (grades 4–5) can earn were also honored.
About Girl Scout Highest Awards
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. It represents the highest achievement in Girl Scouting, recognizing girls who demonstrate extraordinary leadership through remarkable Take Action projects which have sustainable impact in their local and global communities. The award encourages girls to explore many facets of leadership today’s society needs, including leadership of self, leadership through influence of peers, and leadership as a mentor/coach. Gold Award projects help girls develop project management skills, solve a community need, and are designed to be sustainable.
Girls can earn highest awards at various Girl Scout levels. Girl Scout Juniors (grades 4–5) can earn the Girl Scout Bronze Award while Girl Scout Cadettes (grades 6–8) can earn the Girl Scout Silver Award. Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors (grades 9–12) can earn the Girl Scout Gold Award.
The following seven steps are required to earn the Gold Award:
• Choose an issue: Use values and skills to identify a community issue you care about.
• Investigate: Research everything about the issue.
• Get Help: Invite others to support and take action with you.
• Create a Plan: Create a project plan that achieves sustainable and measurable impact.
• Present Your Plan/Get Feedback: Present your project plan to your Girl Scout council.
• Take Action: Take the lead to carry out your plan.
• Educate and Inspire: Share what you have experienced with others.
What makes the Girl Scout Gold Award unique? The Gold Award develops and tests multiple types of leadership. It asks girls to discover, connect, and take action to develop a sustainable solution to a community problem. The award requires 80 hours minimum of personal time investment in a project. It challenges girls to identify and work in a topic area for which they have a strong interest and passion.
Starting in 1916, the best and brightest have undertaken projects to improve their communities—and the world. The Golden Eaglet insignia, the highest award in Girl Scouts from 1916 to 1939, marked the beginning of a long tradition of recognizing the extraordinary efforts of extraordinary girls. From 1940 to 1963, the Curved Bar Award was the highest honor in Girl Scouts. From 1963 to 1980, the highest award was called First Class. Since 1980, the Gold Award has inspired girls to find the greatness inside themselves and share their ideas and passions with their communities!
The Girl Scout Bronze Award
Girl Scout Juniors who earn the Girl Scout Bronze Award represent what Girl Scouts can achieve in their communities. Earning the Bronze Award involves completing a Girl Scout Journey and a suggested minimum of 20 leadership hours spent building a team, exploring a community, choosing a project, planning it, putting it in motion, and marketing it. Leadership hours help girls think through their commitment to doing their very best with each step. Girl Scouts who earn their Bronze Award demonstrate they have the courage, confidence, and character to make a difference in the world around them!
Empowering Girl Scout PSA
Girl Scouts’ new national PSA, “Lifetime of Leadership,” heralds the organization’s legacy of fostering female change-makers and preparing girls for a lifetime of leadership, success, and adventure. Featuring notable Girl Scout alums in fields such as technology, politics, media, and sports, the PSA showcases the positive change these powerful female leaders have created through activism, speaking up, breaking glass ceilings, and more—and illustrates the importance of Girl Scouts in providing girls with the leadership experiences they need to make their voices heard and effect change.
To watch the PSA and for more information, visit www.girlscouts.org/leadership.
We’re Girl Scouts of Northern Illinois
We believe every girl can change the world. With us, Girl Scouts develop the independence and confidence to guide their own lives and build a better world. We put girls in the driver’s seat and encourage them to customize their own experience. With programs focused on the outdoors, career and interest exploration, travel and global community, and practical life skills, in addition to community service projects, every girl has the opportunity to unlock her full potential and be amazing!
We serve 16 counties including parts or all of Boone, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Jo Daviess, Kane, Kendall, Lake, LaSalle, Lee, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson, Whiteside, and Winnebago. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, visit www.girlscoutsni.org or call 844-GSNI-4-ME (844-476-4463).