2016 Girl Scout Gold Award Celebration

Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast

2016Girl Scout

Gold Award Celebration

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Thank You Gold Award Committee Members!

Candice George Helen Kattwinkel

Linda Linke Susan Ramsland

Cathy Six

Our gratitude is extended to those volunteers who have faithfully served on the Gold Award Committee. Your guidance and support made it possible for many Girl Scouts to achieve their dream of earning the Girl Scout Gold Award. Your time, energy, generosity and commitment are truly appreciated!

The Girl Scout PromiseOn 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.

The Girl Scout LawI 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..

The Girl Scout Gold Award June 5, 2016

Dear Girl Scout Gold Awardee, Congratulations on your remarkable achievement! You completed the Girl Scout Gold Award requirements to earn your Gold Award, and you offered service in your community that will go on to help others long after today. Well done, Girl Scout!

I and the rest of the Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast family are highly proud of you. As someone who earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, I know the challenges and the unbelievable investment it takes to go for the Gold. Many times you may have felt the desire to give up. You persevered and maintained your dedication. With your hard work you finally achieved what you wanted to. Your diligence and commitment has certainly paid off. Now as you look on to your next life milestone, I encourage you to reflect on what you cherish about Girl Scouting and how you can carry that forward. Take time to reflect on what you discovered about yourself through earning the Gold Award. What do you like most in being a leader? How can you continue to connect with your community and the world using those leadership skills? This is just the beginning of your bright and blooming future and you are set to conquer the world with your intelligence and your Girl Scout values – those you found and have lived by in the Girl Scout Promise and Law. I wish you all the best for your future and hope you will continue your journey as a Girl Scout throughout your life as a Girl Scout lifetime member, as well as a member of the Gold Award Alliance. Keep up the great work and continue to find ways to pursue your passions!

Tracy KellerChief Executive Officer

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Alexia Rochester-Guest Speaker Alexia Rochester is currently a Cadet Second Class (Junior) at the United States Air Force Academy. Founded in 1954, the academy first admitted women in 1976 and currently has a total undergraduate enrollment of 3,952, with a gender distribution of 77.8 percent male students and 22.2 percent female students. Alexia is proud to be a member and proud of her work at the academy to help women become more visible as military leaders. Her accomplishments at the academy have included being selected as an Instructor Pilot and part of the academy’s new Women’s Gender Forum where she spoke to male classmates about fighting stereotypes. Her performance at the forum resulted in an invitation to attend the Officer Women’s Leadership Symposium in Arlington, VA.

Alexia says much of what she has learned about leadership comes from her Girl Scout years. She started her journey in the

organization as a Girl Scout Brownie in 2001, when she and her family lived in Pensacola, Florida. She continued her Girl Scout experience after her family moved to Virginia Beach, staying to become a Girl Scout Ambassador who earned the Gold Award. While earning the Gold Award may have been the most memorable event during her girl years, she says a close runner up was being selected to attend Girl Scouts’ 100th anniversary in Washington, D.C. as a guest of Girl Scouts of the USA CEO Anna Maria Chevez. She and a handful of other select girls were invited to meet and dialogue with women in Congress who are part of Girl Scouts Troop Capitol Hill and other VIP guests.

Alexia has been recognized as a Presidential nomination to the United States Airforce Academy and was honored by Volunteer Hampton Roads in 2013 for her Gold Award project – I Need a Lighthouse, Inc., which addressed youth depression and suicide.

4 The Girl Scout Gold Award

Nancy Rogan-Master of Ceremonies Ms. Nancy Rogan currently works as the director of community engagement at WHRO in Norfolk, where her work focuses on veterans, education and community programs. She has more than 25 years of professional experience in nonprofits, notably in arts, education and charitable organizations. As a magna cum laude graduate of Old Dominion University with a bachelor’s degree in special education, she first taught special education for the City of Norfolk Public Schools. Her love for skiing took her to Boston, where she later worked as the manager of office and information systems at a private nonprofit special education school in Massachusetts.

She continued her career in nonprofits when she moved to Florida and served as project manager/grants manager for the Broward Center for the Performing Arts in Fort Lauderdale. Her passion for community involvement and impact led her to join the Community Foundation of Broward in 2007 as manager of grants and initiatives. In this role she also served as program manager for the AIDS United/Elton John Foundation Community Partnership which raised and distributed a minimum of $150,000 yearly to identify and support HIV/AIDS education and prevention initiatives. Her research at the Foundation provided direction to guide development of broad scale Foundation initiatives in education and civic engagement through arts that committed 5 years/$5 million to education and arts programs.

She has served as grant reviewer for United Way of Broward County United Way of South Hampton Roads and is a past appointee to Broward County School Board’s Diversity Committee.

Nancy is a Girl Scout alumna who earned the Girl Scout First Class Award. Nancy says,“Girls Scouts laid the foundation for who I am today. Looking back on my troop leaders, who were with me from Brownies to First Class Girl Scout, their leadership was inspiring and set an example for all the girls in the troop.”

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McKenna BatesChesapeakeProject: Healthy Habits

McKenna addressed the issue of sedentary behaviors of children and teenagers for her project. When she began researching the issue, she was alarmed at the statistics she found about childhood obesity. She decided to develop a curriculum to teach children and teenagers about healthy eating and exercise, which she presented to community groups which included Boy Scout Troop 215 and guests at a YMCA’s Healthy Kids Day. McKenna also organized a fitness health expo at Chesapeake Arboretum where more than 70 people participated in a 1.1 mile run/walk and learned tips for staying healthy and fit. McKenna donated the resources that she developed to the Greenbrier Family YMCA’s Leader Club, so they could be used at a future event hosted by the club.


Elizabeth AcorsChesapeakeProject: LZ Grace

For her project, Elizabeth chose to support Landing Zone Grace, a farm retreat in Virginia Beach for veterans returning from deployment and their families. The first part of Elizabeth’s project was helping to clean and paint horse stalls to prepare for Landing Zone Grace’s grand opening over the summer. This was an important task, as horseback riding can be a therapeutic part of the recovery process for veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression or traumatic brain injury. The biggest part of her project was building a 56’ by 24’ fence around a vegetable garden which also allowed the addition of a chicken coop. With chickens to eat the bugs, the vegetables could be grown without pesticides, creating healthier foods to feed the veterans and their families who stay at Landing Zone Grace. The fenced space also provides a private place for veterans to do some peaceful gardening. Elizabeth continues to volunteer at Landing Zone Grace and assist around the property with any work that needs to be done.

Alexandra BergYorktownProject: My F.A.N. Club (Fitness and Nutrition)

Alexandra focused on the issue of childhood obesity and inactivity. She developed a 12-course fitness and nutrition program that she taught to children in the afterschool program at the Newport News Family YMCA. Using lessons she created, Alexandra taught the children about food labels, healthy snacks, healthy food substitutions and portion sizes. She introduced the children to different types of exercises, such as yoga, Zumba and interval training, and she included outdoor games to stress the importance of having fun while keeping active. Alexandra put all of her lesson plans and activities into a program book that she donated to the Newport News Family YMCA where they will be used to teach fitness and nutrition in the afterschool program.

Leslie BlusteinVirginia BeachProject: Stories We Tell

Leslie sought to capture the stories of local citizens who reside at The Gardens of Virginia Beach, a senior living facility. She interviewed 13 residents about their childhood, education, family life, jobs, historical events they witnessed and life lessons they would like to share. Leslie then transcribed the interviews and compiled them in a book that she provided to the participants, their family members and other members of the community. To share her project, Leslie designed a display that she placed at the Bayside Library and created a website where she placed her interview questions, so that others could replicate her project at senior living facilities across the country. Additionally, she placed the interview questions in a binder at The Gardens of Virginia Beach for residents to continue to add their stories to the book. To further help the residents at The Gardens of Virginia Beach, Leslie enlisted her fellow troop members to host games and sing Christmas carols at The Gardens, as well as create holiday cards for the residents.

Jennifer BonnellChesapeakeProject: A Child’s View of Open Heart Surgery

When Jennifer was young, her stepfather had open heart surgery. It was a difficult time for her family and she had a hard time understanding what was going on. For her project, Jennifer created a book for children about open heart surgery so they would not have to endure the same confusion she experienced during an emotional time. Jennifer’s book, “Why Daddy Bear is Having Surgery,” follows a family of bears through the process of illness, diagnosis of heart disease, surgery and recovery. After her book was published, Jennifer donated 70 copies of her book to local hospitals and doctor’s offices to be handed out to children of patients scheduled to have heart surgery.

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Isabelle BrownVirginia BeachProject: Blaze a Trail

Isabelle, who is an avid trail runner, created Turtle Trail, a nature trail at Munden Point Park. She began her project by mapping and marking the trail. Then, with a team of volunteers that she organized, Isabelle removed fallen trees, pulled weeds and took out poison ivy and thorny bushes along the new trail. She then spread mulch along the trail to prevent weeds from growing back. Once the trail was created, Isabelle added signs to inform people about the wildlife they may see along the trail, as well as information about how to identify poison ivy. Isabelle chose to do this project as a way to encourage people to spend more time outdoors and to create a new spot for people to enjoy at the park.

Tessa CoughtreyEdentonProject: The Edenton Tea Party

As a sophomore, Tessa went on a school trip to Denmark. While there, she attended a history class where the teacher shared a lesson about her hometown, Edenton, N.C. and the famous event that took place there – the Edenton Tea Party. During the lesson, Tessa was shocked to see how little her peers knew about the event which is considered to be one of the first political actions by women in the United States. For her project, Tessa wrote curricula about the Edenton Tea Party and its significance for the second, fourth, eighth and eleventh grade history classes in the Edenton-Chowan Public School System. She then donated a book about the Edenton Tea Party to each elementary school library for teachers to use along with the lesson. To see her project come to life, Tessa taught her lesson to a second grade class and created a website where she placed the teaching materials for anyone to use. Photographs she had taken of Edenton were added to the website so those who could not visit her home-town could still take a virtual field trip!

Melina CienskiYorktownProject: Small Stitch, Big Step

Melina worked with the NATASHA House, a safe home for women and children to live in while rebuilding their lives and transitioning to permanent housing. She developed a program to teach mothers at the house how to sew. Melina hosted 20 workshops, during which she taught the mothers how to follow a pattern to make wallets, placemats, gift bags and other items. She also hosted a family workshop where mothers shared their skills and made scarves with their children. As a result of Melina’s project, the mothers at the NATASHA House are able to make items to sell and support the house, which does not receive government assistance to operate. With the help of the Peninsula Piecemakers Quilt Guild, Melina was able to donate five sewing machines, fabric and supplies for the mothers at the NATASHA House to continue to sew.

Trysta CassidyYorktownProject: Spreading the Green Thumb

Trysta learned that some trees had been cut down illegally by a local resident in an attempt to widen a pathway on York County Parks and Recreation land along Colonial Parkway. After hearing about this, Trysta decided that she wanted to help minimize the impact that this would have on the environment by replanting trees on the property. With the help of a volunteer team that she organized, Trysta replanted eight trees that are expected to grow to be at least 30 feet tall. In addition, she visited local schools to share tips with children on how they can make a positive impact on the environment by recycling, picking up trash and conserving energy and water, and she engaged them in conversations about why it is important to protect the environment.


Olivia FisherVirginia BeachProject: F.A.C.T. Holiday Parade Float

For the past six years, Olivia has volunteered with Families of Autistic Children in Tidewater (F.A.C.T.). For her project, Olivia expanded on what she learned through her volunteer work and focused on raising awareness about autism to inform members of the community about the disorder and its prevalence. She built a float to represent F.A.C.T. at the Holiday Parade at the Beach. She incorporated puzzle pieces, a longtime symbol of autism, into the design. She also invited children who attend the summer camp hosted by F.A.C.T. to help her decorate the float and participate in the parade. To help educate people, Olivia attached information about the disorder to candy that she handed out to people in the crowds as she walked with the float. Olivia carefully designed the float and numbered each piece so that F.A.C.T. can reassemble the display and continue to raise awareness about autism every year at the parade.

Allyson FyfeVirginia BeachProject: Art Over the Years

Allyson created an inspirational art book to encourage budding artists to pursue their passions and inspire people to appreciate the world of art. She painted eight original paintings in the style of famous artists. In the book, she paired each of her paintings with biographical information about the artist, an analysis of the artist’s style and her interpretation of the style. Allyson donated copies of the book to the Great Neck Library, Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast and her service unit. To encourage her community to become more interested in art, she organized an art show at the Great Neck Library where her paintings and book were on display. Allyson also created a website where she placed information on each artist in her book, along with a quiz to test your knowledge on those featured.

Camille FreemanPoquosonProject: Champion Kickers

Camille organized and led a soccer camp for children in the Poquoson community who have special needs. Her goal was to introduce campers to soccer, a sport she has been playing for 14 years, and to help them develop better communication skills. At the camp, Camille taught the children important stretches and warm up activities to reduce the risk of injury during soccer practice. She led them in dribbling, passing and shooting drills and activities to build their agility and teamwork skills. Camille recruited and trained a group of volunteers, mostly fellow students, to help facilitate the activities and run the camp. Before the camp started, Camille led a training where volunteers learned important tips and information about how to best work with children who have disabilities. Camille also coordinated her efforts with Poquoson Parks and Recreation to ensure that the camp will continue each summer.

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Shannon HeppHamptonProject: Straw Bale Gardening for The Welcome Table’s Meals

Shannon worked to supply fresh vegetables for The Welcome Table, a program at First Christian Church where a free meal is provided for approximately 100 people in need each week. In order to do this, Shannon planted a straw bale garden at the church. After setting up the bales and conditioning them for planting, she planted lettuce, broccoli, cauliflower and herbs. After her first harvest, Shannon had more than 37 pounds of produce. As part of her project, Shannon also wanted to inform community members about how they could reduce their own fresh food expenses by building straw bale gardens at home. She taught three classes, made up of more than 35 people in all, about how to start and maintain their own straw bale gardens.

Isabella GonzalezVirginia BeachProject: Pantry Garden

Isabella noticed that the majority of local food pantries exclusively distribute nonperishable food items, resulting in people with food insecurity not receiving all the nutrients key to a healthy diet. She decided to take action starting with the food pantry at her church, Church of the Ascension. Isabella built six raised garden beds at the church to provide a sustainable way for fresh vegetables to be distributed from the church’s food pantry. She also recruited a group of volunteers to help maintain the garden. Through her project, Isabella harvested 400 pounds of food that was distributed during her garden’s first season. With the help of the garden volunteers, additional raised garden beds will be built and the garden will be maintained and expanded to yield more crops.

Rhiannon HarveyNorfolkProject: Rats to the Rescue

Spreading the word about the downsides of domesticating exotic animals is an important issue to Rhiannon. For her project, she focused on educating members of her community about issues that arise from keeping exotic animals as pets, including illnesses, injuries and the animals not being properly cared for outside of their natural environment. Rhiannon also worked with the Virginia Zoo to raise two rats that have since been added to the zoo’s education department. She trained them to run through tunnels and go over jumps on an agility course and made sure that they were accustomed to being handled by humans, a quality important for animals in the education department. She brought the rats to her community presentations to introduce them as an option for pet owners. Rhiannon donated the rat obstacle course and an accompanying instructional manual to the zoo so that they can be used when rats are acquired by the zoo in the future.


Emma HultinVirginia BeachProject: The Magic of Music

Music has always been an important part of Emma’s life. Knowing that exposure to music can have a positive effect on brain development, Emma focused her project on teaching children the foundation of music theory and giving them the experience of performing in a choir. Emma created two choirs at Virginia Beach Community Chapel—a children’s choir and a youth praise team. After developing curricula, she held weekly meetings of the groups, during which she taught the children about rhythm and tempo of different songs. She worked with the older children to teach them how to read time signatures and sheet music. Under Emma’s direction, the children’s choir and youth praise team performed multiple times for holidays and special occasions at the church. Emma also created a curriculum for beginning choirs and placed it on a website that she created so it can be shared with others to use.

Cierra HutchesonChesapeakeProject: The Chosen Ministry at Woodland Heights Baptist Church

For more than two years, Cierra has volunteered with The Chosen Ministry, a group that helps to ensure that people with disabilities have a place and opportunity to worship. Volunteering with the ministry in Norfolk allowed her to see the impact the program had on those it touched and the potential it had to reach others. For her project, she decided to start a new chapter of the ministry in her community at Woodland Heights Baptist Church in Chesapeake. During the newly formed chapter group meetings, members played games, made crafts and had time for fellowship, prayer, worship and songs. As a result of Cierra’s leadership, the group continues to meet four times a month.

Kaylee JonesYorktownProject: TEAM (Teens Educating and Mentoring)

Kaylee developed a tutoring program for students at Coventry Elementary School by organizing a group of high school students to tutor and mentor the children. The program, which focused on reading comprehension skills, was designed for fourth grade students whose teachers recommended the extra help for them. For each tutoring session, Kaylee prepared lessons for her fellow high school students to use with their mentees. The goal of the lessons was to teach the children reading comprehension strategies to use while reading at home and in the classroom, as well as while taking tests. Kaylee presented her project to the Youth Volunteer Corps and shared a detailed overview about how to set up a tutoring program between high schools and elementary schools in any school district. In addition, she created and placed online a video for teens on how to organize and implement a tutoring program using her model.

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Anna LinehanYorktownProject: Skin Sun Safety

Anna addressed the issue of sun exposure and the rising number of cases of skin cancer. Anna began her project by doing research about skin cancer and the best ways for people to protect themselves from harmful sun rays. She then made a display board and video that she presented around the community, including four presentations at Kirkwood Presbyterian Church movie nights, five presentations at Ken Matthews Garden Center, four presentations at swim clinics and a presentation for the Grafton cross country team. She also made a presentation to the Kiln Creek Swim Team and during their home meets, distributed sunscreen samples and made announcements about sun safety. In addition, Anna placed her video online, making sun-safety education accessible to more people.

Hanna KirylukVirginia BeachProject: Lights, Camera, SPCA!

As a junior volunteer at the Virginia Beach SPCA, Hanna recognized that inconsistent training methods were resulting in animal cages not being cleaned properly and staff having to take time away from their job roles to retrain volunteers. For her project, Hanna created a set of six instructional videos to train the SPCA’s junior volunteers. The videos included demonstrations of how to clean animal cages and insight from current volunteers about why they love volunteering with the SPCA. Her videos are now used during new volunteer orientation and are available on the SPCA’s website for volunteers to watch at any time. While volunteering at the SPCA, Hanna also noticed that oftentimes dogs are left sitting in their cages for most of the day waiting for food or playtime. In order to address this concern, she created toys using PVC pipes and tennis balls that SPCA staff and volunteers can fill with food to give the dogs an interactive and time consuming way to eat.

Merly KonathapallyVirginia BeachProject: The Mighty Monarch

Merly, who has a strong interest in environmental science, learned about the dramatic decrease of the monarch butterfly, a vital part of the local ecosystem. For her project, she raised awareness about the issue by educating local children about the monarch butterfly, its decline and ways to help encourage growth of the monarch butterfly population. Merly developed a curriculum and taught nearly 250 children through workshops she hosted at Norfolk Botanical Garden. At each workshop, she led children in activities to learn more about butterflies, make a butterfly craft and learn how to plant milkweed, a plant that monarch butterflies need to survive. At the end of each workshop, each child received milkweed seeds to plant at home to encourage monarch butterfly population growth. Merly also created a blog, where she shared information she learned while doing research for her project, along with the educational materials from her workshops.


Coriana LorensenNorfolkProject: Bookshelves and Books

Coriana built and stocked a library at the REACH (Reading Enriches All Children) office to aid in the distribution of books to homeless and at-risk youth. She began her project by hosting book drives in her community, including at her school and church. Once she collected the books, she created a digital catalog to keep track of the books in the library. She then built and painted three bookshelves that she installed at REACH to hold the new books. Coriana also decorated bags for children to use to check out the books.

Baillie McGowanVirginia BeachProject: Kids Are Sweet Enough Without Sugar

Baillie grew up cooking and learning about culinary art with her father, a restaurant professional. She’s also learned a great deal about diabetes because of her father who lives with the disease. While reading and researching cookbooks, she realized none of the books included information on how to teach children with diabetes to cook for themselves. For her project, Baillie wrote a cookbook filled with simple and healthy recipes for children with diabetes that they could make on their own. The book contains recipes for a variety of meals and interactive pages for children to take notes and keep track of what they cooked and tasted. Baillie made presentations to community groups, schools, food banks and hospitals where she shared her book and distributed an informational pamphlet about juvenile diabetes she created. She also placed her cookbook online, making it available for anyone to download for free.

Meghan MorrisSmithfieldProject: Teens Care About Cancer

When Meghan was 11 years old, she was diagnosed with leukemia. While she was going through treatment, she was astonished about how little people knew about leukemia and other types of cancer. For her project, Meghan created a club at her high school, Teens Care About Cancer. Her goal was to inform students and staff about cancer, its symptoms and ways to treat and prevent it. Under Meghan’s leadership, the members of Teens Care About Cancer made posters about a different type of cancer each month to help raise awareness in the school. They also built a reflection area at Smithfield High School to honor all of the lives touched by cancer. Before Meghan graduated from Smithfield High School, she arranged for students and a faculty advisor to continue running Teens Care About Cancer so that teens at her school will continue to be educated about preventing cancer.

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Maryanne PeckVirginia BeachProject: Spreading Music Awareness

Maryanne has always had a passion for music and it has become a huge part of her life. For her project, she created the Music Awareness Club at her school to create opportunities for students to engage with other students who love music and to share information about the importance of music education with their community. Under Maryanne’s leadership, the club members performed at a local nursing home and handed out fliers about the importance of music education. Maryanne also wrote and illustrated a book to encourage young children to join band. She shared her book, “Bernie and the Saxophone,” with children throughout the community, including those who attended Vacation Bible School at St. John the Apostle Catholic Parish. Maryanne also created a blog about the importance of music education in order for her project to reach a larger audience.

Katherine MummVirginia BeachProject: Youth Hallway Revamp

When Katherine became aware that little planning had been done on how to use the relatively new space utilized by youth at St. Nicholas Catholic Church, she decided to dedicate her Gold Award project to carry out a plan whereby the space would become fun, bright and inviting. Katherine organized fellow members of the youth group at the church to paint murals depicting the Salvation Story and Bible-inspired quotes along the hallways where youth meet. She also painted an accent wall inside the main religious education classroom and hung a youth events calendar. In the other religious classrooms, she placed strips of cork along the walls to allow students to display artwork. Katherine’s project succeeded at creating an aesthetically pleasing space for the church youth and one that allows them to connect with one another and with their spirituality.

Elly OlsonWilliamsburgProject: Sew Cool

Elly created a sewing club at Walsingham Academy to teach children a way to creatively engage their minds without spending time in front of a screen. Her goal was to teach children important skills that they could use throughout their lives. Elly’s sewing club met twice a month at the school. She started by teaching club members the basics of hand sewing and how to sew a button onto fabric. Once the basics were covered, she taught them how to use a sewing machine and helped them sew placemats, Christmas stockings, pillows, bags and other projects. At the end of the school year, each club member used their new skills to design a quilt square that Elly sewed together and presented to the school. The quilt was placed on a wall to encourage children to stretch their creative thinking through engaging activities such as sewing. Elly also presented each club member their own sewing kit to continue mastering their sewing skills at home.


Virginia RauchChesapeakeProject: Spanish on the Go: Overcoming Communication Barriers in the Mission Field

In August 2014, Virginia traveled to Nicaragua on a mission trip through Great Bridge Presbyterian Church. While there, she noticed the communication difficulties between the American volunteers and the Nicaraguans. She took note of the specific situations where language difference created barriers, as well as what sorts of information people were trying to communicate. For her project, Virginia created translation and communication tools that were used on her next mission trip to Nicaragua in August 2015. Prior to leaving for Nicaragua, Virginia gave her fellow volunteers laminated study guides with translations for conversation starters, greetings and work-site specific words. She also created laminated signs and translation booklets for volunteers to carry with them throughout the trip. Once she arrived in Nicaragua, she provided the same translation booklets to the Spanish-speakers.

Dana PerkinsVirginia BeachProject: Barrett Boutique

Dana worked at the Barrett Haven Transitional Home, a shelter in Norfolk, to transform an outdoor storage room into a clothing boutique for residents. The Barrett House often receives clothing donations, but there was no place to properly store them. When women needed an outfit for a job interview or work, they would have to go through boxes and bags to find something appropriate to wear. To transform the outdoor storage room, Dana put a fresh coat of paint on the walls, replaced the flooring and added shelving units and closet rods. Then, she organized the donated clothing, shoes and handbags so that women staying at Barrett Haven could have a boutique shopping experience when they needed something to wear. With a new organization system in place, residents and staff are able to sort new donations and restock the racks in the boutique as needed. Dana also hosted a grand opening for her boutique, during which she even had a hairstylist donate her services to makeover the women at Barrett Haven.

Darden PurringtonVirginia BeachProject: iTeam Racing

Darden, a member of the sailing team at her school, was having a difficult time finding an interesting way to learn the plays a sailor must make on the water while she was training to compete in regattas. For her project, Darden developed an app to include sailing plays and the rules of sailing as an interactive way for sailors to train. The app allows sailors to spend time learning the plays on their own time, instead of during valuable time on the water. She hopes that her project will help future sailors learn the plays of the water in a fun and interactive way that will increase their level of comfort with sailing. After completing her project, Darden made a presentation about it to her classmates at Norfolk Collegiate School as well as to the employees at Hatch, a startup company committed to building the technology and entrepreneurial community in Norfolk, in order to spread the word about the newly available app.

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Emily ShirkChesapeakeProject: Blazing a Trail to Success

Emily noticed that the trails at Indian River Park were unmarked and difficult to navigate. For her project, Emily decided to mark the outer trail at the park. She placed trail signs on more than 100 trees along the 6.4 mile trail by removing a small patch of bark from each tree and painting the bare patch a bright color. After she finished blazing the trail, Emily created QR codes on stickers that she placed on the signs at the trailheads to direct users to the park map. She hopes that the updated trails will encourage more people to visit the park and be active.

Hannah RoseVirginia BeachProject: There Is Only One You

Hannah focused on helping youth identify the effects of positive and negative self-esteem and build their own self-confidence by hosting workshops for teens at Oak Grove United Methodist Church in Chesapeake. Hannah worked with a school guidance counselor to develop activities for the group, which included games and exercises that helped teens identify and celebrate unique characteristics, find common ground with others and find the courage to follow their dreams. Hannah made “toolboxes” for each participant that outlined the topics in the workshop for the teens to keep as a reference for situations they face in the future. Hannah posted all of the activities and resources from her workshops on a website that she created so that anyone can use them to promote self-esteem in their own schools, churches and community groups. She also arranged for the youth group at Oak Grove United Methodist Church to continue to host the workshop.

Samantha SettleChesapeakeProject: The Doom of Distracted Driving

Samantha educated people in her community about the dangers of distracted driving. She conducted research about driving distractions and state laws pertaining to distracted driving and put together a PowerPoint presentation that she shared with classes at her school, local Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops, the Grassfield High School PTSA, the staff at a local State Farm office, the Greenbrier DMV and other community members. At the end of each presentation, Samantha invited participants to pledge to drive conscientiously. She also put together baskets with information that she delivered to banks, libraries, YMCAs and other places frequently visited by members of the public. Each participant at Samantha’s presentations received a small token to remind them to drive safely. Samantha also arranged for the orchestra director at Grassfield High School to share her presentation with his students each year.


Megan StredlerVirginia BeachProject: Change in Scenery

Megan painted a mural in The Hoy Center, a nursing care facility in Westminster-Canterbury on Chesapeake Bay. Megan’s mural updated a wall where a mural had been painted 10 years ago, but had begun to deteriorate. Megan chose a bright beach scene for her mural to be a fun and uplifting sight for residents at Westminster-Canterbury. Megan also donated adult coloring books for the residents at Westminster-Canterbury and taught art classes for any of the residents who wanted to participate.

Grace WardEdentonProject: Feet of Dreams- Family Fitness Night

Grace promoted the benefits of physical activity to middle school students and their parents. Recognizing one reason children do not participate in sports is the inability to afford athletic shoes, Grace reached out to churches in the community to collect shoes to donate to local children. She also made presentations about her project and set up displays at the Chowan County Regional Fair, Providence Baptist Church and other locations in the community. In order to engage families in physical activities, Grace collaborated with the health and physical education teachers at Chowan Middle School to host a Family Fitness Night at the school. There, Grace spoke to more than 100 parents about the importance of physical activity, and families had the opportunity to play games and sports, learn about nutrition and take part in a free glucose and cholesterol screening. Through her project, Grace collected 140 pairs of athletic shoes for students in her community.

Emily StaskinVirginia BeachProject: Church of the Holy Family Prayer Garden

Emily revitalized an area at Church of the Holy Family that was used to dump tree branches and extra dirt and turned it into a prayer garden. Emily began her project by reaching out to the Lynnhaven River Project to choose native plants and natural soil products to place in the garden. She then built wooden benches and planters and purchased a concrete statue of Mary that she sealed and placed in the garden. After completing the garden, Emily met with Girl Scout Troop 442, which meets at the church, and arranged for the members to maintain the garden. She also invited members of the church community to attend a ceremony where Father Gaudencio Pugat blessed the garden.

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Madison WatermanVirginia BeachProject: 5k for a Paws

Madison’s project focused on raising awareness about getting help for veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), specifically when it comes to providing service animals for these veterans. Currently, the Department of Veterans’ Affairs does not provide financial assistance for veterans to get service dogs, so for her project, Madison worked with Paws and Stripes, a nonprofit organization that rescues dogs from shelters and trains them to be service animals to offer emotional support for veterans. Madison, with the help of volunteers from her cross country team, hosted a 5k and 1-mile run/walk event to raise money to purchase supplies for Paws and Stripes. At the event, she had educational booths and displays in order to inform people about TBI and PTSD. Madison’s cross country team has taken on the responsibility to continue to host this event to support Paws and Stripes in the future. Madison also created an online petition to urge the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to cover the cost of service dogs for veterans with PTSD and TBI.

Savannah WilliamsYorktownProject: Teen Dating Violence Awareness

Savannah focused raising awareness about teen dating violence. She wanted to educate people in the community about the prevalence of the issue, ways to recognize signs of dating violence and how to get help. In order to do this, Savannah created an informational brochure for Transitions Family Violence Services (TVFS) in Hampton. Savannah partnered with Sanu Dieng from TVFS and Michelle Nicole, a local artist and advocate, to host educational sessions across the Peninsula. At each session, Savannah distributed her brochure, shared facts about teen dating violence with Dieng and helped Nicole share her story about her personal experiences with teen dating violence. In February, which is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, Savannah held an awareness event at her school. Savannah also gave copies of her brochure to the school, where they are given to students who seek counseling.


Madison RandallChesapeakeProject: Don’t Quit, Get Fit!

Madison created a physical fitness curriculum for children who attended the Chesapeake Parks and Recreation Summer Blast Program. Her goal was to show the children in the program, who ranged in age from six to 12, that physical fitness and exercise can be fun. During each day of Madison’s two-week program, she introduced children to warmup exercises and fitness activities and asked them questions to get them to think about what activities they enjoy most and how they could exercise at home. Her curriculum included themed days, such as Track and Field Tuesday, during which students participated in running relays, long jumps, sprints and other track and field events. Madison also assembled a manual with directions and supply lists for running her program that she donated to Chesapeake Parks and Recreation so that her program can be replicated in the future. In addition, she created pamphlets about the importance of physical fitness for children that she handed out at local elementary schools and daycare centers.

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As a Gold Award recipient, you’re a part of an

elite group of women!Starting in 1916, the best and brightest undertook projects that improved their communities – and the world. The Golden Eaglet insignia, the highest award in Girl Scouting 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 Scouting. From 1963 to 1980, the highest award was called the First Class. And since 1980, the Gold Award inspired girls to find the greatness inside themselves and share their ideas and passion with their communities. This year marks the 100th Anniversary of the Highest Award in Girl Scouts and we are so very happy that we’ve been able to celebrate it with you.

Girl Scout Lifetime MembershipWhether you’re a Girl Scout graduating from high school or a long time Girl Scout volunteer, consider purchasing a lifetime membership. A special lifetime membership is offered to girls who are registered Girl Scouts at the time of their high school graduation for the reduced cost of $195.

As a lifetime member, you will receive:• awelcomeletterandlifetimemembercertificate

signed by the chair of the GSUSA National Board of Directors

• alifetimemembershipcard• GirlScoutsbimonthlyalumnaeenewsletter• eligibilitytopurchasealifetimemembershippin• additionalbenefits,likeinvitationstoGSCCCevents

lifetime

Helen Kattwinkel Tribute FundHelen is a lifetime Girl Scout who has served in many volunteer roles, including that of chair for the Council’s Gold Award Committee. The Dorothy Barber Lifetime Achievement Award, the highest Council award presented to a Girl Scout adult, is just one of the many recognitions she has received. In 2015, an endowment fund was established in Helen’s honor that will be used to support lifetime memberships for Gold Award alumnae. Consider recognizing someone special who has made an impact in your life through a contribution to this fund. Contact [email protected].

Celebrating 100 Years of Changing the World

through the Gold Award

Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast912 Cedar Road • Chesapeake, VA 23322

757-547-4405 • 800-77SCOUT www.gsccc.org

We are supported in part by

2016Girl Scout

Gold Awards100th Anniversary

Documents

2016 Girl Scout Gold Award Celebration