2013 Girl Scout Gold Award

2013 Girl Scout Gold Awards

Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines

Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines As one of 112 Girl Scout Councils chartered by Girl Scouts of the USA, Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines serves more than 28,000 girl members and nearly 10,000 adult members in 41 central and eastern North Carolina counties. With administrative headquarters in Raleigh, regional service centers in Fayetteville and Goldsboro, four camp properties, and community partners, our capacity to serve girls and provide relevant and engaging programming continues to grow.

In Memoriam This year’s Girl Scouts Gold Award Booklet is dedicated to the memory of Mary Beth Hall.

Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines lost one of its most dedicated and tenured members in July 2013. Mary Beth was an outstanding volunteer for more than 20 years and a valued member of the Gold Award Committee. She will be missed.

The Girl Scout Gold Award The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest and most prestigious achievement in Girl Scouting.

To earn this award, girls must commit to take action and create a lasting change in their communities. It requires that each girl demonstrate significant leadership, planning, and organizational skills. Each year, girls who Go Gold demonstrate extraordinary leadership through individual Take Action projects that provide a sustainable benefit to their community.

Since 1916, girls have successfully answered the call to Go Gold, an act that indelibly marks them as accomplished members of their communities and the world. Awarded to fewer than six percent of Girl Scouts annually, each Gold Awardee spends one to two years on her project. This year, Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines is proud to bestow the Girl Scout Gold Award on 60 girls.

Congratulations to all of Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines’ Girl Scout Gold Award recipients for achieving their goals and this distinguished honor all while serving their communities.

Girl Scouting’s Highest Award Since the Council unification in 2007 which established Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines, 367 Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors have achieved the highest award in Girl Scouting.

Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines takes great pride in recognizing the outstanding accomplishments of the 60 young women who earned the Girl Scout Gold Award in 2013.

Congratulations to all of our award recipients for demonstrating leadership, advocacy and compassion in their community and beyond.

Steps to the Gold Award Fulfilling the requirements for the Girl Scout Gold Award starts with the completion of two Girl Scout Senior or Ambassador Leadership Journeys; or having earned the Girl Scout Silver Award and completing one Senior or Ambassador Journey. After the Journey requirement has been fulfilled, 80 hours is the suggested minimum hours of work and service for Gold Award projects, which includes these steps: • Identifying an issue • Investigating it thoroughly • Inviting others to participate and building a team • Creating a plan • Presenting the plan to Gold Award Committee • Gathering feedback • Taking action • Educating and inspiring others

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2013 Girl Scout Gold Award Recipients Morgan Christine Acree

Tatianna Griswold

Sarah Peterson

Taylor Nicole Babson

Alexandria Hanyok

Alexis Elaine Raiford

Madison Ann Barnes

Carly Nix High

Sita Janki Uday Ranavaya

Jessica N. Best

Meghana Holegadde

Asha Reddy

Frances Marie Betts

Emily Lauren Hoppe

Alicia Caroline Reed

Olivia Ann Butler

Napur Jain

Amanda Miriam Reza

Jillian E. Campbell

Faith L. Jarvis

Devin Virginia Riley

Alexis Jeanne Carter

Claudia Jayne Kennedy

Hannah Nicole Ryan

Ciera Elyse Cipriani

Rachel Ashley Little

Marisa Margaret Sampson

Amanda Collins

Kathryn Chapin Meekins

Beverly Anne Setzer

Kendall Leigh Cunningham

Hayley Kristine Monsees

Carly Madison Shaw

Khushboo Dass

Amanda Renee Morrow

Ayauna A. Sumpter

Valerie Brianna Davis

Breanna Kaitlyn Moss

Kayla Michelle Tanner

Bridget Elaine Demery

Maleah Rachelle Murray

Sonum Tharwani

Moli Arin Eddins

Katie Rose Needell

Maria Clair Tsikerdano

Amy Stuart Erkes

Violet Simmons Noe

Margaret Mae Tucker

Courtney Marie Floyd

Destiny Oakley

Jessica Hale Vickery

Holly Marie Gabry

Charlotte Taylor Overton

Andrea Jane Wilkerson

Ceaira Nicole Gillis

Jennifer Ann Pabst

Lauren Nicole Wilsey

Emily Coles Good

Jessica Leighanne Parris

Morgan Alexis Young

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Morgan Christine Acree Roanoke Rapids, Halifax County Project: Smile Starters Issue: Pediatric Dental Health

Taylor Nicole Babson Cary, Wake County Project: Operation Band Issue: Organizational Recruitment

Morgan has a desire to become a pediatric dentist so her Gold Award project was a perfect fit for her.

She learned that Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports show a significant increase in dental cavities among young children and was concerned. She felt the stage was being set for many young children to develop a lifetime of complications from poor oral health. Morgan designed a pediatric dental-care education program.

She taught preschoolers the proper way to brush their teeth, discussed healthy foods, and produced a brochure for the children to review with parents and caregivers at home.

As a member of the Cary High School Band, Taylor wanted to reach out to the community to share her love of band and encourage others to participate.

She began by hosting Meet the Band Day, which allowed participants to try different instruments and talk with band members. She created an 18-minute video to be used as an informational source and recruitment tool. The video shows what it is like to be a member of the marching band, winter guard, drum line, and spring ensembles.

Taylor reached out to area high school band directors encouraging them to create videos as well, offering to share her process.

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Madison Ann Barnes Cary, Wake County Project: Increasing Recycling in Athletic Facilities and the Community Issue: Recycling At the athletic fields near her home, Madison noticed that plastic bottles were being thrown in the trash, or worse – on the ground. She worked with the Town of Cary to have seven additional recycling bins strategically placed at area athletic fields and facilities. To increase usage of the bins, she implemented creative programs to educate students, athletes, and residents. She taught groups how to use the bins and helped them understand the benefits of recycling. Additionally, Madison wrote and presented a budget proposal to the Town of Cary requesting that funds be allocated for additional bins where residents had indicated a lack of adequate recycling.

Jessica N. Best Washington, Beaufort County Project: D.H. Conley Clothing Bank Issue: Clothing Assistance

Frances Marie Betts Selma, Johnston County Project: Rescues 4 Rescues Issue: Service Animal Training and Animal Adoption

At D.H. Conley, Jessica’s high school, students are required to wear uniforms. Jessica realized that some students were encountering difficulties because they lacked clothing items required by the school’s dress code. By soliciting item donations from individuals and businesses, Jessica created a clothing bank that provides uniform items to students who need them.

She feels this will enable students who benefit from the clothing bank to have a more positive high school experience. The National Honor Society Club at D.H. Conley High has been enlisted to coordinate future donation drives.

For her Gold Award project, Frances worked with the organization Rescues 4 Rescues to help train several dogs as service animals and assisted in placing other animals with adoptees. She helped train one of the dogs to walk beside a battery-powered wheelchair and to pull a manual wheelchair. After volunteering at the shelter and learning to care for the animals, she trained others how to do so as well. Frances created a video and brochure to educate and encourage others to participate in rescuing and training animals.

Approximately one million Girl Scouts have earned the Gold Award or its equivalent since 1916.

The Girl Scouts’ highest award stands for excellence and leadership for girls everywhere.

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Olivia Ann Butler Whiteville, Columbus County Project: S4G – Shine for God Ministry and Chapel Issue: Faith Development and Inclusion

Jillian E. Campbell Apex, Wake County Project: Healthy Lifestyle = Active + Food Choices Issue: Childhood Obesity

Olivia felt that there was a degree of separation between the youth and younger children of her church, so she designed her project to bring them together. She developed a ministry program that allows the youth to teach the children once a month. Her project included the transformation of a room in the church into a chapel. This transformation enabled Olivia’s Shine for God Ministry program to take place in a setting more formal than the church’s youth room, but less formal than the sanctuary. Olivia enlisted her construction class to help create ten stained pews and placed them along with a podium in the chapel.

As Jillian researched childhood obesity, she felt that she could influence change and have a positive impact on children’s lives.

Her objective was to successfully increase awareness of childhood obesity and its effect on youth in her local community. As a certified swim instructor, she introduced children to swimming as a means to promote physical activity. She designed and presented educational programs to youth about the importance of exercise and nutritional habits.

Participants were given handouts with nutritional recommendations to teach the importance of making healthy food choices in order to maintain a healthy weight.

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Alexis Jeanne Carter Whiteville, Columbus County Project: Beautifying the Art Council’s Courtyard, Our Entrance to Downtown Whiteville Issue: Art Education and Awareness Working with Whiteville’s local government and Arts Council, Alexis brought art to her community on a large scale. She designed a mural depicting a farm scene native to Columbus County and organized volunteers to complete the project.

The mural, which covered the side of a downtown building and had to be completed with the help of a crane, was completed at minimal expense using leftover paints.

Alexis’ project beautifies the Council courtyard and brings attention to art in her rural community.

Ciera Elyse Cipriani Clayton, Johnston County Project: Steps to Health Issue: Healthy Lifestyles Ciera created her project because she believes additional education about physical activity and healthy food choices would help teenagers live healthier lives. She organized a walking group at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics which uses pedometers donated

by Be Active NC. Ciera worked to teach students quick, easy ways to incorporate healthy choices into their lives. Her project taught how to integrate fitness into daily activities by adding extra steps and making healthy food choices rather than carving out large chunks of time for exercise or worrying about dieting.

Amanda Collins Beaufort, Carteret County Project: Prayer Benches Issue: Faith Practice and Religious Education Amanda’s church, Annunciation Catholic Church, has an outdoor Stations of the Cross path. She was concerned that there was no place for families and elder persons walking the path to sit and rest. To enable and encourage more people to walk the stations, she designed and built four weather resistant prayer benches, which were placed along the pathway. As part of her project, Amanda created a video about the Stations of the Cross for educational purposes. She also created a detailed instruction manual for constructing the benches to share with others.

Kendall Leigh Cunningham Chapel Hill, Orange County Project: Green Club Issue: School Beautification As a student at Oak Ridge Military Academy in northwest Guildford County, Kendall wanted to find a way to give back to her school and enhance the campus grounds. To support this goal, Kendall founded the Green Club to allow cadets to participate in the care and maintenance of their school. The club works to accomplish service projects improving and beautifying the school grounds. Some of the projects that have been organized are the repair of a bridge on the property, cleaning of signage, construction of a compost bin, and bush plantings.

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Khushboo Dass Cary, Wake County Project: ‘One Health’ in One Day Issue: Environmental Impact

Gold Award recipients are part of a group of women who embody community leadership leaving behind a sustainable legacy.

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Leaving a healthy planet to future generations is important to Khushboo.

Her project addressed the negative consequences human actions have on natural resources. She worked to educate her community about One Health Initiative, which seeks to establish connections between human and veterinarian health practitioners and organizations. She hopes to inspire others to address issues such as the extinction of endangered wildlife, the destruction of wild vegetation, and reducing our ecological footprint.

Khushboo created a blog and promotional literature that she distributes at her local farmers market. She has engaged other volunteer groups to support this project.

Valerie Brianna Davis Smithfield, Johnston County Project: The ULTIMATE Sport Issue: Health and Fitness To promote fun and fitness, Valerie organized an Ultimate Frisbee lunch group at her high school. Her project addressed both declining health in teenagers and the lack of an Ultimate Frisbee program in her community. The program was well received and helped foster increased activity in students: almost half of the students who joined the group were not regularly involved in sports. Students were taught game rules, how to throw a disc, and how to self-officiate.

Valerie expanded the reach of her project by providing equipment and game instruction manuals to other athletic directors in the county.

Bridget Elaine Demery Greenville, Pitt County Project: Operation Gospel Bird Issue: Homelessness For her Gold Award project, Bridget coordinated an event at her church that offered needed items and services to persons who were homeless in her community.

Food, showers, toiletries, clothing, counseling, prayer, grooming services, job-search assistance, and children’s activities were provided. She designed her project not only to provide needed basic goods and services, but as a response to her observation that homeless individuals often seem marginalized by society. Bridget engaged the local media in recruiting volunteers for the event.

Operation Gospel Bird will be continued by the church’s youth program.

Moli Arin Eddins Moncure, Chatham County Project: Being First-Aid Friendly Issue: Public Health

Amy Stuart Erkes Wilmington, New Hanover County Project: Rip Current Deterrent Issue: Water Safety

As a volunteer with Vidas de Esperanza, Moli noticed that some patients were coming to the clinic with issues that could be addressed with basic first aid skills. To meet that need, she partnered with the clinic to provide basic first-aid skills to clients. She created basic firstaid instruction pamphlets written in Spanish and English; provided basic first-aid supplies including antibiotic cream, thermometers, alcohol, peroxide and gauze; and taught patients basic first-aid care.

Moli is passionate about health care and feels that her project has empowered the clinic’s patients while also supporting the clinic’s staff.

As a lifelong resident of Wilmington, Amy was well aware of the dangers of rip currents, but felt that the Spanish-speaking community did not have adequate information to prevent drownings. In conjunction with Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue, Cape Fear Literacy – English for Speakers of Other Languages, the communications department at UNC-Wilmington, and Amigos Internacional, Amy produced and distributed an informational video for the local Hispanic community on the dangers of coastal rip currents.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s website features Amy’s video as part of their educational materials on the importance of water safety and rip currents.

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Courtney Marie Floyd Wilmington, New Hanover County Project: Weighing in on Diabetes Issue: Public Health

Holly Marie Gabry Willow Springs, Wake County Project: All Girls Can Club Issue: Special Needs Resources

Ceaira Nicole Gillis Garner, Wake County Project: Dance: The Real Effect Issue: Physical and Mental Health

Courtney designed her project to address the increasing rate of Type 2 Juvenile Diabetes. She created lesson plans that include learning about diabetes, healthy eating habits, exercise, and journaling to track exercise and eating habits. In the classroom, Courtney used interactive methods such as worksheets, sampling healthy snacks, and active games. She shared statistics about diabetes, explained how diabetes affects a person, and emphasized the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle. During the summer, Courtney taught six-week programs at the YMCA, the Boys & Girls Club, and other community youth programs to children ages six to twelve years old.

In order to help teenage girls with special needs develop social and life skills, Holly designed a special club for them. To help the girls gain a measure of independence, she taught about cooking, cleaning, exercising, and making healthy eating choices. Holly felt that the program enabled the girls to make great strides in their social skills development. As the girls participated in small service projects, Holly observed that girls who were especially shy blossomed throughout the year. She created a handbook and website to share information and resources so that others can create similar clubs as well.

Inspired by Michelle Obama’s project Let’s Move, Ceaira designed a dance therapy program to help youth find ways to stay physically fit and express their feelings through movement. She enlisted volunteer teachers and held workshops for modern dance, hip-hop, dance games, and liturgical dance at her local community center. Ceaira worked to inspire participants to think of dance as a healthy, alternative sport by teaching them fun ways to dance. Participants kept journals describing how they felt while they were dancing. Ceaira created a presentation and video to share her program with other groups.

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Emily Coles Good Pinehurst, Moore County Project: Cheerleading Clinic Issue: Leadership Development

Tatianna Griswold Goldsboro, Wayne County Project: Independence from Boards Issue: Public Health

Alexandria Hanyok Raleigh, Wake County Project: Gardening Native Issue: Invasive Plant Species

Being a cheerleader has taught Emily about leadership, building spirit, team work, and self-confidence. She wanted the girls at her local Boys & Girls Club to have the opportunity to develop these skills as she had, so she designed a cheerleading clinic for them. At a two-week clinic, girls learned about self-confidence and leadership as they were taught cheers, chants, and dance. Emily enlisted a local nutritionist to teach participants about healthy eating habits. She worked with her school’s cheerleading program to ensure that the project would be sustained beyond her involvement.

Tatianna developed her project to benefit residents of local nursing and rehabilitation homes. She created custom-built cornhole board sets which include specially made bean bags with different textures, shapes, and weights. The boards benefit residents by helping them increase sensory stimulation, circulation, hand-eye coordination, range of motion, and upper body movement. Tatianna worked with therapists to develop procedures for safe usage. Her project allows residents to have fun and exercise at the same time. Tatianna believes the enjoyable social interaction will also help patients develop more positive attitudes and feelings of independence.

Working with the Bald Head Island Conservancy, Alexandria created a garden highlighting native plants and the role that they play in conservation. In addition to designing and planting the garden, Alexandria created a plant information chart which is displayed in the garden.

Her project educates visitors about the dangers of invasive plants and how they negatively impact the island. She also designed and installed an 11-foot driftwood bench in the garden. Alexandria hosted presentations, where she answered questions from attendees about caring for native plants and the benefits of gardening with native plants.

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Carly Nix High Whiteville, Columbus County Project: Vineland Station History Gallery Issue: Historical Conservation Carly designed her project to preserve the history of her community. She created a gallery in the renovated Whiteville Vineland Depot that displays historical documents, photographs, and artifacts. The gallery includes a timeline of major events in the depot’s past as well as a collection of artifacts that include a vintage conductor’s uniform and a telegraph machine. The exhibit is considered an addition to the NC Department of Forestry located in downtown Whiteville and also as a tourist attraction by the Columbus County Tourism Office and the Whiteville Chamber of Commerce.

The gallery will serve as an important connection to Whiteville’s past for future generations.

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Meghana Holegadde Chapel Hill, Orange County Project: Prairie Ridge Bat Houses Issue: Wildlife Conservation

Emily Lauren Hoppe Wilmington, New Hanover County Project: Creating Smiles Issue: Dental Health

Meghana was inspired to create her project after she learned about white nose syndrome, a deadly fungal infection that has had a significant negative impact on bat populations. She constructed bat houses for Prairie Ridge Ecostation, a research center for the NC Museum of Natural Sciences.

The houses will provide shelter for migrating bats and assist researchers in their study of the bats. Meghana produced a brochure and created a website to generate awareness about different bat populations. In addition to providing general information about different types of bats, the brochure and website also address challenges the bats face and the importance of bats in our ecosystem.

Knowing that health issues can develop as a result of inadequate dental care, Emily designed her project to help low-income families in Wilmington and surrounding areas locate affordable dental care. She compiled a comprehensive listing of dental providers who offer reduced-cost or free dental care.

The resulting brochure was printed both in English and Spanish and will be distributed at various dental offices, the New Hanover County Health Department, Cape Fear Community College, and the North Carolina Division of Social Services. Emily also gave dental health presentations at area schools and provided students with dental care items.

Napur Jain Apex, Wake County Project: Raising Personal Hygiene Awareness in India Issue: Personal Hygiene

Faith L. Jarvis Rocky Mount, Nash County Project: V.I.P.P. – Very Important Pediatric Patients Issue: Addressing Pediatric Patient Fears

Napur addressed global health as it relates to personal hygiene while working with Mother Teresa’s Home for Abandoned Children, an orphanage in Secunderabad, India. She taught children about personal hygiene and sanitation, and distributed donations of personal hygiene products that she collected from local groups.

Although Napur speaks Hindi, she found it necessary at times to enlist the help of a translator when speaking to children in the orphanage. She created flyers and a presentation about personal hygiene for her project. By presenting them to groups at her school, she was able to enlist support for her project.

Wanting to help allay the fears children face when hospitalized, Faith creatively designed her project to deliver comfort to pediatric patients. She began by collecting 185 DVDs and purchasing 12 DVD players – one for each room on the pediatric wing at Nash General Hospital. Faith then created a video and comic book to help children understand their hospital experiences.

In the video, “Mighty Molly Goes to the Hospital,” Molly teaches children how to be brave. The comic books were printed in both English and Spanish and distributed in several area hospitals. Faith has created a non-profit organization, The Faith Project, to continue and expand this support program.

The Gold Award project fulfills a need within a girl’s community — whether local or global — creates changes, and is sustainable.

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Claudia Jayne Kennedy Raleigh, Wake County Project: Seniors for Service Issue: Senior Citizen Service Opportunities

Rachel Ashley Little Fayetteville, Cumberland County Project: Hoke Community Forest Clean-Up Campaign Issue: Environmental Conservation

The desire to provide an opportunity for senior citizens to participate in their community led Claudia to design a program that enables senior citizens to help children in need. Claudia worked with seniors at a local senior center to make 38 blankets that were donated to Project Linus. The blankets are distributed to children in hospitals, shelters, social service agencies, or anywhere that a child might be in need of comfort. Claudia wrote a blog detailing her experience and created a booklet of service project ideas for seniors that retirement homes can use.

In response to illegal dumping in the Hoke Community Forest, Rachel created a campaign to educate local residents about the forest and the importance of keeping it clean. Her project will help preserve the forest, and protect the Rockfish watershed and drinking water aquifer. The Rockfish watershed feeds into the Cape Fear watershed which impacts the fresh water supply in a multi-state area. Rachel created a brochure and interacted with residents, businesses, and civic organizations regarding this issue. In conjunction with her educational campaign, she organized an annual community cleanup day.

The inaugural event removed over five tons of garbage from the forest.

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Kathryn Chapin Meekins Whiteville, Columbus County Project: Help the Animals Issue: Pet Adoption/Spay and Neutering Working with the Columbus County Humane Society, Kate developed her project to educate prospective pet owners about adoption. She wrote and illustrated a book that explains the benefits of adopting an older, rescued animal as compared to adopting a puppy or kitten. The book gives suggestions on how to pick an appropriate pet and care for it, and stresses the importance of spaying and neutering. Copies of the book were provided to the Humane Society, who will distribute them. Kate also distributed copies of the book while giving presentations at local schools. She created an online blog where she promotes adoption, spaying, and neutering.

Hayley Kristine Monsees Cary, Wake County Project: Preemie Baby Books and Parent Together Time Issue: Emotional Well-Being

Amanda Renee Morrow Wilmington, New Hanover County Project: Rainbow of Independence Issue: Organizational Volunteer Coordination

Breanna Kaitlyn Moss Raleigh, Wake County Project: Dressing Yourself Inside & Out Issue: Nutrition and Self-Esteem

Hayley is aware of the stress that parents with babies in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) face. She designed her project to help alleviate some of their stress and worry.

Working with WakeMed Raleigh’s NICU, Hayley designed a program to provide parents the opportunity to relax together. She created scrapbooks for parents to keep track of their baby’s growth and development and a keepsake craft for parents to make using their baby’s footprints. Hayley created a binder she will leave with the hospital that contains instructions for hosting Parent Together Time and instructions for creating the scrapbook and keepsake projects.

As a volunteer with the Coastal Therapeutic Riding Program, Amanda noticed that trainers and the facility director had to take time from providing services to clients to assign tasks to volunteers. She created a color-coded system designed to enable volunteers to identify and respond to the needs of the organization’s trainers and clients.

Her system is displayed on a board in the barn and has improved the facility’s efficiency. Other volunteer based groups have approached Amanda about incorporating the system into their organizations.

Breanna recognizes that girls often face struggles to fit in and make healthy choices. She designed her self-esteem workshop to combat the “can’t” attitude she feels develops when girls feel like they can’t fit in, can’t look pretty enough, or can’t be smart enough. Her nutrition workshop helped elementary and middle school aged girls make healthy eating choices and develop a healthy self-image. Participants learned how to avoid the temptation of easy but unhealthy food choices. Breanna designed a healthy recipe/snack idea box that will remain in use at the Garner Road Community Center.

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Maleah Rachelle Murray Whiteville, Columbus County Project: Autism Lending Library Issue: Autism Resources and Awareness

Gold Award projects are more than a good service project— they encompass organizational, leadership, and networking skills.

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Maleah designed her project to address the need for resources geared toward autistic children in her rural community. She created a lending library, hosted by a local elementary school, containing educational books and interactive activities designed specifically for autistic children.

After researching autism and working with children who have autism, Maleah created some of the books and activities for the library herself.

Additionally, the center contains informational books about autism for parents and teachers. As a part of her project, Maleah created an educational pamphlet about autism to distribute to schools.

Katie Rose Needell Greenville, Pitt County Project: Connect2Middle Issue: Emotional and Behavioral Development Knowing that girls face many changes when advancing from middle school to high school, Katie designed her Gold Award project to help prepare them for that transition. She led weekly meetings for several months that addressed topics such as social, emotional, behavioral, and physical health issues. Through interactive meetings, she helped the girls understand the importance of academic requirements and healthy lifestyle choices. She addressed responding to bullying, anger management, and conflict management skills. Katie created a website with community resources for the middle school girls and testimonials from high school girls.

Violet Simmons Noe Greenville, Pitt County Project: Building Life Skills Issue: Life-Skills Education

Destiny Oakley New Bern, Craven County Project: Kids Korners Issue: Child Care and Literacy

Charlotte Taylor Overton Greenville, Pitt County Project: Blooming Roses Issue: Community Building

Violet recognized that many high-school students are not able to incorporate life-skills classes into their schedule and wanted to provide opportunities to expand their learning opportunities. She developed a mini course in carpentry for students at J.H. Rose High School.

The class built two elevated benches for the baseball and softball fields.

Violet proposed additional life-skill classes for shop, foods, automotive, and home economics to school administration. She feels that the limited exposure to these types of classes for some students creates a separation between the college-bound and trade-bound students. Through her project, she hopes to bridge that divide.

Destiny saw an opportunity to help families keep children occupied while waiting in area medical offices and pharmacies, and encourage the development of reading skills at the same time. She built colorful bookshelves and filled them with donated books and activity booklets she designed to teach the children the importance of reading and healthy living. Destiny then used these books and bookshelves to create children’s waiting areas.

By keeping children involved with a good book or activity, these waiting areas help parents and guardians have a less stressful visit to the doctor or pharmacy.

Charlotte designed a website dedicated to promoting the accomplishments and stories of the students, teachers, administrators, faculty, and parents of J.H. Rose High School. The website serves to recognize successes, inspire, and create a sense of community cohesiveness. Charlotte created a blog documenting the development of the website that she hopes will serve as a road map for other schools who may want to create something similar. She created a Twitter account to promote the website. Charlotte hopes the successes highlighted on the website will inspire others in her community to create their own successes.

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Jennifer Ann Pabst Greenville, Pitt County Project: Autism Fair Issue: Autism Resources and Awareness

Jessica Leighanne Parris Elm City, Wilson County Project: Project GeoKnow Issue: Elementary Geography Education

Recognizing that there was a lack of information about resources for people with autism in her community, Jennifer organized an event to highlight available assets.

The event enabled teachers and parents of children with autism to connect with resource providers.

Seventeen vendors participated in the fair, including Vidant Hospital and the Greenville Aquatic Center. The fair addressed a variety of academic and athletic options for those with autism. Jennifer also created a presentation to teach others about autism and how to relate to people with autism, which she shared with members of the community.

To supplement geography lessons in elementary school classrooms, Jessica painted a large playground map of the United States at a local elementary school. The map is designed to encourage children to learn geography in a fun, interactive environment. She created accessories to serve as learning games for the project, which included beanbags and placards with state names and capitals, nicknames, and other fun state facts. Instructions for these games and other learning ideas for the map were assembled in a notebook and presented to the elementary school for teachers to use.

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Sarah Peterson Cary, Wake County Project: What Happened in Your Backyard?

Issue: History Education For her Gold Award project, Sarah researched three American Revolutionary battles that took place in North Carolina. To spur student interest in learning about local history and teach about North Carolina events in America’s fight for independence, she created a brochure for the Children of the American Revolution (CAR) organization detailing the three battles. She took steps to link the brochure to the Sons of the American Revolution website as well. Sarah made presentations to various groups in an effort to help the community at large learn more about their region’s history.

Alexis Elaine Raiford Fayetteville, Cumberland County Project: Distracted Driving Campaign Issue: Safe Driving

Sita Janki Uday Ranavaya Fayetteville, Cumberland County Project: Spreading the Sounds of India Issue: Cultural Awareness

Asha Reddy Cary, Wake County Project: Vaccinations for Underprivileged Issue: Disease Prevention

Concerned about deaths and injuries that occur as a result of distracted driving, Alexis campaigned to educate the public about unsafe driving habits. After extensive research, she designed a brochure and posters, developed a video, and utilized a slideshow developed by the NC Department of Transportation to make presentations to various student organizations. She shared information with her peers about what constitutes distracted driving and its consequences.

She posted information about her project on social media sites. As part of her project, Alexis worked to revitalize the Cape Fear High School chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD).

As a member of the Indian community, Sita Janki wanted to help increase cultural awareness in respect to Hindustani classical and religious music. She feels that it is vital for people to stay connected to their roots and learn the music of their culture, and felt an obligation to share what she had been taught.

She designed and conducted workshops to teach youth and adults.

The workshops included both vocal and instrumental lessons. Adult teaching focused on vocal training for the music style, while youth were also taught lyrics, pronunciation, and translation. Sita Janki taught historical and religious references to help participants understand the meaning of songs.

Asha developed her project to help raise vaccination rates in impoverished rural areas in India.

She observed that poverty causes people to spend more time obtaining food and shelter and less time attending to their health. She volunteered at clinics and hospitals in Bangalore, India, and joined visiting nurses who educate and care for members of rural communities.

Asha helped encourage patients to go to clinics for vaccination as she handed out a brochure she created along with a government-sponsored booklet. She shared a multimedia presentation detailing the project with her fellow students.

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Alicia Caroline Reed Greenville, Pitt County Project: Mural Magic: Inspiring Youth with Art Issue: Art Education

Amanda Miriam Reza Cary, Wake County Project: Hemlock Bluffs Documentary Issue: Nature Conservation

Alicia designed her project to inspire youth to use art to improve the world around them. She engaged local artist Roger Kammerer to help create a large-scale, high-quality art project at her local Boys & Girls Club. The ocean-themed mural encompasses three separate walls and is approximately 10 feet high by 65 feet wide.

Children at the club participated in the process alongside the artist.

Alicia created a guide for painting a mural on a cinderblock surface, so that others can create similar projects. Her project includes a plan to bring the local art community together yearly to create works of art and provide art education for the youth who attend the club.

By interviewing staff members and filming areas of the park, Amanda produced an educational documentary about Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve. She attended meetings with The Friends of Hemlock Bluffs; a local volunteerbased non-profit, support organization for the preserve. Much of the knowledge Amanda gathered was posted on the preserve’s website and Facebook pages to help inform local communities about the park.

With her project, Amanda aims to raise awareness of the park and the rare hemlock trees, which she hopes will lead to increased visitors and volunteers at the park.

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Devin Virginia Riley Raleigh, Wake County Project: Save the Cats Issue: Cat Rescue and Adoption As a volunteer for SAFE Haven for Cats, Devin is well aware of the importance of spay and neuter programs. She worked with the organization to promote their lowcost spay and neuter program and trap-neuter-release program by creating a SAFE Care Facebook page. Devin added pictures and posts to the page and generated 100 fans over a three-week period.

She created stained glass pieces for the SAFE Haven building, and created cat boxes that are used in the adoption rooms. The additional cat boxes helped enable the clinic to secure adoptions for 548 cats and kittens in the fiscal year of Devin’s project.

Hannah Nicole Ryan Wilmington, New Hanover County Project: Harmony in the Hospital Issue: Music Therapy The atmosphere in a hospital pediatric outpatient department can be nervous and tense. Hannah designed a program that provides interactive music for children awaiting appointments at New Hanover Regional Medical Center.

Her music program sets children’s minds at ease, provides a source of relaxation, and increases comfort levels. Hannah observed a marked improvement in the atmosphere of the waiting room after playing music and allowing children to join in with shakers. She organized a seminar about her project for current volunteers at the hospital so that they could continue providing music therapy to children.

Marisa Margaret Sampson Wilmington, New Hanover County Project: Reading in NC Issue: Illiteracy After researching the factors that influence illiteracy, Marisa developed a reading development program tailored for individuals instead of large classes. The program she developed focused on the different variety of learning styles. Finding that children responded well to books on tape, she created recorded readings of books to use while working with students at her local elementary school. Marisa created pamphlets that explain illiteracy, its main causes, and what can be done to help. The pamphlets will be available to adults and children in her local library.

Gold Award alumnae are more successful in school, develop a stronger sense of self, and report greater satisfaction with life than their peers.

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Beverly Anne Setzer Raleigh, Wake County Project: Foster Home for Southeast German Shepherd Rescue Issue: Animal Rescue and Adoption

Carly Madison Shaw Chadbourn, Columbus County Project: Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Learning Center Issue: Nutritional Education

Beverly’s project addressed promoting adoption of rescued animals as an alternative to buying puppies. She worked closely with the Southeast German Shepherd Rescue, fostering and training three dogs herself as part of her project.

Beverly designed an educational brochure to increase awareness of German Shepherd adoption and fostering options and to address expectations and preparation for an adopted dog. She distributed these brochures at presentations she gave throughout the community. Southeast German Shepherd Rescue will continue to hand out the brochures at events and make them available online as well.

Having worked during the summer at her local farmers market, Carly decided that children visiting the farmers market could benefit from an educational play area. She created a mulched area that contains picnic tables and a large, permanent display with interactive flip-boxes that teach about local fruits and vegetables. Another display shows a global map of fruits and vegetables grown all over the world. Children visiting the center can play and work on handouts prepared by Carly. The handouts are designed to help children make healthier choices and to make eating healthy fun and easier.

22 The Girl Scout Gold Award

Ayauna A. Sumpter Durham, Durham County Project: Social Media Issue: Social Media Education Ayauna developed a program to teach students how to safely and effectively use social networks.

She outlined the advantages and disadvantages and explained how social media can affect professional networking—a crucial element in successful career planning.

Hacking, cyberbullying, stalking, fraud, and virus attacks were among the topics in the multi-media course Ayauna developed and presented. After learning about social media usage, students were asked to create skits based on different types of situations. Durham Technical Community College has incorporated Ayauna’s project into their Technology Awareness class.

Kayla Michelle Tanner Raleigh, Wake County Project: Senior Citizen Computer Skills Issue: Technology Accessibility To help senior citizens overcome apprehension about using computer technology, Kayla designed a class to teach seniors basic computer skills. In classes, she taught how to navigate a Windows computer environment, access the Internet, and use Microsoft Word and email. One of Kayla’s main goals was to help seniors develop a better knowledge of basic computer skills so that they would be able to access information and take an active part in their own healthcare. She created a brochure containing helpful tips that can be used to review the information taught and to maintain basic skills.

Sonum Tharwani Cary, Wake County Project: I Am Somebody Issue: Child Abuse

Maria Clair Tsikerdano Wake Forest, Wake County Project: Elsie’s Place Issue: Senior Citizen Care

Sonum’s project is a natural extension of her passion for working with children. She partnered with SAFEchild—a child abuse prevention agency—to promote awareness of child abuse and inform parents about the services that the agency provides. Sonum created and distributed informational visuals and brochures, and utilized social networking sites.

She spoke at several venues raising awareness and teaching how to recognize and help when child abuse is suspected. She enlisted various groups and organizations in her community to help provide items to create care kits to distribute to children being served

by SAFEchild.

At a local residential-care home for senior citizens, Maria renovated basement space and created a recreational center for residents.

She transformed the space by clearing out stored items, painting walls, decorating with artwork, and providing appropriate furniture.

The recreation center greatly expanded the common area in the home, allowing expanded leisure activities including bingo, card games, and puzzles. With the increased area, community groups will be able to visit with residents.

As she worked on her project, Maria took the opportunity to educate groups about Alzheimer’s and dementia, conditions which affect residents of the home.

2013 Recipients 23

In recognition of their achievements, Gold Awardees who join the armed services enter at one rank higher than other recruits.

24 The Girl Scout Gold Award

Margaret Mae Tucker Raleigh, Wake County Project: HRR Reflection Trail Issue: Equine Therapy

Jessica Hale Vickery Wake Forest, Wake County Project: Fun and Safe in the Sun Issue: Cancer Prevention

Working with Hope Reins Raleigh, a Christian equine therapy program, Margaret organized the building of a horse trail. The project involved mapping out the trail, organizing volunteers, clearing the trail, and soliciting donations for the project’s completion. Volunteers helped clear the trail and then spread mulch over the new trail with the help of a frontend loader. Before Margaret’s project, riders were initially limited to a riding pen. With this new trail, Margaret facilitated the opening of an unused section of the organization’s property, widening the options available for providing therapy.

Jessica was motivated to create a skin cancer prevention project for her Gold Award as a result of a family member’s experience with skin cancer. She constructed a shade shelter and picnic table at a local school and created a sun safety presentation for the school’s first grade physical education classes. Sun safety tips were stenciled on the shelter, which was constructed to give teachers and students shade from the sun during recess.

At the shelter’s ribbon cutting ceremony, Jessica spoke and handed out bags containing water bottles, bookmarks with sun safety tips, and sunscreen samples.

Andrea Jane Wilkerson Raleigh, Wake County Project: Fossil Dig Issue: Elementary Science Education Andrea noticed that the elementary students she was tutoring did not seem interested in science. She designed her project to engage the children in an activity that would broaden their knowledge about science in a fun way. Andrea created an outdoor fossil dig box for Lead Mine Elementary School.

She arranged to have the box filled with ground rocks from mines containing remains of ancient sharks, whales, fish, corals, and other fossils. Andrea created a fossil dig challenge game and a fossil identification sheet. Young paleontologists at the school can now get their hands and minds involved in learning about fossil science.

Lauren Nicole Wilsey Fayetteville, Cumberland County Project: The Importance of Butterflies and Moths Issue: Wildlife Conservation Lauren was concerned about the challenges fragile moths and butterflies face. She worked to share information about how pesticides are affecting habitats and threatening extinction. After conducting research, Lauren created informational signs, brochures, and bookmarks that include steps for planting pesticidefree butterfly gardens. Lauren grew a variety of plants at home that attract butterflies and moths and passed them out at a number of festivals in the community to help raise awareness. She partnered with the Cape Fear Botanical Gardens, which is helping distribute her bookmarks to its visitors.

Morgan Alexis Young New Bern, Craven County Project: Girls are Tough Too! Issue: Self-Esteem and Fitness Morgan wants girls to have the opportunity to participate and feel confident in trying new sports. She designed a program to introduce elementary-aged girls to the world of sports. Morgan taught girls basic athletic skills, confidence, and positive attitudes. She encouraged them to not be afraid to try something new, to discover unknown talents, and to explore their potential. Morgan created a booklet containing rules for different sports and a list of local sports organizations for girls. She created a video in which girls involved in sports share why they love the sport they play and give words of encouragement to younger girls.

2013 Recipients 25

Girls often partner with community organizations when working on their Gold Award projects.

The following organizations were associated with Girl Scout Gold Award projects awarded in 2013.

Annunciation Catholic Church, Havelock Bald Head Island Conservancy Boys & Girls Club of Pitt County Boys & Girls Club of the Sandhills Brian Center Health and Rehab

First Baptist Church of Whiteville

One Health Initiative

Garner Road Community Center

Prairie Ridge Ecostation

Hemlock Bluffs Nature Preserve

Project Linus

Hoke Community Forest

Raleigh Girls’ Club

Hope Reins Raleigh

Rescues 4 Rescues

J.H. Rose High School

SAFE Haven for Cats

Cape Fear High School SADD Chapter

Lead Mine Elementary School

SAFEchild

Cary High School Band

Mother Teresa’s Home for Abandoned Children

Smithfield-Selma High School

Children of the American Revolution

Nash General Hospital

Coastal Theraputic Riding Program Columbus County Farmers Market Columbus County Humane Society Cornerstone Missionary Baptist Church, Greenville

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration New Hanover County Health Department New Hanover Regional Medical Center North Carolina Division of Social Services

D.H. Conley High School

North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics

Durham Technical Community College

North Carolina Strive

Elsie’s Place

26 The Girl Scout Gold Award

Oak Ridge Military Academy

Southeast German Shepherd Rescue Thales Academy Town of Cary Vidas de Esperanza WakeMed Raleigh NICU Wells Elementary School Whiteville Arts Council Whiteville Vineland Depot Wilmington Boys & Girls Club Wilmington YMCA Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue

Jane S. Barringer Award Girl Scout Gold Award recipients are eligible to apply for the Jane S. Barringer Award.

This award is a $750 cash scholarship established to honor Mrs. Barringer, an outstanding teen advisor. A group of her former Girl Scouts, along with Girl Scouts – North Carolina Coastal Pines, has instituted an award in her name to be given to an individual who embodies the principles and spirit “Mrs. B” works to instill. Mrs. Barringer was recently recognized for 50 years of membership in Girl Scouting.

Misty Crabtree Eastham Memorial Scholarship The Misty Crabtree Eastham Endowment was established to honor the memory of lifelong Girl Scout Misty Crabtree Eastham, and provides scholarships for Gold Award recipients to help defray college expenses. As a girl in foster care who earned her Girl Scout Gold Award, Misty felt that Girl Scouting had a tremendous impact on her life and provided opportunities that she may never have had a chance to pursue. This scholarship embodies Misty’s sense of selflessness, generosity, drive and determination.

For more information about these and other council-sponsored scholarships, please visit www.nccoastalpines.org.

2013 Recipients 27

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Board of Directors

Members

Girl Board Members

Bernadette Spong, Chair

Scottie Bryan

Dymon Atkinson

Jean Carter, First Vice Chair

Cheryl Burns

Brianna Bennett

Bonnie Hancock, Second Vice Chair

Karen Hausser

Victoria Daniels

Annette Moore, Third Vice Chair

Jenna Green

Hillary Jacobs

Melissa Reed, Fourth Vice Chair

Kristen Hess

Katherine King

Jim Peterson, Treasurer

Manju Karkare

Leah Wuebbens

Michelle Lewis, Secretary

Debra Laughery Damita McDougall

Lisa M. K. Jones Chief Executive Officer

Courtney Mumford Valerie Quiett Edelmira Segovia

Gold Award Committee

Karine Stallings

Jane S. Barringer

Sue Stevens

Mary Beth Hall

Marie VanHeusen

Emily Adcock Hayne

Frank Westmeyer

Jennifer Stewart Jones Lori Winkelstein Staff Liaison: Terrica Hay