From the Desk of the CEO

Dear Girl Scout Gold Award Class of 2023,

Congratulations on earning the Girl Scout Gold Award! So many of this year’s Gold Award Class embarked on this award-earning journey as our world was still recovering from the effects of a global pandemic. When so much was uncertain and unsettling, I am astonished and impressed at your collective poise and sense of purpose. It is impressive to see the determination, passion, and creativity that lives inside of you. I am incredibly proud of your collective accomplishments.

This year, 22 Girl Scouts in our council earned our organization’s highest award for girls. Perhaps even more impressive is that your collective projects contributed more than 2,500 hours into our communities. You partnered with dozens of local organizations with projects that impacted thousands of lives. The Gold Award Class of 2023 took on issues surrounding chronic homelessness, literacy, mental health, food insecurity, environmental sustainability, and addressing the need to expand the conversation about equity, diversity, and inclusion. Our Girl Scouts didn’t just talk about improving a situation—you made plans, built teams, stuck it out, and really made our world a better place.

Becoming a Gold Award Girl Scout marks an important milestone in your Girl Scout career. The same vision, commitment, and leadership that brought you through the Gold Award process will now continue to carry you to new heights. This will distinguish you on scholarship applications, college admission essays and on your resume—forever. The Gold Award will set you apart, in all the best possible ways. In addition to accomplishing a challenging personal goal, you now join an elite group of Girl Scouts who share this extraordinary distinction and honor. While only five percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award every year, those that do leave a legacy of activism, passion, and excellence.

As you take your next steps, to finish high school, enter college, join the military, or the workforce, I invite you to stay with Girl Scouts for a lifetime. I encourage you to revisit the drive and grit you harnessed to earn the Gold Award often and hold on tightly to the enormous feeling of accomplishment you have today. All the determination, passion, and creativity that it took to achieve this goal lives inside you—Girl Scouting just gave you a place to direct it. Our world will always need people who want to make it better and Girl Scouts need people who know what that really means. We’re going to need you because you’re a change-maker, action taker, and leader! And I know this is just the beginning.

Yours in Girl Scouting, Lisa

Y. Johnson

8:00 A.M.

Registration, Networking, Photography, and Retail Store Open

9:00 A.M.

Pledge of Allegiance and Girl Scout Promise

Opening Remarks

Recognition of Gold Award Advisors

Gold Award Ceremony

Scholarship Presentations

Closing Remarks

11:30 A.M.

Class of 2023 Group Photos

Retail Store Open

SPECIAL THANKS

Ronica Deshmukh, Troop 24529, ceremony volunteer

Ava Palazzolo, Troop 24529, ceremony volunteer

Linda Saraniti, Troop 20570, ceremony vocalist

Amanda Kopelman, Gold Award Girl Scout 2020

Geri Emmett, GSSEF Board Member

Jennifer and Tony Montalto, Gina Rose Montalto Memorial Foundation

Zaida Alvarez and Juan Carlos Arias, The ECHO Scholarship

Christine Shaw, Florida Power & Light Company

Posting photos today? Share them on social media and use #GSSEFGold23

More than 100 Years of Extraordinary Projects from Amazing Girl Scouts.

Starting in 1916, the best and brightest Girl Scouts have undertaken projects to improve their communities — and the world! The Golden Eaglet insignia, the highest award in Girl Scouts from 1916 to 1939, marked the beginning of a long tradition of recognizing the extraordinary efforts of trail-blazers. From 1940 to 1963, this achievement was rebranded as the Curved Bar Award and remained the highest honor in Girl Scouts. From 1963 to 1980, the highest award was rebranded again as the First Class. Finally, in 1980, the Gold Award was established and has inspired girls to find the greatness inside themselves and to share their ideas and passions ever since.

In 2016, in celebration of its centennial, Girl Scouts of the USA recommitted itself to expanding the visibility of the Gold Award and the Girl Scouts who achieve it. To that end, Girl Scouts of the USA invited all women who earned the Golden Eaglet, Curved Bar Award, and First Class to unite as Gold Award Girl Scouts, and with this one name, further strengthening our brand and our movement.

In 2018, Girl Scouts of the USA and LinkedIn launched the Girl Scout Network. This opportunity invites our organization’s more than 50 million Girl Scout alums to connect with one another on the Girl Scout Network to enhance their career development among the 564 million LinkedIn users. Any girl who was a member may join — whether she was a Girl Scout Brownie for one year or stayed in a troop through 12th grade. Yes, there is a special built-in option for Girl Scouts who have earned the Gold Award, to add it to their LinkedIn profile.

About The Girl Scout Gold Award

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award that a Girl Scout in grades 9–12 may earn. Someone once described the Gold Award as being “what you really want to be remembered for” in Girl Scouting. For many, the leadership and organizational skills, and sense of community and commitment that come from “going for the Gold” set the foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship.

About The Gold Award Project

The Gold Award project is something that a girl must be passionate about — in thought, deed, and action. The project fulfills a need within a girl’s community (whether local or global), creates change, and will become sustainable. If it is an event, the event should be something that people will continue for the next year; if it is a service, it should be something that creates change or action with long-term possibilities; if it is something tangible, it should come with a plan for use and maintenance within the community. Undertaking a Gold Award project is far more than just a nice service project. Gold Award projects demand the highest level of organizational, leadership, and project management skills.

About The Gold Award Advisors

The role of the council’s volunteer Gold Award Advisors is to guide, coach, and provide well-rounded support to individual girls as they work on their Gold Award project plan. Gold Award Advisors are appointed by council staff and agree to serve a two-year term. Our Advisors make a time commitment to a girl, agreeing to support her from the point of project approval through project completion. These volunteers demonstrate an incredibly high level of dedication as they nurture a mentoring relationship that promotes girls’ success in leadership, communication, goal-setting, problem-solving, and project fulfillment. Once the Gold Award project has been completed, only the Gold Award Advisor may provide the final approval.

Gold Award Advisors have a full working knowledge of the GSUSA Award framework, as well as the GSSEF Award guidelines, policies, and procedures. Each Advisor personally organizes and facilitates the council’s required Gold Award Workshops throughout the jurisdiction. They are flexible, organized, carry a strong skill set in the use of technology, and utilize patience, persistence, and passion to work with girls.

Our Gold Award Advisors

Pamela Ashworth

Ahlam “Lammy” Askar

Angela Barnard

Karyl Bertram

Debra Byrne-Mathews

Sandra Clutter

Julia Dourvetakis

Tracey Eller

Paula Fontaine

Debbie Hanley

Merribeth Manning

Dr. Nazly Nardi

Tori-Lynn Saraniti

Kimberly Schnitzius

Joyce Shraim

Melanie Smith

Emily Zarzycki

Girl Scout Gold Award Class of 2023

Amanda Altree Troop 10393

Project Title: Book Buddy

Gold Award Advisor: Kimberly Schnitzius

Hometown: Weston

Service Unit: Royal Palm

Amanda’s project aimed to address the issue of children’s literacy and disparities that have arisen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many young elementary school students are struggling to read because of the challenges of virtual school that prevented in-person learning and practice. The extended period of distance learning meant students missed real-time feedback, combined with public library closures, this has caused a profound reading gap. Amanda created an interactive reading program that she personally taught to rising first and second graders and combined it with her Book Buddy Bundles to encourage reading when they weren’t together. Book Buddy Bundles included a level appropriate book, plastic witch finger to help students guide their finger along words, and a stuffed animal as a reading companion. Her bundles were designed to give new readers a hands-on routine that made the learning process more interesting and personal. Through the reach of her website, reading tutorials on YouTube, and her partnership with the HandsOn Broward literacy program, Amanda tutored 11 students and distributed 80 Book Buddy Bundles. Learn more about Book Buddy: whale-greyhound-t9s3.squarespace.com

Sydney Barfus Troop 10707

Project Title: Helping Heal through Stories

Gold Award Advisor: Ahlam “Lammy” Askar

Hometown: Ft. Lauderdale

Service Unit: Atikah

When children are hospitalized, fear, discomfort, and confusion can be side effects of the fastpaced and unfamiliar environment. When you add in separation from their families, not fully understanding treatments, and loss of independence and privacy, overwhelming stress levels rise. Sydney knew that this stress and anxiety can interfere with recovery, and even exacerbate some medical conditions. She wanted to aid children’s mental wellbeing, help reduce stress, and introduce healthy distractions while patients experience a hospital stay. Sydney partnered with Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami to create a program providing physical books for reading and audiobooks for listening that are recorded in Spanish, Creole, and English. By offering stories that children can read and listen along to, the fast-paced, intimidating hospital environment can fade away to dramatically reduce stress levels and ultimately make their experience a lot more comforting. Additionally, Sydney made sure that enough books were supplied so children could take them home and continue to enjoy them, through another key partnership with the non-profit organization, Reach Out and Read, who agreed to provide monthly donations to restock supplies.

Project Title:

“Ta Ta for Now (TTFN)” Providing Bras to Girls in Need

Gold Award Advisor: Melanie Smith

Hometown: Jupiter Service Unit: Jupiter

Jessie wanted to address clothing insecurity resulting from poverty and the lack of social services for those in need. She became aware that government support, such as aid for housing, food, and health care, didn’t meet the need for clothing. Jessie looked deeper to find that a study conducted in 2017, “America’s Youth: The Need for Basic Necessities,” found that the lack of access to basic items such underwear is a pressing issue among low-income families, and “not having these basic items is believed to have a detrimental impact on children’s emotional wellbeing and potentially their outcomes in school and life.” It can be difficult to find undergarments at garage sales and secondhand stores, and bras are the least common item to be passed down or donated to charity. Jessie decided to answer this problem with the creation of a 501(c)(3) corporation entitled Ta Ta for Now. Her mission is to empower young girls with new bras and underwear so that they are ready to get dressed for school, with confidence, and less worried about teasing or potential bullying. To date, her non-profit has held numerous collection events and secured 650 pairs of underwear and 281 bras. Visit Jessie’s website: tatafornow.org

RYANN BIERMANN ADULT, FORMERLY OF TROOP 22222

Project

Title:

If You Give A Bat a Box

Gold Award Advisor: Karyl Bertram

Hometown: Wellington

Service Unit: Phoenix

Bats are a keystone species in most of the ecosystems where they reside—including Florida’s scrubland and forested areas. Bats play a vital role in pest control and ecologic stability and Ryann sought out to educate others about them. With a reduced bat presence, the risk for both animal and human sickness increases. Ryann wanted to teach others just how an increased bat presence can positively affect the number of animals and humans not getting sick from diseases like Equine Infectious Anemia, Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis, and West Zile Virus. To conserve bats, as well increase education about them, Ryann built and installed 10 bat boxes and created an educational program to help offset human impact in her community. To expand the reach of her message, she created an interactive trail and website to share accurate information about bats, the dangers of human impact, and what actions we can take to help keep bats thriving. Visit Ryann’s website: batboxtrail.com

Gabrielle Fairweather Troop 10450

Project Title: High School: Bridge to Freshman Success

Gold Award Advisor: Tori-Lynn Saraniti

Hometown: Oakland Park

Service Unit: Orange Blossom

Reflecting on her own experiences, Gabrielle realized the transition from middle to high school can be overwhelming for most. Ninth graders can suffer from a lack of confidence at the start of the school year, which causes them to feel uncomfortable and out of place. It can also have a negative impact on their social and academic lives, not only for freshman year, but throughout their high school career. For all students to reach their fullest potential and improve the quality of their education, Gabrielle set out to create a sturdy foundation to increase confidence, comfort, and success. She created a program to serve as a bridge for freshmen to enter high school—providing information, tips, tricks, and shortcuts. Topics included how to earn service hours, relationships, communicating with teachers, time management, stress relief, and mental health resources. She also included a wide range of details about school supplies, academic prep, study tips, testing, scholarships, and credit information. With the endorsement and support of Fort Lauderdale High School, Gabrielle reached 300 freshman and received overwhelmingly positive feedback from her student surveys and the school administration. Gabby’s program is now a part of the school’s website: bit.ly/3n4ipQK

Naomi Fleischer Troop 10685

Project

Title:

Kindness Goes A Long Way

Gold Award Advisor: Merribeth Manning

Hometown: Weston

Service Unit: Magnolia

When Naomi returned to school following a period of distance learning, she noticed her peers were interacting differently with each other. Behavior was distinctly more gruff and unnecessarily assertive; many seemed to have lost empathy and kindness due to isolation and spending a lot of time on social media during the pandemic. Naomi made it her mission to reunite people with kindness and positivity. She believed that a concerted effort, using both social media and in-person interactions at school, would create a positive impact and teach students how to manage social media in a healthy way. At the heart of Naomi’s project was one small act of kindness creating a ripple effect through the student body. She established her school’s first Random Acts of Kindness week, where students performed random acts of kindness and then completed an online survey to earn a special bracelet. Survey questions included, “What does kindness mean to you?” and “How kind are you?” Now her high school has a team to adopt the activity and she hopes it will catch on throughout the county. You can learn more on Naomi’s website: kindnessgoesalongway.godaddysites.com

Ella Glassman Troop 10685

Project Title: The ART of Applying

Gold Award Advisor: Tori-Lynn Saraniti

Hometown: Davie Service Unit: Magnolia

Ella noticed a significant lack of support for high school students who were applying to college art programs—such as fine arts, performing arts, visual arts, and journalism. Applying to art schools is incredibly different from the typical college application process and most students were unaware of this difference until they began creating applications. With minimal resources available in her local school system and online, Ella set out to create a curriculum tool that explains how to successfully evaluate schools, create supplemental applications, build an artistic resume, write essays, create a portfolio, prep an audition, and nail the interview process. Additionally, her guide demonstrates how students can utilize the Common App to present their best artistic self for admissions, scholarships, and more. Her guide has been adopted across Broward County and is now in the hands of every public school and college readiness advisor. Ella’s presentations and interviews with art admission professionals are available on her YouTube channel: youtube.com/@theARTof.applying

Tessie Goron Troop 21001

Project Title: Volunteer Service Network PBC

Gold Award Advisor: Merribeth Manning

Hometown: Wellington Service Unit: Phoenix

Tessie has a deep appreciation for civic engagement and volunteering. With her Gold Award project she wanted to raise awareness and expand access to community service opportunities for high school students in Palm Beach County. Tessie observed that students were struggling to discover organizations that needed help and the struggle was leading to frustration. She set out to create an accessible and easy-to-navigate website that serves as a central database for all local, current, and recurring volunteer opportunities. Tessie knew that if the information was organized and easy to find, more students could get involved quickly and feel better about doing it. To date, two Palm Beach County Schools are promoting the site to their students, as more volunteer opportunities continue to be added. To ensure the site stays updated, Tessie has partnered with the National Honor Society at Wellington High School and is working closely with them to make plans for the upcoming 2023-2024 school year.

Website: gorontessie.wixsite.com/vsnpbc

ANGELINA JURADO ADULT, FORMERLY OF TROOP 20350

Project Title: Addington Place Garden of Life Planter

Gold Award Advisor: Julia Dourvetakis

Hometown: Jupiter

Service Unit: Jupiter

Angelina learned that the effects of isolation on the elderly can be devastating. Given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, elderly residents spent significant time alone for their physical safety. But, according to the CDC, social isolation can significantly increase a person’s risk of premature death. Angelina knew that she could have a positive impact on the lives of the residents at Addington Place in Jupiter. She loves the outdoors and felt drawn to create an educational and social opportunity for the residents that would get them out in nature. Through her research, she discovered that “participating in nature walks with others is linked to more positive feelings and better mental health.” After learning this, Angelina and her team created a new garden for Addington’s residents and, with help from experts, she added flowers and plants to attract birds and pollinators. To expand the reach of her project and foster social interaction, Angelina led an educational class on flower care for residents at the unveiling of the garden that everyone greatly enjoyed. Her programs will be ongoing and Addington Place staff are committed to the physical upkeep of the beautiful outdoor space.