Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas honors 172 with Gold Award

Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas (GSNETX) recently announced 172 local Girl Scouts who have earned the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award, which recognizes girls in grades 9 through 12 who demonstrate extraordinary leadership in developing sustainable solutions to local, national, and global challenges.

The Gold Award is the mark of the truly remarkable—earned by a high school Girl Scout who works to address an issue she’s passionate about in a way that produces meaningful and lasting change. Whether it’s on a local, national, or global level, Gold Award Girl Scouts provide innovative solutions to significant challenges.

Ayan Kent (at left)and Kennedy Ligon (right), both from Plano, were among 172 . Ayan, a 2020 graduate from John Paul II High School, chose to address lower voter registration and turnout among youth within the age range of 18 to 21 for her Gold Award project. Kennedy, who graduated Plano Senior High School in 2019, decided to create awareness about cancer and patient treatments by making fleece blankets and donating them to the Dallas Methodist Oncology Center for patients undergoing chemotherapy. (Courtesy photos)

One global challenge caused a bit of a change up in the normal award procedures themselves.

Due to the city and statewide restrictions related to COVID-19, GSNETX was not able to hold its annual Gold Award Ceremony slated for May 17. Instead, a double ceremony will be held in 2021 to recognize both the 2020 and 2021 honorees.

“Gold Award Girl Scouts don’t just change the world for the better; they change it for good. Each of our 172 young women recognized this year embody everything this achievement stands for,” said Jennifer Bartkowski, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. “While we were unable to gather to recognize and congratulate our Gold Award Girl Scouts on their noteworthy accomplishments, we are honored and humbled at the number of business professionals who stepped up to create congratulatory videos for each of our honorees. We hope our community will join us in congratulating these incredible young women.”

To earn the award, Girl Scouts must develop innovative, lasting solutions to local or global issues. In pursuing their Gold Award, girls take action on a topic or a cause they are passionate about, as they develop organizational, leadership and networking skills—spending more than 80 hours to complete their Gold Award project.

This year’s Gold Award recipients developed projects ranging from implementing a community blood drive to helping refugees and immigrants acclimate to a new area, to improving education access and expanded STEM opportunities for girls in underserved communities.

Additionally, 55 Gold Award recipients will be receiving the Betty Richardson scholarship this year. A complete list of honorees and their accomplishments can be found at https://bit.ly/2WMdR1F.

GSNETX will recognize all Gold Award Girl Scouts from this year’s class on the GSNETX Facebook page (@gsnetx), and The Dallas Morning News will publish the girls’ project information and photos in its Sunday edition throughout the year.
Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas serves 32 counties in Northeast Texas. For more information on how to join, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, call 972-349-2400 or visit gsnetx.org.

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