Two Brookfield Girl Scouts Earn Highest National Girl Scout Honor

Photo: left to right: Heather Morey and Subhatra Chelladuari

Subhatra Chelladuari and Heather Morey of Brookfield have received their Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor a girl can earn in Girl Scouting.

In order to earn the Gold Award, Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts grades nine through 12 spend at least 80 hours researching issues, assessing community needs and resources, building a team, and making a sustainable impact in the community. A Gold Award recipient’s accomplishments reflect leadership and citizenship skills that set her apart as a community leader.

Subhatra’s project was to create a self defense program for girls between the ages of 12 and 18 with classes encompassing of both physical and non-physical forms of self-defense. “Self Defense 101” helped girls foster a greater sense of confidence. Subhatra plans to pursue a career in health sciences after graduating from high school.

Heather’s project was to work with a team of individuals and restore and rejuvenate the Old Bridge Bird Sanctuary in her town. Heather cleaned the park, put together bird houses, made benches, put a new sign in the kiosk, remarked and metered the trails, and rebuilt the fire pit. When the park was completed, she hosted an “Open Park Day”, and led a Girl Scout hike.

“On a national level, only four to six percent of Girl Scouts earn this prestigious honor, and I am beyond proud of our girls,” said Mary Barneby, CEO of Girl Scouts of Connecticut. “By earning the Gold Award, Girl Scouts set themselves apart as top achievers, and are incredible women of confidence, courage, and character, who make the world a better place. Next year, we are excited to celebrate our 100th year of encouraging girls to Go Gold!”

For more information about the Gold Award or how to become a Gold Award volunteer or mentor, visit http://www.gsofct.org/pages/GoldAward.php.