4 Southbury Residents Receive Prestigious Connecticut Girl Scouts Gold Award

By WENDY ANN MITCHELL (Patch Staff)

Four Southbury residents recently took home gold for their community focused projects that helped them earn their Gold Award. A total of 86 Connecticut Girl Scouts received the recognition.

"The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest and most prestigious award that Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors can earn. Each Gold Award Project addresses a community issue and improves lives. The Gold Award process builds girls’ personal leadership skills. A Gold Award Project inspires others to take action within their communities," according to the Girl Scouts website.

Here is some information concerning each of the four Southbury award winners via the Connecticut Girl Scouts:

Hannah C. Beilinson

Hannah organized a series of speaker panels for students at her local high school to help them choose the right career. Each panel was focused on a specific career and had three to five professionals in that field speaking about their jobs. Hannah hoped the panels would help students get an idea about what it was like to work in careers which interested them and possibly open their eyes to different options. Hannah took videos of the panels and posted them to YouTube for all high school students to view. She created a binder with instructions on how to run the panel series so the program can be continued in the future, and recruited a student who will run the event next year. Hannah is currently undecided but plans to attend college in the fall.

Claire E. Bisch

Claire’s Gold Award Project focused on the importance of helping children understand the benefits of healthy eating and learning about healthy food choices. Claire went to her local elementary school and taught the students and their parents about good eating habits. Throughout the program, students were able to learn about healthy recipes, kept a weekly food log to track their meals and how they felt throughout the day, and Claire even implemented a “Nutrition Week” at the school. Next year, Claire’s local elementary school will continue Nutrition Week with the help of Claire’s materials. Claire plans to pursue a career in health and pre med upon graduating high school.

Cara Lomaro

Cara’s project helped ease the transition for students entering middle school. Her program, “Middle Link Orientation,” consisted of eighth-grade student leaders who helped ease the transition by leading ice breakers, activities, and discussions with the sixth-grade students. Cara created a survey for sixth and eighth-grade students to assess the program and their emotions before and after, and created resources for the middle school principal to put on the school’s website for future use. Cara also created guidelines for someone in the middle school to take over the program after she leaves. Cara plans to pursue a career in music therapy when she graduates.

Sarah Stiles

Sarah created a meditation garden at her local Congregational church comprised of a pathway, plants donated by the community, donated benches, a Take-a-Book, Leave-a-Book box, an area for stones which guests can write on, and a birdhouse. Sarah hoped the garden would be a place for meditation, relaxation, and faith, including a meeting spot for youth groups and religious classes. For the future, a committee at the church will continue to look after the garden and maintain its space. Sarah currently attends University of Connecticut with a major in horticulture with a concentration in sustainability.

Click here to see the full list of Gold Award recipients.

Image via Girl Scouts of Connecticut