Local Girl Scout Earns Gold Award

Josephine Mark, 17, a member of Girl Scout Troop 3288, has earned the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award, symbolizing outstanding accomplishments in the areas of leadership, community service and advocacy. The Gold Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn and is awarded to only about five percent of eligible Girl Scouts nationwide.

For her Gold Award project, titled “Ready, Set, Read!” Josie created a book club for preschool children who have developmental delays, don’t use English as their primary language, or live below the poverty line. The curriculum she developed meets Maryland State Department of Education standards for literacy and learning and is designed to develop pre-reading skills essential to kindergarten success. Josephine completed her project at Karasik Family, Infant & Child Care Center (KFICCC), a program of The Arc Montgomery County. Josephine is a senior at Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart and lives in Bethesda, MD.

A Girl Scout working toward the Gold Award is required to design, plan, lead and execute a community service project, investing over 80 hours of her time and engaging other community members in the project. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Gold Award; more information is available at http://www.girlscouts.org/en/our-program/highest-awards/gold-award.html.

KFICCC is a unique child care center where every classroom includes children with developmental delays, children with special medical needs, and typically-developing children. KFICCC supports children ages 6 weeks to 10 years old. More information is available at: http://thearcmontgomerycounty.org/children/karasik-child-care-center.html

The attached photo shows Josephine with some of her book club members.