Northville Girl Scout Only One from Michigan to Receive National Honor

NORTHVILLE -- Miranda Niemiec’s advice to other Girl Scouts is fairly straightforward:  “Stay in Girl Scouts and don’t drop out.  It really exposes
you to the most amazing opportunities.”

Her 13-year career in Girl Scouting is proof of those opportunities.  Miranda, who resides in Northville, is one of 10 young women throughout the United States and the only one in Michigan to be named a 2013 “National Young Woman of Distinction” by Girl Scouts of the United States of America.

 
Miranda, a member of Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan, received the
national honor for a Gold Award project focused on the development and launch in October, 2011 of the Community Impact Awards which has already matched more than 400 Northville students with community service opportunities at more than 186 organizations.

The CIA project has garnered national attention and exceeded the expectations of Miranda and fellow Girl Scouts who assisted her.

“I was just so excited. I was actually in school when I found out I won,” Miranda said of the Young Woman of Distinction designation. 
“I never  thought that doing a project would grow so big and have such a national impact.”

The national honor is conferred annually on 10 Girl Scout Gold Award recipients whose final projects demonstrate extraordinary leadership, have a  measurable and sustainable impact, and address a local challenge related to a national and/or
global issue, according to officials with GSUSA.  More than 3,000 girls each year achieve Gold recognition, the highest and most prestigious honor awarded by individual councils.

The creation of the CIA was a learning experience for Miranda who plans to attend the University of Michigan to major in Environmental Biology.  She said it
reinforced her belief that hard work to meet goals will pay off.

“Doing these projects forced me to reach out to community leaders, students and school administrators and communicate effectively with them,” Miranda said.

She credits her involvement in Girl Scouts with the successes she has had.

“Girl Scouts helped me so much by exposing to me to all of these age-appropriate service opportunities,” she said.  “It helped me mature and join a group of
other great young women.   It taught me how to work well with others, and focus on customer service  because it’s always about helping people.

Her involvement in Girl Scouting began at a very young age.  Miranda’s mother, Valerie, was a leader for her troop and her older sister’s troop.

When asked about the individuals who most influenced her, Miranda doesn’t hesitate to cite her mother.

“She was a Girl Scout and there was no doubt that we would do it too,” Miranda said.  “My family was a huge inspiration.”

The lack of community service opportunities available to her younger brother inspired Miranda to create the CIA.

“My little brother was not in scouting and he didn’t have opportunities we had,” Miranda said.  “I wanted to give the whole community access to service opportunities.  Created those awards to bundle all of the work they’ve done.   On college applications they have a spot to list honors and awards and this is giving students a way to bundle them.”

Fellow team members and Gold Award recipients Jessica Bernard, Molly O’Sullivan and Lauren Santucci developed the “Leadership & Mentoring”, “Good Nature”, and “Beyond Our Borders” awards for the CIA.

This year Miranda is focusing on acquiring nonprofit status
for her project, creating a smooth transition to the next generation of student
management of the project, and standardizing the program for expansion to other
communities.  To date, 14 other communities have asked for help with implementing their own versions of the CIA.

Several weeks ago Miranda traveled to Arizona to speak during a gathering of national Girl Scout leadership about her project and the impact Girl Scouting has had on her life.

“I’m a national young consultant.  I’m a Girl Scout for life now,” she
said.  “I’m definitely always going to want to jump on opportunities to help Girl Scouts.  I really want to make sure girls stayinvolved.  I want to get them as excited as I am.”