Morristown Girl Scout Earns Prestigious Gold Award

Sydney Waldron, of Girl Scout troop 81170 in Morristown, New Jersey, just earned her Gold Award for spreading Autism Awareness. The Girl Scout Gold Award is the most prestigious award that Girl Scouts can earn and less than 6% of Girl Scouts nationally earn this honor every year.

To earn her Gold Award, Sydney partnered with the Pines Lake School in Wayne, New Jersey, where she worked with 4th and 5th graders to teach them empathy and compassion for students with disabilities in the public schools. Sydney has always approached her Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as a gift that made her special. She knows first-hand what it felt like to be left out or bullied because she did not always approach things in a typical manner. She used her life experiences to inspire elementary students to treat everyone with kindness and respect. The students enjoyed Sydney's workshop, role playing, and class discussions. One student complimented Sydney on her bravery and thanked her for including her in such a great cause.

As part of her Gold Award project, Sydney wrote a book about her experiences with the Pines Lake Students. Titled Autism Awareness, Sydney and the students share their stories of how they have learned more about themselves with the inclusion of everyone, recognizing that people with disabilities are the same on the inside even if they might appear different on the outside. A copy of her book will sit on the shelves of the Pines Lake School Library and in the 4th and 5th grade classrooms, so that her powerful message will continue to inspire others. Sydney loved this experience so much that she hopes to become a motivational speaker and share her story with schools all over the country.

The Gold Award is given to Girl Scout Seniors and Ambassadors (high-school level) who have completed rigorous steps en route to a Take Action Project that requires more than 80 hours of work. Girl Scout Gold Award projects must make a lasting difference in the local community, region, or beyond, be sustainable, and inspire others. Sydney Waldron joins an elite level of Girl Scouts with her profoundly uplifting project that taps into the best of people, so relevant in our current times. Morristown Girl Scouts is proud to call her one of our own!