West Hempstead/Franklin Square Girl Scouts Awarded Highest Honor

West Hempstead, NY (July 9, 2018)—Girl Scouts of Nassau County recently hosted its annual Gold Award ceremony at Adelphi University. During the event, more than 70 local Girl Scouts earned their Gold Awards, including Victoria Arnold, Adriana Carrini, Demitria Tzakas, and Phoebe Velez of West Hempstead. The Gold Award program recognizes the power and dedication shared by an elite group of young women who earn the highest honor a Girl Scout can achieve. Each girl spent more than 80 hours over the past year planning, executing and presenting the results of their project, which aimed to make the world a better place for others as well as herself.

“These young women are among an exclusive group of leaders who have earned the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn. I commend each and every one of them for the countless hours they have spent dedicated to their project—not only to empower and better themselves, but to make the world a better place,” said Rande Bynum, Chief Executive Officer, Girl Scouts of Nassau County. “Gold Award projects have positively impacted girls’ lives, their communities and the world for over one hundred years.”

The recipients each tackled a project that held a deep significance to them. Their projects are described below.

Victoria’s project, “Sexuality and Gender Acceptance Association (SAGAA),” provided students with a safe space where they could learn more about themselves and others. Victoria used social media, posted flyers and word of mouth, to draw attention to the club and encourage students to see what it was about. She held and ran the club’s meetings and helped her classmates understand the importance of equality. The new club helped to foster a more inclusive and informed environment in her school. With the help of her principal and teachers, SAGAA will be available for current and future students.

As a recent graduate of H. Frank Carey High School, Victoria served as editor and chief of the school’s literary magazine and was captain of the color guard. Victoria will be attending Adelphi University in the fall. Her fondest Girl Scout memory is the trip her troop took to the city to see Anastasia on Broadway.

For Adriana’s project, “Educating a Life about Nine Lives,” she chose to incorporate her passion for animals and teaching. Adriana worked with her local shelter to educate her community about the importance of cat adoption and care. Adriana hosted an event with her local shelter that allowed attendees to interact with the cats and learn about cat adoption. She also built and placed several donation boxes in her local library where community members can donate cat supplies.

Adriana is a recent graduate of H. Frank Carey High School. She was a member of the National Honor Society, National Art Honors Society and the Career and Technical Honors Society. Adriana will attend Adelphi University in the fall. Her fondest Girl Scout memory is her first time at Camp Blue Bay where she enjoyed time hiking to the beach and making crafts with her friends.

Demitra took on the challenge of educating her community about the symptoms and effects of Leukemia through her project, “Raising Awareness for Childhood Leukemia.” She created a Leukemia Awareness Chapter at her school to help educate her peers about the effects the disease has on diagnosed patients. To help local families in need deal effected by Leukemia, Demitra set up volunteer opportunities for her peers through the Ronald McDonald House.

A recent graduate of H. Frank Carey High School, Demitra was an active member of the National Honor Society and Student Council. She will attend Binghamton University in the fall. Her fondest Girl Scout memory was taking a trip to Hershey Park with her troop.

Phoebe addressed the lack of awareness regarding the arts through her project, “Public Relations Department.” She created a public relations club to help promote the importance of the theatre club in her school and community. Through the club, Phoebe was also able to address the use of social media by teenagers. She helped educate her community on the benefits social media can have when they are used in a positive and meaningful way. Phoebe created her own social media page helping to inform her community and beyond about the importance of theatre and expressive art programs and the ways social media can be used to enhance those programs.

Phoebe will be attending the Newhouse School at Syracuse University to study Public Relations this fall. A recent graduate of H. Frank Cary High School, she was involved in both musical and drama theater and was a member of the production and performance teams. Her fondest Girl Scout memory is of the weeks she spent camping at Camp Blue Bay.

Approximately 1 million Girl Scout alumnae have developed Gold Award projects that addressed local or global issues. After identifying an area of interest, a successful Gold Award recipient performs hours of research and prepares a project proposal to be submitted for feedback and approval to the Girl Scout Council before embarking on her project. The Girl Scout presents her final conclusions as the last step of the journey.

Lifelong value comes with having earned a Gold Award. According to the Girl Scout Research Institute, Gold Award Girl Scouts display more positive life outcomes pertaining to sense of self, life, satisfaction, leadership, life success, community service and civic engagement. Recipients of the award who enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces may receive advanced rank for their achievements and can receive scholarships or other recognition from most colleges or universities.

We’re the Girl Scouts of Nassau County: We’re 22,000 strong – 17,000 girls and 5,000 adults who believe in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ from Nassau County to change the world. Our extraordinary journey began more than 100 years ago with the original G.I.R.L., Juliette Gordon “Daisy” Low. On March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, she organized the very first Girl Scout Troop, and every year since we’ve honored her vision and legacy, building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. We’re the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. And with programs in Nassau County, across Long Island and throughout the United States and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl a chance to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success.

We’re the Girl Scouts. To volunteer, reconnect, donate or join, visit www.gsnc.org or contact Donna Rivera-Downey at 516 741-2550.