Merrick Girl Scouts Awarded Highest Honor

MERRICK, NY (June 30, 2016)— The Girl Scouts of Nassau County recently distributed 101 Gold Awards during a ceremony hosted by the United States Merchant Marine Academy. Katelin Harrington, Mary Johnson and Erin St. John of Merrick were among awardees. Now in its hundredth year, 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 her project, which aimed to make the world a better place for others as well as herself.

“We are extremely proud to celebrate the achievement of over 100 local young women earning their Girl Scout Gold Award during its 100th year,” said Donna Ceravolo, Executive Director and CEO of the Girl Scouts of Nassau County. “On average, only five percent of eligible Girl Scouts successfully earn the Gold Award, making Katelin, Mary and Erin part of an exclusive group of women with the tools to become leaders in the 21st century.”

Gold Award projects have positively impacted girls’ lives, their communities and the world for 100 years. 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 Scouts Council before embarking on her project. The Girl Scout presents her final conclusions as the last step of the journey.

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

With her project, “Inspiring Healthy Living from the Top of a Mountain,” Katelin set out to tackle the issue of obesity by aiming to educate and inspire kids and teens to live healthier lives and to be more active. Katelin’s goal was to get people away from their electronic devices and get outdoors, be active, and have an adventure with family and friends.

Mary noticed that most people from her generation don’t know their family history and wanted to change that. Through her Gold Award project, “Tell Me Your Story,” she conducted interviews with various generations from different families and recorded their history on video. Mary then compiled all the video footage and created DVDs for each family that tells their stories.

Erin used her experience being a high school student with little knowledge of the various career paths available to create her project “Empower Your Path.” Erin felt it was important to expose students to different career paths to showcase the many opportunities available to them. With the goal of allowing high school students to explore new career options, she created a website which contained information she gathered from interviewing professionals and conducting research on the career choices that exist for students. To reach the maximum amount of students, Erin also created pamphlets for the guidance office at her high school. With a website that can be updated frequently and pamphlets that are available in the guidance office, students have permanent and constant access to the research and information Erin put together.

Lifelong value comes with having earned a Gold Award. According to the Girl Scout Research Institute, Gold Award recipients 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.

Notable Gold Award recipients include Jan Hopkins, CNN financial news anchor, and Betsy Boze, Senior Fellow at American Association of State Colleges and Universities and President at Kent State University Stark.

We’re the Girl Scouts of Nassau County: We’re 23,000 strong – 23,000 girls and adults who believe every girl from Nassau County can change the world. It began over 100 years ago with one woman, Juliette Gordon “Daisy” Low, who believed in the power of every girl. Today, we continue her vision of building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place by helping them discover their inner strength, passion and talents. And with programs in Nassau County, across Long Island and throughout the United States, there’s a chance for every girl to do something amazing. We’re the Girl Scouts. To volunteer, reconnect, donate or join, visit www.gsnc.org or contact Donna Rivera-Downey at 516 741-2550.