Two local teens earn Girl Scouts Highest Honor
Nearly 80 local high school students recently earned Girl Scouts of the USA's most prestigious national honor for girls: the Girl Scout Gold Award.
The girls received their awards after completing a complex series of requirements, including the implementation of significant community service projects.
Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana honored their accomplishments during a special ceremony May 20 at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. Two members of Girl Scout Troop 40654 were among those honored.
Erin McBriarty of Lake Villa is the daughter of Kevin and Joyce McBriarty. McBriarty earned her Gold Award by initiating "Project ArtBox." Her goal was to build an arts and crafts library full of "how to" books for the children of Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern Wisconsin, and to create "Art Boxes" that contain different crafts for the families to do while they are staying at the House.
She was able to get adult and children's coloring books, as well as markers and colored pencils donated from many publishers, manufacturers and retail stores, and packaged the supplies as a welcome gift for families staying at RMH.
"I was happy to reach out to people in the medical community and help them unlock their creative process during a difficult time," McBriarty said.
Natalie Koenig of Lindenhurst is the daughter of Greg and Stefanie Koenig. Koenig earned her Gold Award by initiating "GIFT: Girls in FIRST and Tech."
GIFT seeks to increase the level of participation of females in robotics and STEM through the creation of a pipeline of tech girls, mentors and allies. She created a series of hands-on workshops and trained mentors for more than 150 girls, which resulted in a 25 percent participation rate in robotics.
In addition, Koenig, with the help of her FTC robotics team DYNAMIC SIGNALS, founded the robotics club "POP Rocks Robotics" and mentors 15 elementary school FIRST robotics teams.
"As one who has been bullied for being a 'geek girl,' I have learned the importance of having a network of tech women and allies," Koenig said.
"It is my mission to create ways to support tech girls in my community. I founded the group Girls in FIRST and Tech to help girls explore their inner engineer and convert girls from consumers of technology to creators of technology."
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award that Girl Scouts ages 14-18 may earn. The leadership skills, organizational skills, and sense of community and commitment required to complete the process set the foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship. Girls complete seven steps to earn the Gold Award, including their service project.
The service projects are expected to fulfill a need within a girl's community (local or global), create change and be sustaining. The Gold Award recognizes the work of Girl Scouts who demonstrate leadership culminating in 80 hours or more dedicated toward their service project.
Girls complete a minimum of 40 hours in a leadership role before embarking on the final project.
Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana impacts the lives of more than 52,000 girls and 20,000 adult members who live in six Illinois counties (Cook, DuPage, Grundy, Kankakee, Lake, and Will) and four Indiana counties (Jasper, Lake, Newton, and Porter).
For more information, visit girlscoutsgcnwi.org or call (855) 456-8347.
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