Local Girl Scouts to Receive Gold Awards

News Report

Four local Girl Scouts will be among 45 Scouts in west central Florida to receive their Girl Scout Gold Awards. The recognition event will take place Saturday, June 9 at the Museum of Science & Industry in Tampa.
 
The Girl Scout Gold Award recognizes outstanding accomplishments in the areas of leadership, sustainable community service, career planning and personal development. A Girl Scout must be in at least ninth grade and successfully complete requirements before she begins working on her Gold Award project.

“To earn a Gold Award, a Girl Scout must take all of the knowledge, leadership and networking skills she has developed over the years and set forth to complete a service project that will benefit her community,” said Linda Babb, president, Girl Scouts of West Central Florida.

“She must discover what it is that her community needs; connect with local businesses, organizations and neighbors; and take action to better the world around her,” Babb continued.

This year’s Girl Scout Gold Award recipients completed projects focused on a variety of community issues that will have a lasting impact, including bringing awareness to the plight in Northern Uganda, creating memory books for foster kids, raising awareness about pet obesity, developing reading programs for younger kids, and planting 5,000 salt marsh plugs, just to name a few.
 
Girl Scouts spend a minimum of 65 hours planning and implementing their Gold Award projects, which have positive and lasting impacts on the community. The award is a dramatic example of how Girl Scouts’ all-girl setting gives girls leadership experiences so they can contribute to society now and in the future. In addition, A Girl Scout who has earned her Gold Award immediately rises one rank in any of the U.S. military branches and is eligible for a number of scholarships.

Local Girl Scouts to be honored include:

Carolyn Harnish of Riverview whose project, “Create-A-Show Theatre,” advocated for the arts in foster facilities. She created a puppet show theater for kids to learn about theater, being creative and unity by working as a team. Harnish worked with a team of volunteers and together they created a book full of plays that revolve around morals. She currently attends the University of Florida and would like to pursue a career in medicine. Harnish previously earned her Girl Scout Bronze and Silver awards.

Kimberly Juren of Riverview's project, “Cemetery Database,” resulted in a virtual cemetery database full of information and logistics of the American Legion Cemetery. The locations of the headstones within the cemetery are also available on Google Earth. Juren is a senior at Riverview High School and plans to study medicine at the University of South Florida upon graduation.

Katelyn (Katy) Reinke of Valrico's project, "The Story of Your Life," addresses the problem of illiteracy among school-age children. She hosted a reading program at Bailey Elementary School and helped students celebrate Clifford the Big Red Dog’s birthday, featuring four reading centers, a technology presentation, a book walk and a visit from Clifford himself. Reinke is currently studying community health at Florida Gulf Coast University. She previously earned her Girl Scout Bronze and Silver awards.

Liz Hinckley of Valrico created the "Drive Safe 5K," a 5k race that raised awareness and educated the community about the dangers of reckless and unsafe driving. Each runner signed a safe driving pledge at the end of the race. Hinckley is a freshman at Florida Gulf Coast University where she is studying early childhood education. She previously earned her Girl Scout Bronze and Silver awards.

For more information on Girl Scouting, visit visitwww.gswcf.org or call (800) 881-4475.