Six Ridgefield Girl Scouts have earned their Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting.
In order to earn the Gold Award, senior and ambassador Girl Scouts between ninth and 12th grades spend at least 80 hours researching topics, assessing community needs and resources, building a team and making a sustainable impact in the community.
Science education
Olivia Eltz
Olivia Eltz developed a program geared towards students in third to fifth grades to grow their scientific knowledge. She created a video of at-home experiments that use household materials to teach about their scientific properties. She also created a program-in-a-box for the Ridgefield Discovery Center to go along with the videos. This box will remain at the center for future use. Ms. Eltz is studying mechanical engineering at Villanova University.
Clean water
Analise Giobbi
Analise Giobbi educated residents living in the municipality of Santa Maria de Jesus in Guatemala about the importance of clean water while spreading awareness of water-borne diseases. She created pamphlets that will be distributed at different mission sites throughout Central America. Her work inspired Helping Hands Medical Missions to collect donations of water filters for other villages. Ms. Giobbi will attend UConn in the fall and study mechanical engineering.
Generation gap
Caroline Nazworth
Caroline Nazworth hosted connection nights at Jesse Lee United Methodist Church to bridge the gap between senior citizens and teenagers. Participants bonded over dinner, games, activities, and discussions about the differences between the two generations. Ms. Nazworth created a website on how to start connection nights. The church is seeking grant funding to permanently install the program for the parish. Ms. Nazworth is studying geology at The University of Texas at Austin.
Self-esteem
Elizabeth Richards
Elizabeth Richards educated preteen girls ages 10 to 12 about the importance of positive self-image and self-esteem. Girls discussed media imagery, watching a video about how models’ pictures are heavily edited, and the impact those photos have on young women. Ms. Richards ’s faculty mentor will continue the classes next year. She is attending Sacred Heart University and studying nursing.
Healthy seniors
Morgan Sandhu
Morgan Sandhu created Shopping with Ease, a two-part program giving senior citizens better access to healthy food. Ms. Sandhu’s project provided coordinators to assist senior citizens in ordering food from local grocery stores online. She then created a cookbook specifically tailored for the needs of senior citizens to help them prepare nutritious meals. This project will be continued by the Ridgefield Visiting Nurse Association. She is attending Dartmouth University.
Battling bullying
Amanda J. Schwartz
Amanda J. Schwartz developed educational classes for middle school students on Internet safety and cyber bullying. Her interactive presentations included a video that she produced, documenting the story of a Connecticut girl who took her own life following cyber bullying. Approximately 200 students and faculty heard the presentation. Ms. Schwartz’s website was shared with the school guidance department for distribution. She is attending Brigham Young University.
For more information about the Gold Award or how to become a Gold Award volunteer or mentor, visit gsofct.org/pages/GoldAward.php.