What did you do for your Gold Award project?
I set out to increase knowledge of the native bee species present in Colorado by educating elementary aged students and to permanently fix a successful lesson about bees into their curriculum. My project focused on educating elementary school students on the importance of bees in the environment, what kind of bees they might see buzzing around outside, and how they can make a difference. When I started this project, just like when this issue had been illuminated to me, I wanted to ensure to those students that they weren’t left in the dark. It’s very important to me that everyone knows what’s happening in the world, because we’re the ones that live here and unfortunately, we’re also causing part of the problem. At each school, I would give my presentation and lead discussions on the bees.
How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience?
My visits with the schools began with a seven-question quiz that I would give to the classrooms that I visited. I was even surprised at how excited the students were at taking a pop quiz on bees, and after I told them that it wasn’t for a grade and they were not expected to know all the answers to the quiz, they became very passionate about learning all that they could. The most successful group of students was 6th Grade; when they took the quiz before I gave my speech, they scored an average of 40% on the quiz. After I taught them, the score increased 58% to result in an average score of 98%.
How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement?
The coordinator at one school has promised to continue implementing the curriculum I’ve developed for years to come. The school’s environment-based education program is an ideal setting for my project, and they’ve already been practicing a program called “Habitat” for a few years. A few bee houses that I’ve built for my project will also stay outside helping the bees for years to come in another elementary school’s community garden.
What is your project’s global and/or national connection?
I was also approached by a contact from Kirk Properties Inc. after one of my educational speeches and they are interested in doing a field study with my bee houses. As long as I supply them with a working model of one of my bee houses and instructions on how to make more, they will install approximately 60 houses on the Texas Panhandle in order to see if their native species will also accept the bee houses as alternative habitats. They have provided a letter of commitment as well. This project has grown through four schools into another state.
What did you learn about yourself?
Although I don’t want to be a teacher when I am older, I’ve realized that I definitely have an affinity for working with children and for public speaking. I have experience teaching kids as a Camp Committee Program Aide and as a Girl Scouts Kayaking Instructor, but I’ve never interacted with as many young children at once and for the same topic. I think that most of the kids could tell I was confident and that helped them trust me to be a good guest speaker for them.
How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future?
Because I feel confident with myself when speaking to strangers or addressing a crowd, I know that this will only grow in the future to where I’m even more confident. Even if I didn’t know it before, I am certain that I wouldn’t have gotten very far in my project without being able to sell my ideas to strangers in interviews or being comfortable around kids, because I’m pretty sure that elementary school students can smell fear.
Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience?
This project has been so valuable to me and so successful that I can’t imagine anything being different. For every mistake I thought I had made and for every missed opportunity, at least ten more sprung up to replace it. I learned from all of it. Girl Scouts itself has been such a prominent part of my life that even without the Gold Award, I can look back on all of my time fondly. However, with the Gold Award my eyes have really been opened to what I can do, and what girls everywhere can do.
**IMPORTANT NOTE: This blog represents only a small fraction of the hard work, dedication and requirements that go into earning a Girl Scout Gold Award. It is simply a brief summary, which is meant to inspire Girl Scouts to Go Gold in the future. For more information on earning your Gold Award, please email highestawards@gscolorado.org
Comments