What did you do for your Gold Award project?
For my Gold Award, I went to various schools and started Lego Robotics Teams. I wanted to help mentor and expose kids to engineering and robotics at a younger age, so I targeted Elementary and Middle Schools. I would teach the students basic programming and building with Lego Mindstorm Kits as well as teamwork skills. I also tried to get more girls involved in Robotics and STEM by creating an informational pamphlet for girls which were distributed to various local school districts. These pamphlets encouraged girls to get more involved in STEM and included various programs to do so.
How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience?
I measured my impact by having the kids take surveys about their experience afterwards. All the surveys came out positive and all the kids now want to pursue STEM fields! Also, pamphlets were taken very quickly at each of the schools.
How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement?
My project is sustainable because the Robotics Teams can last year after year. It has become an established club at all the schools. To really ensure that the teams continue, I partnered the elementary/ middle school teams up with high school teams so high school students can come back every year and mentor the Lego Team students. This way, both the middle/elementary school and high school students both learn from each other as they grow as STEM workers! Both teams have a lotto learn from each other, and the high school students provide as great role models for the younger kids.
What is your project’s global and/or national connection?
The global connection of my project is the pamphlet as well as my “how-to guide” for starting robotics teams. The pamphlet is designed to spark interest in girls all over the world, and the guide is to help people around the world start their own teams. Also, the robotics teams have sister teams in countries across the globe, so they get to share world-wide experiences and ideas! They get to see how robotics affects people from all over!
What did you learn about yourself?
From my project, I learned that I really love engineering. I love collaborating with people and guiding others. It taught me that STEM has endless possibilities. But, my favorite thing learned was seeing how positively kids react to STEM and robotics when it is put in a fun, creative, and competitive environment. They don’t realize they are learning while having fun!
How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future?
My Gold Award taught me a lot about kids and engineering. Kids love to be creative and don’t mind learning when it is given a fun twist! My Gold Award will impact my future because I plan to continue to find ways to get kids involved in STEM. I think introducing kids to the ever growing and prevalent STEM field at a younger age will be critical to the progress of our society. Just imagine what kids can invent when they know all the basic skills at a younger, more creative age?! The possibilities are endless!
Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience?
I feel like my Gold Award was the culmination of everything Girl Scouts taught me. It took initiative, cooperation, and kindness. It put all my skills gained by Girl Scouts to the test. It felt like a big wrap up to everything in my life Girl Scouts, and my Gold Award felt like everything I learned was worth it. I don’t think my Girl Scout experience would have been complete if I didn’t achieve my Gold Award.
**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