What did you do for your Gold Award project?
The overall theme of my project was to help prepare students for success in school. There were two parts to my project. With the help of kindergarten teachers from Cheyenne Mountain School District 12, I wrote a “Ready for Kindergarten” booklet that outlines important skills and behaviors necessary for a child to know before starting kindergarten. After receiving feedback from teachers and editing, I translated the booklet to Spanish and had it reviewed by a high school Spanish teacher. I also coordinated and led the high school club Student and Teachers Aiding Humanity (STAH) in a children’s book drive at my school to provide books to Skyway Elementary School for their reading intervention program. The teachers will distribute the books to those students who most need them.
How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience?
I received positive feedback regarding the “Ready for Kindergarten” booklet from John Fogarty, Assistant Superintendent of Student Achievement; Stacy Aldridge, Principal at Skyway Elementary School; Sandi Sessions, Skyway Elementary Kindergarten Teacher; Courtney Parker, Gold Camp Elementary Kindergarten Teacher; Stacey Merkel, Pinon Valley Elementary Kindergarten Teacher; and Landra Decker, Gold Camp Elementary Kindergarten Teacher. I was also thanked by Amy Babcock and the other interventionists at Skyway Elementary for the hundreds of books donated.
How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement?
I provided Cheyenne Mountain School District 12 with both digital and paper files of the “Ready for Kindergarten” booklet for use at their annual kindergarten round-up. I also provided the booklet to several different school districts throughout the state so that they can use the project as well.
What is your project’s global and/or national connection?
As a nation, we need every child to be well educated. Although every child in the United States has access to an education, many students start at a distinct disadvantage due to family situations and lack of access to other educational resources. I created my project to aid this situation in my community.
What did you learn about yourself?
Throughout this project, I learned to be more confident in myself and I improved my communication skills. I also improved my leadership skills and learned how to better manage my time.
How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future?
This project has taught me so many life skills that I will use in the future. I learned how to better communicate with adults and ask for help, which had intimidated me before. I learned from all of the mistakes I made throughout the project and I will now be able to avoid them and learn from them in the future.
Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience?
I think that this project help me grow as a person and as a leader and that I will be able to use the skills I learned to help me in the future. It was great to be able to come up with an idea and to be able to see it through to the end by leading other people in the project.
How did earning your Gold Award help you become a G.I.R.L. (go-getter, innovator, risk-taker, leader)?
Throughout this project, I developed my leadership and go-getter attitude and learned how to better manage my time and how to work with a team to accomplish a goal. At the beginning of the process, I found it difficult to find the time to work on my project, but as the deadline grew closer, I started creating schedules and prioritizing tasks, which helped me complete the project. When working with other people on my team, I improved my communication skills and I learned how to delegate tasks to efficiently finish a job.
**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.