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Fifteen of Girl Scouts of Colorado’s thirty eight 2014 Gold Awardees were presented on the floor at the opening of today’s House of Representative’s session at the Colorado State Capitol and lauded for their contributions and for being the leaders of tomorrow in our state.
The girls celebrated today were Brianne Azuero of Aurora, Kaitlin Baker-Carr of Fort Collins, Ashley Brock of Fort Collins, Emily Calzone of Longmont, Dottie Deane of Littleton, Taylor Hale of Boulder, Ashely Jones of Parker, Delaney Keeler of Colorado Springs, Sarah Kriner of Falcon, Kelli Leachman of Larkspur, Ann Martens of Monument, Josie Natrasevschi of Fort Collins, Lindsey Romig of Littleton, Natalia Suarez of Fort Collins and Eliana K. Wackerman of Colorado Springs.
The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouting, and as Girl Scout Gold Award recipients, these girls’ accomplishments reflect extraordinary leadership and citizenship skills that mark them as valuable contributors to their communities and world.
“Earning the Girl Scout Gold Award designation is truly a remarkable achievement, and these young women exemplify leadership in all its forms,” said Stephanie Foote, Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of Colorado. “They saw a need, took ownership to help develop a solution and took action to make it happen. Their extraordinary dedication, perseverance and leadership is making the world a better place.”
The Gold Award culminates with a project led by one young woman between 9th and 12th grades who builds a purpose-based team to work with the larger community to meet a need. The focus of a Girl Scouts’ Gold Award project is identifying and researching a community issue she is passionate about, developing a plan to address it in cooperation with her team and community members, and providing sustainability for the project. Of the skills learned through Girl Scouts’ Highest Awards, leadership, organization and critical thinking are the fundamentals of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. The Gold Award has been part of the Girl Scout program since 1916. Some universities and colleges offer scholarships unique to Gold Award recipients, and girls who enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces may receive advanced rank in recognition of their Girl Scout achievement.
The girls attending the event today enjoyed a historic tour of the Capitol and while on the floor, they heard the touching testimonies of House members in support of a bill to declare April 28 through May 4 as Holocaust Awareness Week in Colorado. It was fitting testimonial for the girls to hear, as the messages are so aligned with our Girl Scout organizational values of inclusion, respect and advocacy. One representative cited a quote from Elie Wiesel, “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.”
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