Girl Scouts of Colorado is proud to announce Emily Krizmanich is the 2016 recipient of the Johanna Farrar Girl Scout Memorial Scholarship. Emily, who is from Howard, Colo., is a lifetime Girl Scout, Gold Awardee and recipient of a Look Wider International Travel Scholarship. She was also a member of Johanna’s troop. Emily is currently a sophomore at the University of Colorado in Boulder where she is majoring in International Affairs and Anthropology. She hopes to one day join the Peace Corps or become a college professor. Emily plans to use the $600 in prize money for education at CU or to study aboard. Emily earned her Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouts, in 2013. She worked to educate others about the importance of recycling and waste management by placing recycling bins for fishing line at parks in the Salida-Buena Vista area. Emily credits her success in earning her Gold Award to Johanna. Emily said as her troop leader, Johanna helped guide through the Gold Award process and encouraged her every step of the way. “Receiving this scholarship is kinda like her way of looking down at me, pushing me, encouraging me to still achieve my goals—just like she did with my Gold Award,” Emily said. Johanna Farrar’s husband and children started this scholarship in 2015 to celebrate all of her accomplishments, particularly those within the Girl Scout community. Born in London, England, raised in a small village on the south coast of England, Johanna was a Girl Guide in her childhood. She was also the youngest ever to have achieved the Queen’s Guide Award at that time, the English equivalent of a Gold Award.  After earning a software engineering degree from Loughborough University, Johanna moved to New Jersey to work for Bell Labs. In 1985, she accepted a position with FedEx in Colorado Springs, where she met and married Gene Farrar in 1990. Johanna and Gene lived and worked in the Colorado Springs area, moving to Monument in 1992 when their oldest daughter, Hannah was born. In 1995, after their second daughter, Rachel’s birth, Johanna retired from a successful career as a Technical Advisor at FedEx for an even more successful and rewarding career as a dedicated full-time mother. Johanna introduced her daughters to Girl Scouts at the first opportunity and became a local leader in Monument, then again after relocating to Buena Vista.  When Johanna first arrived in Buena Vista, she learned Girl Scouts had all but disappeared in Chaffee County. Johanna believed so strongly in the values and skills that scouting develops, it became a passion to reestablish scouting for girls in the high Rockies. Known to many of her friends as the “Engergizer Bunny” because of her seemingly never-ending energy and indomitable spirit, Johanna provided the leadership and drive to rejuvenate scouting in the valley. Now, for the first time, there are troops for all ages.  Additionally, Johanna loved the outdoors, including skiing, hiking, biking, mountain climbing, and especially gardening – passions she loved to share and instill in young women. #GoldAward #JohannaFarrarGirlScoutMemorialScholarship #Howard #NorthernandNortheasternCO #PuebloandSoutheasternColorado #GoldAwardees #PikesPeak #mountaincommunities

What did you do for your Gold Award project? I created a program aimed to involve and inspire young children to study STEM topics in a fun and engaging way. I ran this program in a carnival-esque layout at Explorer Elementary School. Over 175 kids attended with their families, which lead to over 300 people present. I also coordinated around 70 volunteers. How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience? As the children exited the fair, we gave them a science-themed prize. We also took a poll and wrote down general feedback. The poll measured the children’s favorite activities and asked how they felt about the fair. I also collected feedback from the various people involved in this project. Thankfully, I receive all good feedback and the event was a smashing success! How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement? Explorer Elementary School will now host this STEM fair annually, hopefully with the aid of Liberty HS’s NHS. If continued, this project will continue to teach, inspire and engage kids for many more years. I also hope that other schools can learn and replicate some of the skills and techniques I used to further their own STM education curriculums. What is your project’s global and/or national connection? The project I created can be applied in any environment, anywhere, for any elementary aged child. By making it accessible, anyone can use my work as a resource, whether they are on the other side of the globe or next-door to me. I am also contacting local schools to spread the program around the state. What did you learn about yourself? I learned how to push through a bad day to do necessary work on this project. I often had long days where I did not want to do work, and I learned how to persevere through those moods to accomplish important tasks. This will be a valuable skill that will benefit me for years to come. How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future? Not only did the Gold Award increase my leadership abilities, but it also furthered my management skills. I learned how to organize and instruct around 70 volunteers at the same time. Some of these volunteers were older than me too, so I had to learn to work with the “age gap” dynamic. This skills will aid me in my future. Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience? The Gold Award is the most prestigious award I have received in my life so far, and I feel as if it is the summit to a lifelong expedition up to a mountain top. Although I will continue to climb metaphorical mountains in my life, this experience brings me to the end of my last year of Girls Scouts. I will graduate high school in May and turn 18 in June, and I could not have asked for a better end to this journey. **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 #GoldAward #GoldAwardee #ColoradoSprings #GoldAwardCentennial #GoldAwardees #PikesPeak

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 #GoldAward #GoldAwardee #STEM #ColoradoSprings #GoldAwardCentennial #Monument #GoldAwardees #PikesPeak

Submitted by Heidi Books Grand Junction Western Slope Troop 12214 Daisies have been working on several petals over the last month. To celebrate the completion of the “Being Responsible for What I Say and Do, Respecting Myself and Others and Being Considerate and Caring” portion, they took a field trip to Mantey Heights Rehabilitation and Care Center. The girls were able to show what they learned during their petal work by having a tea party and creating a cute spring hat craft with the residents. This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #GrandJunction #ManteyHeightsRehabilitationandCareCenter #WesternSlope

Congratulations to Girl Scouts of Colorado Property Director Myrnan Fronczak! She was honored as the IFMA (International Facilities Management Association) Member of the Month for January 2016. Myrnan is in charge of all of the properties owned and/or leased by GSCO.  She takes care of everything to insure that our properties and facilities are well-maintained and provide a good experience for all users. Her duties also include overseeing service providers and keeping up with all the zoning and building codes.  One of the organizations that provides information and support to those have the responsibilities such as Myrnan’s is IFMA. #camp #GirlScoutsofColorado #outdoorprograms

Submitted by Amy Li Aurora Denver Metro My name is Amy and I am a third year pharmacy student at the University of Colorado. Being a pharmacy student, I believe it is part of my responsibility to educate the public on proper and safe medication usage. Especially since there are so many over-the-counter medications readily available to us. It can be extremely confusing! Join me and my fellow pharmacy students from the University of Colorado School of Pharmacy on April 17th to learn more about what it’s like being a pharmacist,and about safe and proper over-the-counter medication usage! When: April 17th from 1-3pm Where: Sam Gary Library 2961 Roslyn St, Denver, CO 80238 Who: Any Girl Scout and anyone else who would like to come! Contact: Email amy.li@ucdenver.edu if you are interested This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #Denvermetro #SamGaryLibrary #UniversityofColorado

Submitted by Laura Hopkins Littleton Denver Metro Before cookie season started, the 4th and 5th grade Juniors of Troop 60074 voted to determine who their Hometown Hero would be. They discussed people caring for animals, homeless people, fire fighters and more. Finally, they decided that the people they really wanted most to recognize this year are the amazing staff and teachers of their school, who put in countless hours making our community a better place! Here’s to the staff and teachers of Acres Green Elementary! Principal Gina Smith accepted the cookies on behalf of the school. Girl Scouts, cookies and school staff are a great combination! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #AcresGreenElementary #HometownHeroes #Littleton

What did you do for your Gold Award project? For my Gold Award project, I decided to address kids with autism and the effects of art. In my project, I hoped to share something with the kids and young adults that will allow them to open up to their expressive side. In order to do that, I decided to make a manual for autism centers to use to teach their kids the wonder of art through making ceramic candle holders and they can do this through the Manitou Art Center. After I taught a group of kids with Zach’s Place (a local autism center), I planned with Manitou Art Center to have kids come in during the National Autism month in April to come in and make their art. How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience? To fully understand the impact my project left on these kids, I simply had to look at their faces. The expression of joy and smiles is all it really took to show me that they enjoyed making a ceramic candle holder. Not only did they smile but I could see a sense of pride inside them for making something of their own unique design. How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement? Every year during the National Autism month, which is April, Manitou Art Center will host a day where they invite kids or young adults with autism to come in and make a ceramic candle holder, which will be made with the help of my instructional manual provided for the autism centers. It will continue to impact after my involvement because it is something that the children will enjoy doing. What is your project’s global and/or national connection? The global connection associated with my project is to raise more awareness on children with autism. This project shows that they have an artistic and expressive side just like everyone else. It allows them to express themselves at times when they don’t feel like talking. What did you learn about yourself? I learned that I can be capable of anything that I set my mind to. I was really afraid at the beginning of my project because of all the hard work I would have to put in. But in the end it is worth it so you can help the world be a better place. How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future? Earning my Gold Award will help me become a more independent adult. After putting so much time and effort into this project, it showed me that this is how you become successful in life. I plan to continue on this path of success by putting hard work into everything I do. Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience? The Gold Award really caps off the whole Girl Scout experience. This is what the whole Girl Scout journey is about; make the world a better place. You learned throughout the years to make change but to also be the change as one individual among many, who knows how to make the world its best. **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 #GoldAward #GoldAwardee #ColoradoSprings #GoldAwardCentennial #GoldAwardees #PikesPeak

Arguably, the most impactful part of Girl Scouts is the earning of the Girl Scout Gold Award. This prestigious award represents the highest achievement in Girl Scouts and challenges high school girls to initiate meaningful, sustainable change locally, nationally, and/or globally through unique “Take Action” projects of their own creation. Only girls in high school are eligible to earn their Gold Award but girls of all ages can learn about the Gold Award and earn the Gold Award Centennial Patch! Check out this new list of activities that any girl, troop leader, or parent can do to learn about the history of the Gold Award and the many women have “gone Gold”. The Gold Award Centennial patch will only be available this year and can be purchased online or in the shop without any approval from Girl Scouts of Colorado. Questions? Email highestawards@gscolorado.org Special thanks to Girl Scouts of Western Washington for Highest Awards inspiration! #GoldAward #GoldAwardCentennial #goldawardcentennialpatch

Girl Scouts of Colorado’s summer camps have answered your call! According to our 2015 summer survey results there was an outstanding number of parents/campers who asked for “more adventure program.” We could not agree more with your advice! We have worked very hard to increase the number of camps which offer adventure programming for girls who want to explore, take risks, and learn about themselves and others in their leadership journey. These adventure trips are a chance to explore Colorado’s great outdoors: MMR High Adventure Troop Camps! TC044 July 15-17; and TC074 September 9-11 TR39 Expedition WILD! July 10- July 21 TT01 Colorado Horseback Adventure at Bear Basin Ranch (near Lazy Acres) 7/24-7/30 Adventure Camps at Sky High Ranch: June 12-17 SH04 Zippers, SH08 Zip Life June 19-24 SH155 Night Ninjas, SH165 Iron Chef SHR June 26-July 1 SH25 Night Ninjas, SH26 Zippers July 10-15 SH42 District 14, SH435 Adventure Olympics, SH445 Legends of Archery July 17-22 SH52 Sky High Ranch Pentathlon, SH535 District 14 July 24-29 SH61 Girl vs Zombie, SH63 Legends of Archery, SH64 Zip Life Adventure Camps at Tomahawk Ranch: June 12-17:  TR04 The Olympians, TR06 Arrows, TR07 Survivor June 19-24 TR16 The Olympians June 26-July 1 TR23 Scout vs Wild, TR26 Arrows, TR27 TARDIS July 10-21 TR32 I <3 Camp, TR34 Mocking Jay, TR37 Girl vs Zombie, TR38 TR Goes Pro, TR39 Expedition WILD!, TR405 The Dark Side Register now for Girl Scout Camp! Review camp sessions. Reserve a Girl Scouts of Colorado Property for your troop/group! Check out Travel Opportunities for Girl Scouts! Pay camp balances with CampInTouch, with a Cookie Credit Card or a Gift Card prior to April 30 to lock in Early Bird Pricing! #overnightcamp #SkyHighRanch #troopcamp #adventurecamp #TomahawkRanch #camp

What did you do for your Gold Award project? For my Gold Award project I, with the help of the students and parents of Black Rock Elementary, created a garden.  This included removing weeds and old dirt from previous attempts to set up this sort of project.  I had to get in contact with the Grounds Lead for the school district to have them remove the weeds and dirt because it was too big of a job for the team I had. I also had to go and get plants and other material donated from stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s to fill the garden.  Finally, I recruited students and parents to come and help with most of the planting. How did you measure the impact your Gold Award project made on your target audience? I measured the impact of my garden with how many students and parents I was able to get involved.  I am also measuring in how available the garden is to students.  The garden will be taken care of in part by students, along with a parent group, and will be available for classes to use. How is your project sustainable? How will your project continue to impact after your involvement? My project will be sustained through two groups, one of students who will be part of a class that will be learning about plants and gardening.  The other is the Black Rock PTO, who has agreed to maintain funding for materials. What is your project’s global and/or national connection? My global/national connection for my project is a website I created which can be reached here: Black Rock Children’s Garden. This will allow people to have access to what I did and advice on creating a garden for schools and communities for themselves. What did you learn about yourself? I developed confidence in talking to people and being in a position of authority.  As I went through the process of gathering materials and help I became more confident and it became easier to communicate with people. How will earning your Gold Award impact you in the future? It will help me to be able to afford a higher education, which will increase opportunity in the future.  This project has also helped me develop skills that will help in the future with jobs and being in leadership jobs. Why do you feel the Gold Award was an important part of your Girl Scout experience? This was an important part of my Girl Scout experience because it was a big commitment that I had to follow through with and allowed me to use the skills previously developed through my Bronze and Silver Awards, skills such as perseverance, communication and dedication.  These will help me to be able to navigate complicated situations as an adult. **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 #GoldAward #GoldAwardee #GoldAwardCentennial #NorthernandNortheasternCO #erie #GoldAwardees

Submitted by Lyn Turton Longmont Troop 73913 loves animals and chose the volunteers and veterinarians at Longmont Humane Society as their Hometown Cookie Hero this year! This story was submitted using the Share Your Stories form. You can share your Girl Scout moments too. #hth #Longmont #longmonthumanesociety