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Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Honors Local Girl Scouts with the Highest Award for Girls, the Girl Scout Gold Award
119 Girl Scouts across Northeast Texas earn the prestigious Gold Award for their high-impact projects tackling critical issues in their communities and beyond.
June 07, 2023
Media Contact:
Stephanie Horne
469-994-1629
shijazi@gsnetx.com
DALLAS, TEXAS -- Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas (GSNETX) is recognizing 119 local Girl Scouts who have courageously tackled issues they are passionate about in their pursuit of the highly esteemed Gold Award. Considered the highest achievement in Girl Scouts, the Gold Award represents the culmination of the Girl Scout leadership journey. It requires immense perseverance, making it a distinction achieved by less than 6% of Girl Scouts.
Every year, Girl Scouts nationwide provide millions of hours of service to their communities, representing over a billion dollars in girl-led projects with lasting results. Designed for girls in grades 9 through 12, the Gold Award empowers girls to develop and execute innovative solutions to issues they experience in their lives while extending the impact beyond their community and direct involvement. Through their projects, Girl Scouts take action to create a more equitable, sustainable, and better world.
"I am continually amazed at the high-impact initiatives these young women take on and their dedication to making a positive impact. Their projects exemplify the values of the Girl Scouts, inspiring generations of Girl Scouts and young women everywhere," said Jennifer Bartkowski, CEO of GSNETX. "These are the girls who will go on to solve the local and global problems of the future and whom you'll want to hire."
As Gold Award Girl Scouts transform their communities, they learn resourcefulness, tenacity, project management, and decision-making skills, giving them an edge personally and professionally. Earning the awards opens doors and paves the way for success as future leaders. Colleges, universities, and employers recognize the Girl Scout Gold Award as a mark of excellence and leadership, and recipients become eligible for various scholarships and opportunities that support their aspirations.
According to recent research, Gold Award Girl Scouts are more likely to fill leadership roles at work and in their personal lives and are more civically engaged than their non-Girl Scout peers: 99% of Gold Award Girl Scout alums take on leadership roles daily, 72% of Gold Award Girl Scouts said earning the award helped them get a scholarship and 87% agree it gave them skills they needed to succeed throughout their careers.
The Ericsson STEM Scholarship, for example, was established to promote equitable involvement of girls in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) workforce pipeline by providing sustained financial assistance to Gold Award Girl Scouts pursuing a STEM major in college. Jacqueline Causey, a recent graduate from the iSchool of Lewisville, was one of the scholarship recipients this year. She received this honor during the Gold Award Ceremony on Saturday, June 3, at the Plano Event Center.
Causey's project involved the organization of an Engineering Day to educate middle school students about STEM fields. She collaborated with a team of volunteers to coordinate speakers from various engineering disciplines, create team-building challenges, and arrange for judges to review the results. She successfully showed participants that engineering could be fun and encouraged them to pursue STEM disciplines. Her school has since decided to continue to host the event from now on.
Other projects focused on a wide range of significant issues, spanning from poverty and homelessness to mental health awareness, environmental conservation, and social justice. Numerous initiatives provided resources to underserved communities or targeted distinct barriers faced by specific groups, including students with learning disabilities or physical handicaps.
CEO Jennifer Bartkowski honors Gerri Gordon's dedicated service to Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas as she prepares for retirement.
Gordon has been a guiding force in the higher awards process for thousands of Girl Scouts over the last 27 years | Photo courtesy of GSNETX
"Assisting thousands of girls through their Gold Award has been a truly rewarding experience. I am filled with a profound mix of joy and nostalgia as my time with the organization comes to an end after almost three decades," shared Gerri Gordon, the Older Girl Program Coordinator at GSNETX. "This year, like every other, stands as a testament to the awe-inspiring work these Girl Scouts have undertaken. I am immensely proud of each and every one of them."
The 2023 Gold Award Girl Scouts all demonstrated courage, confidence, and character. They have already made a profound impact on the world, and their influence as future leaders will only continue to grow, ensuring a brighter future for us all.
For a complete list of recipients, visit gsnetx.org/goldaward.
Vdeo interviews with Gold Award recipients Diya Damodaran, Jenna Johnston, and Ananya Sankaran are viewable on the GSNETX YouTube Channel and additional ceremony photos are available upon request.
Diya Damodaran provided McKinney Montessori Preschool students with hands-on learning to understand the origins of their food. The school will maintain her project to benefit future students | Photo courtesy of GSNETX
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We Are Girl Scouts
Whether they want to climb to the top of a tree or the top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for climate justice, or make their first best friends, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges. Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas serves girls and adult volunteers across 32 counties. To change the workforce pipeline in STEM and meet the urgent need for female voices, engagement, and leadership in the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. economy, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas opened the STEM Center of Excellence in 2018. The STEM Center is a 92-acre state-of-the-art camp just outside of Dallas where girls can experience programs in astronomy, robotics, coding, computer science, and more. Recently, the Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Board of Directors was recognized with Dallas Business Journal's Outstanding Directors Award and received the Luminary Award from SMU's Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. Learn more at gsnetx.org or call 972-349-2400.
