By Eileen Miller, Program Director

Our Council celebrated the anniversary of the Girl Scout Gold Award with a commemorative Centennial Celebration at the North Carolina Executive Mansion on June 1, 2016. The celebration, sponsored by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina, recognized the achievements of all recipients of this prestigious award, or its equivalent, who have made meaningful and sustainable change in their local communities and beyond, over the last 100 years.

Attended by Girl Scouts from across North Carolina, the event included remarks from two recent Gold Award recipients, Sadhana Anantha and Rachel Hopkins, who spoke passionately about their projects and Girl Scouts.

For her Gold Award project, Anantha, a senior at Enloe High School, created a science lab to educate and engage pre-teens about diverse diagnostic tests used to identify various diseases such as Ebola. Anantha shared, “The stigma of ‘I can’t do this because I am too young’ was a mindset I wanted to dispel. In turn, I wanted to inspire young minds to take action and encourage them to begin to create their own footprint in the world.”

Hopkins, a senior at Durham Academy, produced a short film regarding the rapid extinction of amphibian species. The film featured senior members of the NC Herpetological Society who provided general information about the importance of amphibian species in the ecosystem. Closing her remarks Hopkins shared, “The Gold Award is about exploring who you are and discovering that each and every one of us has enormous potential waiting to be unleashed.”

Awarded to fewer than six percent of Girl Scouts nationally, Girl Scout Gold Awardees spend one to two years on their projects. To earn this award girls must commit to take action and create a lasting change in their communities and demonstrate significant leadership, planning, and organization skills.

Throughout the month of July, the Council will hold our annual Gold Award Celebrations in Greenville, Raleigh and Wilmington to recognize and celebrate the accomplishments of the 2015-2016 awardees.