Girl Scouts seniors reach for Gold and help the community
As the finish line of their senior year comes into view, several Girl Scout Ambassadors have taken up the task of earning their Gold Award. With over 50 hours of planning and execution, the Gold Award is the highest achievement a Girl Scout can earn. This year, three seniors from Troop 60206 have dedicated time to come up with creative solutions to pressing issues in our community.
Combining her passion for STEM and love for robotics, Ana Chow decided to run robotics workshops for elementary school students to introduce them to the world of engineering and coding. After being inspired by her own robotics team, Chow hopes that her Gold Award will empower young girls to pursue a future in STEM. “My project not only sparks an interest in STEM but also builds foundational skills in problem-solving and teamwork,” Chow said.
For Amrita Narayanan, the pediatric cancer community was her target group. Narayanan hosted workshops for volunteers to create yarn wigs, with each wig representing a different character. The idea for her Gold Award blossomed after attending a workshop hosted by the “The Magic Yarn Project,” a non-profit organization with the mission of creating yarn wigs for pediatric cancer children. “The whole goal of this is for the children in the hospital to have a little bit of joy and happiness during their time,” Narayanan said.
Apart from her hope of bringing light and magic to the kids’ lives, Narayanan also believes her project has made an impact on the families of the patients who have to watch their kids go through such a challenging experience. “When [the families] know that their community has taken the time and effort to make such a beautiful gift, it helps them feel like they have a little more support and they’re not going through the whole process alone,” Narayanan said.
Sophie Shore has been a part of the Girl Scouts community for 13 years. For her Gold Award, Shore created care packages for patients at Shrine Hospital, so children can have comfort items and learn coping skills. “I am very passionate about mental health and very aware of the impact that medical procedures and conditions can have,” Shore said. Her goal is to help relieve stress for children in medical situations, as well as bring awareness to the stress and anxiety many patients have to work through.
While each project is a unique collage of individual passions and skills, each Girl Scout agrees that their project was a personally rewarding milestone. “It represents the culmination of years of personal growth in Girl Scouts and my dedication to giving back to my community,” Chow said.
