Gold Girl Scout Spotlight: Gwendolyn Cochran

Today's Gold Girl Scout Spotlight is Gwendolyn Cochran, who empowered middle and high school girls in her community to be more engaged in the fields of math and science.  Congratulations on earning your Gold Award, Gwendolyn! 

The Dripping Springs community lacked a strong foundation of young women interested in the sciences. There was an absence of female members of the Robotics Club, the Physics Club, and active member’s math and science UIL events.

I targeted this problem in a two part project, first by implementing the Women in Math and Science clubs at the Dripping Springs High School. And secondly, by organizing and leading a symposium to rally young women together and engender them to be more active in the science communities at the middle and high school levels. With this project I engaged young women in my community to be involved in the math and sciences and give them useful contacts and opportunities to get involved in Dripping Springs. 

My club at the school will continue to engender school age girls to be active in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) and expand their horizons.  I created a sustainable and beneficial foundation of girls to be inspired and get involved in expanding female influences at school and around our community. 

While the symposium was a one day event, it created a foundation for the group to begin being noticeably active and emphasized the importance of participating in math and science-based extracurricular events occurring locally. The club will be sustained at the high school level by new members taking over as seniors graduate, our teacher sponsor’s continued support, and the affiliation with the longstanding Inventor’s Club on campus. The community now has, and will continue to have, a larger amount of girls empowered to take action in math and the sciences. 

My advice for younger girls would be to first and foremost pick a topic that you feel passionate about, because you will devote a large majority of time and soul into this project. Secondly, never be afraid to ask for help from volunteers and troop members. Chances are if you are passionate about something, so is someone else who would love to get involved. Lastly, keep your head up! This isn’t a project to get just for the prestige of saying you earned it, it is a chance to inspire change. When you face a great challenge, which you undoubtably will, do not give up. Look for a different perspective, because from a different angle a mountain might seem like a molehill.

A New Way to Meet Seniors' Needs

Today's featured Gold Girl Scout is Ella Fischer who created a program to rent medical equipment to senior citizens. Congratulations, Ella, on earning your Gold Award!

My name is Ella Fischer. I am from Troop 1473 out of the Pecan Trail Service Unit. For my Gold Award project, I worked with Drive a Senior to create Ollie’s Closet. Ollie's Closet loans medical equipment to senior citizens who do not have access to medical equipment due to various financial situations. In the process I helped write a grant to pay for the building and purchase software for an inventory and asset control program.  

First, I moved, cleaned, inventoried, barcoded, and entered all of the equipment into a barcoding system. Next, I added a loft and braces to hang walkers and crutches and started moving all of the equipment inside. Lastly, I trained personnel at the Drive a Senior office on how the system works.  This all will allow the organization to better serve their 500 clients and to help them keep track of what is needed in their loan closet for the future.

 My journey towards earning my Gold Award is one that I will never forget. Through Girl Scouts, many new doors have opened for me and even more now that I have earned my Gold Award. The adventures and experiences that I have been able to be a part of, as well as all the things I've learned, all became possible by being in Girl Scouts and striving for Gold. I have also met many inspiring and interesting individuals along the way. There are always challenges involved in accomplishing great things, but the feeling I have now that I've earned my Gold Award is very rewarding. My encouragement towards others to pursue earning their Gold Award is tremendous based on the amazing experience I had and the feeling of happiness I gained from helping others. 

Gold Girl Scout Spotlight: Hannah Buffington

Today's Gold Girl Scout Spotlight is Hannah Buffington, who established a letter-writing campaign for elementary school children to send notes to soldiers stateside. Congratulations on earning your Gold Award, Hannah! 

At the beginning of my project, I knew I wanted to pick an issue that I really cared about; and something that was going to make an impact on many people. I chose my project because our soldiers are something that are truly close to my heart, and I personally know many people who have fought for our country. Once I had my issue, I started thinking about ways that I could potentially impact our troops. Which is where my project, Letters to Soldiers, originated. 

Many of our troops overseas receive letters and care packages and reminders that we are very appreciative of their service; but what about our troops back home? What about our troops who have been wounded in service? 

So I decided to address this issue directly by writing letters to these soldiers that would hopefully show them that they are appreciated and cared for. But I did not want to just do this alone. I wanted to tell more people about my project and spread my enthusiasm for it to many others as well. 

So I thought, what better way to impact two groups of people than teaching children about our troops and helping them write the letters. This worked out perfectly. I was able to teach the second grade classes at Blackland Prairie Elementary School how to write a friendly letter, and then to put those skills to work by writing letters to the wounded soldiers at Brook Army Medical Center. 

Working with the second grade students was really such a wonderful experience because I got to talk about something that I cared about and watch a group of children start to learn and want to make a difference also. I hope that in my setting an example of how even a teenager can make a difference, these children will grow up and take issues that they care about and also work to make a difference. It doesn't matter how old you are, or how large or small the issue is. Anyone can make a difference; all that’s needed is the motivation and the will to make a change. 

Gold Girl Scout Spotlight: Priya Ramamoorthy

Today's featured Gold Girl Scout is Priya Ramamoorthy, who created a documentary on Title IX, a part of the Educational Amendments of 1972 and integrated her documentary into the No Place For Hate program at a local middle school. Congratulations on becoming a Gold Girl Scout, Priya!

For my Gold Award project, I created a documentary on Title IX and collaborated with the No Place for Hate Chapter at Grisham Middle School to implement a sustainable activity consisting of the documentary and discussion questions. To create my documentary, I gathered historical information about the federal law, created a script for the documentary, and sought feedback from experts.  I went through multiple rounds of editing for my documentary and had to establish new connections at Grisham, as there was a leadership change for the No Place for Hate chapter. The students that I trained will present my documentary to the entire student body (around 700 students) every year. These students will be in charge of training the next set of students and sustaining the project. 

Since creating my documentary, I along with friends, have been able to expand upon the work done in my Gold Award through appearing on a Nickelodeon News segment on Title IX and through a presentation at the Women’s Empowerment Conference in Austin.

By watching the documentary and reflecting about Title IX, I hope students are empowered to speak up if they encounter gender discrimination in their school. 

Gold Girl Scout Spotlight: Isabel Prado

My name is Isabel Prado, I am a 17-year-old high school junior, getting ready to start applying for college. For my Gold Award, I created and taught 10 different lessons about the environment to children ages 5-12. I taught at the Turner-Gibbons Recreation Center as part of the Austin Parks and Recreation Center Summer Program. All of my lessons have been put into their database for use in the future.

When I first started the project a year ago, I thought I would never actually get it done, but with support from my family and friends, I managed it. It was a long and often challenging process. I switched what I wanted to teach at least twice. When I finally nailed down a subject, I had to create lessons plans for 10 classes. It took a lot of hard work but the end result was worth it.

Many times along the way I wanted to quit and I was told that it was okay if I did not want to do it. I am so glad I decided to finish it. My experiences teaching the children were so remarkable that when it ended I was sad because I had so much fun doing this project. It was tough and took a good deal of time, but it made me a better person. I learned so many valuable skills that I cannot imagine learning anywhere else. Doing the Gold Award was a journey that I will never forget and it is one of the best ones a Girl Scout can experience.

Transformation Tuesday: Made With Code

Guest post from Sarah Y., Gold Girl Scout and intern at GSCTX. Her intern challenge? To get GSCTX girls interested, involved and inspired with computer coding. You can follow her internship at her blog, Journeys to the Summit 

Its Transformation Tuesday!

It was actually a couple days ago that my mom and I were talking about how you can tell just how old a piece of technology is just by its thickness.A computer, a phone, TV's,  movies (VHS vs. DVD), music (cassettes vs. CD's).

                                                                      

And along with these advances in... size, came the advancement in how they work. I see this advancement every second and fourth Friday of every month when I work with my Made w/Code girls. Coding and programming have come a long way and I am so glad that I get to help the next generation get ready to make the next big advancement!

I would love to talk to your troop, youth group, club, and/or school about the Made w/Code project. If you're at all interested, please contact me at sarah@discovergreenyel.org

Ready to code? Start now!

Until then, Happy coding!

Yours in coding,

Sarah Y.

How Getting My Gold Award Changed My Life

Hi, my name is Mandy Jústiz.  I am 17 years old and have been a Girl Scout for 10 years.  As a Girl Scout, I have always loved community service, whether it be wrapping gifts for Blue Santa or collecting blankets for an animal shelter.  It was not until about half way through my Girl Scout career that I learned about the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards, but once I did, I knew I had to complete them. 

The summer before my sophomore year, I learned about National Young Women of Distinction, an award which is annually given to ten Girl Scouts who showed exemplary leadership, innovation, and problem solving skills in their Gold Award.  I applied for the award and, a few months later, learned that I would be one of the 2013 recipients.  Soon after, I was informed that I was also one of five National Young Women of Distinction chosen to represent Girl Scouts at a brunch with Congress in Washington DC where female Congress members were inducted into Troupe Capitol Hill. My trip to DC was incredible and the brunch was beyond words!  I had the opportunity to talk with several members of Congress as well as Anna Maria Chávez, the CEO of Girl Scouts.  A month later, I flew to Phoenix, Arizona to receive my award. There, I was interviewed by Justine Magazine and Girl Scouts of the USA.  I also participated in a panel for Girl Scouts who were interested in completing their Gold Awards.
 The award ceremony was amazing.  The room, filled with Girl Scout CEOs and COOs from councils across the country, was charged with an amazingly high energy.  I was terribly nervous to give my thank you speech; I had never made a speech before, although this one became my first of many.  At the ceremony award winners recieved a $4,500 scholarship from Kappa Delta and were given our National Young Women of Distinction and life time membership pins.  

  
 I started thinking about my Gold Award the summer before freshman year. I have always been very interested in marine biology and knew I wanted to incorporate my hobby into my Gold Award.  After bouncing several ideas off of my father, I decided that I should build a fish tank for an elementary school.  I figured that it would be an effective, fun way to introduce children to the aquatic world.  I contacted the University of Texas Elementary School and got approval to build a tank in their main office.  However, after some thinking, I decided that I was not content with just building an aquarium.  I again started talking with my dad and finally decided that, in addition to the aquarium, I would create a 3-day module, which could be incorporated into an elementary school curriculum, which I could use to teach children about aquatic ecology and conservation. 

The elementary school put me in contact with a 5^th grade science teacher, who welcomed my idea and offered her help should I need it. With my plan completed, I started to design and build the aquarium. For the next several months, the 60 gallon aquarium was my baby. I checked on it often, ran tests on the water, and added various chemicals and bacteria at least once a week. I couldn't wait for the water to be stable enough to add fish.  When it was finally ready, we went to the pet store and picked out the fish.  The fish I chose were cherry barbs, Mickey Mouse platies, black mollies, otocinclus, powder blue gourami, and ghost shrimp. The array of fish allowed me to teach children about how different lifestyles and habitats affect the fish and its adaptations.  Once the fish were added to the aquarium, I started creating the module.  I played around with the organization of the material, did a lot of research, and tried desperately to find ways of teaching that would not bore the children. I decided the best way of doing so would be to keep a healthy balance between anatomical, physiological, conservation, and environmental information mixed with fun facts and pictures.  I continued to update the module whenever I learned something new, but I always tried to maintain the balance.  My first time teaching the 5^th graders was a life changing moment.  Experiencing the student’s energy and excitement, and hearing their insightful questions made me realize my love for teaching. 

          
  When I was a Brownie, I never imagined the impact that Girl Scouts would have on my life.  It has led me to discover myself, my passions, and my dreams.  Because of this wonderful organization, I have become the confident leader I am today. 

Grown-up Girl Scout Camp!

Girl Scouts has always held a special place in my heart. I was a Girl Scout from kindergarten through my senior year of high school. My older sister currently helps run a troop which my niece belongs to and I couldn’t be more proud. For all these reasons and more, I listened up when my sister told me to enter one of the GSCTX Twitter contests. I entered the contest and with random luck, I won two tickets toS’more Soiree! I, of course, planned to take my sister and together we planned our weekend as we impatiently waited for the days to go by.

I hadn’t been to the location of the event, Camp Texlake, since my last year of high school. Driving there, I remembered the countless visits with my troop, the old Starcke Lodge, my favorite view and all of the fun I experienced when I went there.

Once my sister and I checked in, we went out to do some walking. It was so cool to be there with my sister! We were never in Girl Scouts at the same time, but I love that she and my niece can experience the same fun and great things about Girl Scouts that I did growing up. We walked by the ‘singing trees’ and I visited the old Starcke Lodge. Lots of great memories there!

As the day’s activities began, I ran into my old troop leader Sue. She was one of the two women who led my troop for all those years. We have many memories together and seeing her there really made my weekend. Aside from all the fun I had in Girl Scouts, I learned a lot and I credit my time there in helping me become the woman I am today. I feel this is an organization all girls should experience.

S’more Soiree was everything I could have imagined and more! My sister and I did horseback riding together and afterwards, I had a spa treatment. At the end of the day, I went on a hayride. I particularly like being able to go by places around the camp I’d been to as a kid, being able to see some new things and also see how Camp Texlake has changed over the years. If you ever go, make sure camp staff, Princess, does your tour! She truly embodies the great spirit of Girl Scouts and has great stories!

As the day came to an end, my sister and I headed back to the lodge for dinner and a concert with Sarah Hickman. The food was great, the S’more martinis were better, and Sarah Hickman was so much fun! It was so cool to see women of all ages gather to enjoy the evening and come together in the spirit of Girl Scouts. I would definitely go back to S’more Soiree. I will always consider Girl Scouts as some of the best times of my life. 


-Kristy Hilbig


For more photos of S'more Soiree, check out our Flickr account!