AGS Students Achieve Girl Scout Gold

The Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. Fewer than 1% of all Girl Scouts will achieve this award. Approximately 1 million women have earned this award since it was created in 1916. In order to achieve the award, Girl Scouts must have completed their Silver Award and one Journey Award. They then brainstorm ideas with their advisors, identify an issue, research the issue, submit a proposal for addressing the issue, take into account the suggestions from the gold award council, get to work on their sustainable project, and submit a final report. Here are the two projects achieved by Emma Kate Sellers and Camryn Johnson, both Gold Award recipients from the Class of 2018.
Emma Kate Sellers, ’18
“My project was called Aprende para Lograr (Learn to Achieve). I created a curriculum for an after school program for 4-year-olds that aligns with Fulton County’s requirements for their pre-kindergarten program. With the help of AGS, I fundraised through a dress down day in order to buy the supplies for the after school program. I then ran this program through Los Ninos Primero for 3 months with the help of a few teen volunteers (including Izzy Baliban and Elizabeth Becker) and Sra. Bravaldo as my adult supervisor. I then revised the curriculum and sent it out to other organizations that tutor young hispanic children, so they can follow a plan to reinforce literacy and math skills. After the completion of my project, I applied for the Gold Award Council Scholarship, which took into account my Gold Award, scouting experience, transcript, resume, and recommendation letters, and I was awarded $5,500 to whichever university I attend in the fall.
Emma Kate says: “I am proud to have earned the most prestigious award in Girl Scouts after being a member for over 10 years. My experience as a Girl Scout and as an AGS girl has empowered me to identify an issue in my community and create a sustainable project to alleviate this issue, no matter how daunting the task may seem. I technically spent a year on my project; however, my entire scouting experience has been in preparation for this project.”
Camryn Johnson, ’18
“Go For Green: Urban Gardening in Food Deserts”
Camryn’s Gold Award project addressed the issue of fresh produce not being available to communities, creating food deserts, food insecure households and poor nutrition for children age 5-12. Food deserts are areas of the country where people have limited or no access to nutritious foods. Her goal was to raise awareness of food deserts and how urban gardening can be a way to combat them and poor nutrition in school age children. She did this through multiple workshops on food deserts and gardening, creating a blog, building a community garden in a food desert, and by establishing an annual day of service for a local garden. Camryn dedicated over 100 hours to complete her project, and to make the world a better place.
Congrats also to Senior Carrie Smith, who earned her Girl Scout Bronze and Silver Awards. For her Bronze Award, she helped build a playground for a poor community, and for her Silver Award, she hosted a dance recital to fundraise for an underprivileged dance company. 
Great job, girls!