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2016 is a momentous year for the Girl Scouts as it marks 100 years of girls changing the world! Since 1916, Girl Scouts have been making meaningful, sustainable change in their communities and around the world.
The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn, acknowledges the power behind each recipient’s dedication to not only empowering and bettering herself, but also to making the world a better place for others. These young women are courageous leaders and visionary change makers. They are our future, and it looks bright!
Girl Scouts, community leaders, families, and friends joined us last week as the Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails marked this anniversary our Gold Centennial Celebration at the Governor’s Mansion in Santa Fe. Our celebration featured keynote speaker Monique Jacobson, Cabinet Secretary for CYFD and inspirational speaker Getrude Matche.
Four Gold Awardees were recognized for their significant leadership in their communities, where they identified and then addressed an issue.
- Mary Coleman. Mary used her love of organization as the starting point for her Gold Award project that she named “OPA: Organization, Preparation, Achievement.” She recognized that poor organizational skills can easily cripple a person’s academics and can cause stress.
- Delaney Heileman recognized that students often lack education on where food comes from beyond the grocery store; so, she designed a school garden to educate students about agriculture through hands-on learning.
- Delanie Montoya’s project “For the Love of Art” addressed the loss of art education in elementary schools. She worked with elementary school students and teachers at Lydia Rippey Elementary School in Aztec.
- Jesica Santino recognized that every day, millions of people with special needs aren’t included in the most basic of activities because the people around them aren’t patient enough to help them. They miss out on the fundamental experiences of life simply because it’s a little bit harder for them. Jesica’s project was to create a sensory trail at Loving Thunder Therapeutic Riding.
For our Gold Awardees, the leadership skills, organizational skills, sense of community, and commitment that come from “going for the Gold” set the foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship.
Thank you to our generous hosts, speakers, special guests, and sponsors who helped make this a special day for our Gold Awardees and for the Girl Scouts of New Mexico Trails.
A special message from our event sponsor, New Mexico Mutual: “Girls who Go Gold can go anywherethey want! Congratulations to all honorees from New Mexico Mutual!”
Today we continue the Girl Scout mission of building girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. We’re the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. And with programs for girls from coast to coast and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl a chance to do something amazing. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, visit www.nmgirlscouts.org.
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