Girl Scouts of Western New York is proud to announce Caroline Blair of Penfield, NY, as a 2021 Gold Award Girl Scout. Caroline is from Troop 60765 and has been a member of Girl Scouts for 13 years.

What Caroline said about Girl Scouts

Being a Girl Scout has taught me that no matter what age you are it is important to give back to your community. It has also taught me how to be a leader and to motivate myself and my fellow Girl Scouts to do the right thing.

Project: Penfield Bee Houses

For my Gold Award Project I decided to build carpenter bee houses. I built four bee houses that are located at Shadow Pines in Penfield. The bee houses serve to protect the carpenter bee population and help with pollination in the area.

I chose bee houses because bees are our leading pollinators and they are in need of protection from humans. My project will draw carpenter bees to a safe location that is surrounded by nature which they will pollinate.

Not only did I build bee houses but I made a video on how to make bee houses and facts about them, which can be found on YouTube. I also incorporated a geocache into my project that contains the URL code to the YouTube video, while giving a little adventure to my project. I built the project out of pine, bamboo, and scrap wood so that it could be taken over by the bees without any unnatural additions to the houses.

About the Gold Award

The Gold Award project is the culmination of all the work a girl puts into “going for the Gold.” A Girl Scout’s project should be something that a girl can be passionate about—in thought, deed, and action that encompasses organizational, leadership, and networking skills. The project should also fulfill a need within a girl’s community (whether local or global) and create change that has the potential to be on-going or sustainable. Approximately 80 hours of community service are involved in the project. Completion of the Gold Award also qualifies the Girl Scout for special scholarship opportunities and she can enlist in the military at a higher starting pay grade.

The Girl Scout Gold Award, the most prestigious award in the world for girls, 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.

The Gold Award requires a Girl Scout to identify an issue and investigate it to understand what can be done to address the problem. The girl then forms a team to act as a support system, including a project advisor close to the issue who is not a troop leader or family member, while she leads the project. The Girl Scout creates a plan to ensure they know what steps they must tackle while working on the project. The Girl Scout submits a proposal for her project to her local Girl Scout council. After acceptance, the girl begins to work through the steps of their plan utilizing the assistance of her support team where necessary. Lastly, the project is used to educate and inspire others about the cause they are addressing.

For more information on the Gold Award, click here.