Girl Scouts of Western New York is proud to announce Isabelle Larson of East Aurora, NY, as a 2021 Gold Award Girl Scout. Isabelle is from Troop 31130 and has been a member of Girl Scouts for 8 years.

What Isabelle said about Girl Scouts

Girl Scouts has impacted my life in a significant way. I have become a stronger leader. I have learned the importance of kindness. My dedication to helping others has developed greatly. Overall, Girl Scouting has made me strive to be a better person than I was the day before.

Project: Educational Activities for Young Developing Minds

For my project I designed, created, and produced educational activities for young children. These activities are designed to develop skills such as numbers recognition, counting, shapes, and hand-eye coordination. I cut Russian birch plywood into 120 six-inch-by-six-inch squares. I made twenty sets of educational activities. I split the 120 squares into six groups to make different shapes. I sketched, drilled, sanded, painted, and labeled each individual square. Each set contained six lacing activities. These include a triangle, a square, a pentagon, a hexagon, an octagon, and a star. Each set also contained a detailed lesson plan that is simple to understand with a step by step visual of how to use the project. The lesson plan included the project aims, preparation, materials, the presentation, points of interest, control of error, the age range, additional comments, variations, and extensions.

My project served multiple communities and schools. One set of activities was distributed to East Aurora Montessori, one set was distributed to Holland, one set was distributed to the Frank A. Sedita School in Buffalo, and 15 sets were sent to the Endupoto Primary School, which is located in a remote area of Tanzania in East Africa. I made 20 sets each containing six activities. There are a total of 120 boards. These boards are durable and can be used for countless generations and will teach many different children throughout the years.

I choose this project because as a high school student I have been a part of the STEM program. One of my goals was to create an activity that will familiarize the children with numbers, math, and shapes; thus forming a foundation of STEM-related concepts. Another one of my goals was that I wanted to benefit more than just my community. I worked towards educational equality and providing resources for schools that were truly in need.

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.