Congratulations to Girl Scout Gold Award recipient Katherine Stancliff on earning Girl Scouting’s highest honor! The Girl Scout Gold Award honors girls who use education and innovation to make a difference.

Katherine’s project, “Swimmer’s Calculus, What is That?” focused on combining academics and athletics through educational resources that connect math concepts with swimming and sports performance. Her project encourages learning in creative and engaging ways.

These are Kate’s words as she described her project: “As a competitive swimmer and diver, I spend up to 3 hours a day, 6 days a week in a chlorinated pool. While I was initially told I just needed to brush and floss more, I researched why my smile was no longer white. I often notice a brown or yellow tint to my teeth, along with a film that sticks to the enamel. Having a yellow smile started to affect how I posed for photos. I wanted to learn as much as I could about ways to improve the look and health of my teeth. Once I saw an improvement, it became my main goal to raise awareness among my fellow aquatic athletes so we can do what we love and still feel confident in our smiles. Research and mentorship guided me to focus on the term “awareness” and encourage general dental care while visiting dental providers regularly to discuss individual concerns and suggestions. As a member of our regional swimming community (96 separate swim clubs with approximately 3,900 swimmers), I selected this community as my target audience to raise awareness and present information to a large number of clubs, coaches, parents, and swimmers. The main goal was to raise awareness in this community that chlorine may be impacting some of our smiles. I centered my project during the National Observance of Children’s Dental Health Awareness Month. After being selected as an athlete representative on the LSC’s Wellness Committee, I pitched a proposal to the committee that February’s National Dental Health Awareness Month become an ongoing observance, similar to other self-care observances, promoted within the LSC. I then worked with the LSC and local meet directors to present information at two large regional swim meets in February, reaching more than 1,000 LSC swimmers, plus coaches and parents. During the research aspect of my project, I connected with the University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine to propose my project and inquire about additional directions and support. It was through their generous donation that dental health kits were added to my table presentations. These February-hosted events took place in Tonawanda, NY, and Rochester, NY, which covered our entire LSC (Western New York to Syracuse). Using table displays, brochures, swimmer swag, links to research/articles, and donated dental health kits, I was able to connect with my target audience through in-person conversations/questions, and observations.”