Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Spotlight on GSOSW's 2014 Girl Scout Gold Award recipients!

Congratulations to our council's 2014 Girl Scout Gold Award recipients, honored June 5 at a ceremony in Salem, Oregon. These 30 young women collectively contributed more than 2,400 hours of service to communities throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington. Incredible!

Kelly Bame • 2013
Beaverton, OR
"Classroom Book Leveling"
Recruited a team to identify and color code over 1,000 books by reading level at a local school so that teachers and children could more effectively match book choices to reading level.

Hollynd Boyden • 2013
Portland, OR
"One Community, One Goal"
Organized a soccer and cleat drive and distributed cleats to African organizations and a transitional community in Hillsboro.

Elizabeth Bryan • 2014
Portland, OR
"Band Instrument Collections"
Gathered used musical instruments from the community and arranged for them to be repaired and refurbished for use by middle school students who cannot afford to buy or rent instruments.

Molly Buell • 2013
Jacksonville, OR
"Senior Smiles"
Arranged for students with financial hardships to receive professional senior portraits at no cost.

Amanda Crawford • 2014
Portland, OR
"Vietnamese Culture Workshop"
Researched, prepared and presented a multi-cultural program about Vietnam to elementary school students.

Anisha Datta • 2013
Hillsboro, OR
"Back to School Run"
Organized a 5k run in partnership with a local Parks and Recreation District.
Read an article published about Anisha's Gold Award project.

Mikal Dewar • 2013
Eugene, OR
"Hats for a Smile"
Designed a pattern, taught others how to make her design, and made 200 hats for a local children’s hospital.
Read an article published about Mikal's project.

Alyssa Duke • 2013
Salem, OR
"Fire Safety 101"
Developed and presented a fire safety teaching unit for Cub Scouts.

Raichle Dunkeld • 2014
Portland, OR
"Project Evergreen"
Created and presented environmental awareness curriculum to an eighth grade class and worked with them again in the fall when they were in the ninth grade.
Read an article published about Raichle's project.

Rachel Geiger  2013
Portland, OR
"Oil, Oil Everywhere and the Interwoven Nature of Oceanic Trash"
Created awareness of environmental contamination through an educational video presentation.
See a video that Rachel created for her project.

Synthia Gifford • 2013
Vancouver, WA
"A Journey Through Art"
Provided art and cultural awareness workshops for third graders at a local elementary school. Worked with Rebecca Thompson, and focused her lessons on the cultural aspect.
Read an article about Synthia's Gold Award project.

Laura Goff • 2013
Wilsonville, OR
"Knit Two, Give One"
Taught girls how to knit and provided hats for premature babies.
Read an article about how Laura implemented her project.

Marissa Hagglund • 2013
Portland, OR
"Pet Palooza"
Held an animal awareness event to address the problem of abandoned or abused pets.
Read an article about Marissa's project.

Natalie Hendren • 2013
Battle Ground, WA
"Be Smart - Eat Smart"
Created multiple videos on health and fitness topics and hosted viewing days in her community.
Read an article about Natalie's project.

Karina Jaroch • 2013
Wilsonville, OR
"Brother Andre Café Benefit Food Drive"
Planned and executed several drives to collect food to be donated to the Brother Andre Café. In addition to collecting food, she helped raise awareness about programs that provide services to people in need.
Read an article about Karina's project.

Elissa Johnson • 2013
Oregon City, OR
"Girl Scout Book Drive"
Planned and coordinated a book drive to provide reading material for low income children and adults.

Virginia LaGrow • 2012
Beaverton, OR
"Sustainable Wetland Restoration"
Taught the community of a nearby wetland about invasive species and involved them in wetland restoration.
Read an article about Virginia's project.

Kelsey Leinbach • 2013
Lake Oswego, OR
"Adopt-a-Project"
Developed a system to connect organizations and individuals that desire to complete needed projects at Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp.

Hallie Lichen • 2013
Oregon City, OR
"Unmasking Identities"
Led and organized a workshop at the 2012 Gay Straight Alliance Summit, encouraging teens to share how they see themselves on the inside.
Read an article that includes information about Hallie's project.

Anikaleah McDowell • 2014
Fairview, OR
"Mother Daughter Symposium"
Organized a free half-day symposium for 20 to 30 adolescents and their mothers where they learned the physical, mental, and emotional aspects of puberty.

Claire Palmiter • 2013
Gresham, OR
"Little Free Library"
Created free little library mailboxes to share books in her community.
Read more about Claire's project.

Kalee Paxton • 2013
Roseburg, OR
"LOL! Texting is No Laughing Matter!"
Created a video, student pledge, information boards and a presentation for teens  to promote awareness of the dangers of texting while driving.
Read more about Kalee's project.

Vanessa Rogers • 2013
Salem, OR
"Project Protein"
Developed, tested, distributed and taught instructors how to prepare recipes using a protein patty for a local food bank.
Read more information about Vanessa's project.
Check out her Pinterest board with the recipes.

Keely Scherzinger • 2013
Monmouth, OR
"Invasive Plant Removal & Song Bird Habitat Restoration Project"
Built and set up bird houses and removed invasive species for habitat restoration at Rickreall Creek.
Read more about Keely's project (on page 3).

Karishma Shah • 2013
Portland, OR
"Family Bridge Day Care Program"
Provided snacks, crafts, reading, and other activities to enrich the lives of children at Family Bridge.

Anna Shelby • 2013
Eugene, OR
"Kestrel Bird Boxes"
Designed and created kestrel nesting boxes and placed them in various locations in her community as a natural alternative to pesticides for areas with overwhelming rodent infestations.
Read more about Anna's project (including a picture of her nesting box in action!)

Bridget Strang • 2014
St. Helens, OR
"Soles 4 Souls"
Developed a multi-faceted drive to collect new and used shoes for distributing to areas of the world in-need.

Rebecca Thompson • 2013
Vancouver, WA
"Open Your Mind"
Provided art and cultural awareness workshops for third graders at a local elementary school. Worked with Synthia Gifford, and focused her lessons on the art aspect.
Read an article about Rebecca's Gold Award project.

Samantha Tompkins • 2013
Irrigon, OR
"Beautiful Butterflies Self Esteem Camp"
Organized self esteem workshops and activities for pre-teen and teenage girls.

Madison Tritico • 2013
Oregon City, OR
"Ivy Pull"
Created a presentation to educate children on invasive species and organized ivy pulls at a local park.