Our Girl Scouts’ efforts to bring real, sustainable change to their communities are being recognized! This past year, 70 girls across eastern Massachusetts earned the highest award attainable in Girl Scouting—the Gold Award.
Each girl chose an issue, created a plan to take action, and inspired others along the way. Girls typically spend 80 hours over one to two years on their Gold Award projects, and are able to sustain them through the work of other troops or volunteers. More than 30 local newspapers have highlighted our girls through articles and photos.
A Golden Ceremony
On Monday, June 15, our Gold Awardees were honored at the Massachusetts State House. Girls who were recognized for Bridging to Adult also participated in this memorable celebration. In addition to remarks from GSEM Chief Executive Officer Patricia Parcellin and Council President Elizabeth Stevenson, State Auditor Suzanne Bump addressed the audience of girls, parents, troop volunteers and council board members. All the girls received a certificate and a rose from the council, along with local and national certificates of commendation.
Girls Making Headlines
Sagamore Girl Scout Lazara Wilson earned the Gold Award with her project Mural of Inspiration for RFK. She felt that the dreary exterior of the Robert F. Kennedy Children’s Action Corps Center in her community did not reflect the organization’s spirit. Lazara designed a mural to enhance what was once a plain white wall, using her own artistic talents and giving the kids an opportunity to make a difference at the center that does so much for them and the community.
Youssr Attia, from Randolph, earned the Gold Award as well as the GSEM scholarship this year. Her project, WEmpower, set out to empower girls and women, physically and mentally. Inspired by her own passion for martial arts, she created a series of workshops and self-defense classes. Each workshop addressed the root causes of low self-esteem and revolved around a self-empowerment theme. Her efforts are what led her to receive her scholarship, which she will use to study chemical engineering at Northeastern University. 
Topsfield’s Chiffer family is going gold! All three Chiffer sisters are Girl Scouts, and the two oldest girls have each earned their Gold Award. Elizabeth Chiffer completed her project, French Immersion through the Arts, this year. She set out to help students in the fourth through sixth grades learn the language and the culture of France by developing and leading a series of French language and cultural classes using visual, performing and culinary arts to engage her students. 
Wakefield Girl Scout Caitlin Mogan has always loved to read, but felt that a lack of time to read for pleasure outside of school contributed to many of her friends’ loss of passion for books. As part of her project, Reversing Readicide, Caitlin collected books and created a library at the local Boys & Girls Club to give middle school students the opportunity to read books that genuinely interested them and revive their love of reading. Stay tuned for more Gold Award spotlights!
Photography by Randy H. Goodman
Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts | Blog 