Sarah, a senior from North Easton, earned her Girl Scout Gold Award after learning an alarming statistic about young girls in STEM. Sarah learned that girls begin to show startingly low confidence in STEM at an early age, and often decide not to participate in STEM activities as a result. Sarah used her Gold Award platform titled, STEM Sisters, to challenge and address this issue in the North Easton community. When asked about what motivated her, she said that “girls often do not see themselves as capable of being successful in STEM, and so they do not get involved. I worked to change this.”

Through a series of virtual and in-person robotics workshops, Sarah was able to teach local Girl Scouts about robots in a fun and engaging way. Participants were also able to build LEGO^® EV3 Robots to complete the STEM challenge of their choice. Sarah connected these unique activities with existing Girl Scout robotics badges to build excitement and a feeling of accomplishments for Girl Scout participants. Sarah even trained her high school robotics team to continue to teach these skills to young girls in the future!

Earning a Gold Award is the highest honor in Girl Scouts that will be with a Girl Scout for the rest of their life, making them stand out on college applications, in applying for internships, and engaging in job interviews. Girl Scouts are eligible to earn the Gold Award in grades 9-12 after completing two Senior or Ambassador leadership Journeys. To start, a Girl Scout identifies an issue in their community, drafts a plan to address a root cause, and leads a team of volunteers to implement it, requiring a minimum of 80 hours of service. No matter the project, when a Girl Scout’s Gold Award is complete, they will have made a sustainable impact on the world that continues beyond their involvement.   

Gold Award Girl Scouts don’t wait for permission, they take immediate action and make change happen, on their own terms. Become a champion of change for Girl Scouts like Sarah and donate today.