Local Girl Scouts Strike Gold (Award)
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Sarah Bohley and Megan Brown are local Girl Scouts who just earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the most prestigious distinction a Girl Scout can receive.
Amy Bohley is the leader of Girl Scout Troop 03201 and she explains, “Through pursuing the Gold Award, Girl Scouts change the world by tackling issues they are passionate about to drive lasting change in their communities and beyond while they learn essential skills that will prepare them for all aspects of life.”
Earning the Gold Award asks Girl Scouts to accomplish several things. “Each girl must complete two Senior or Ambassador journeys, or complete one Senior or Ambassador journey and have earned the Girl Scout Silver Award,” says Amy. “An Ambassador is a Girl Scout level during the freshman and sophomore high school years and a Senior is a Girl Scout level during the junior and senior high school years.”
These are just the first few steps. Amy adds, “The prerequisite to earn a Gold Award is to have completed a journey during the Ambassador or Senior level of scouting and to have earned the Silver Award and or complete a second journey. A journey is an extended engagement with a topic that culminates into a Take Action Project to make the world a better place and is completed during a girl’s high school years. Both Sarah and Megan earned their Silver Award and completed a journey at the Ambassador level.”
Sarah and Megan pursued different projects while pursuing the Gold Award. Both projects were unique, interesting, and — most importantly — useful. “Sarah Bohley identified a need for internet safety with younger-aged school children as since the pandemic education has become more and more digital. She created a pamphlet for students to have access to and assisted the high school technology teacher by teaching internet safety in the classroom,” states Amy. “Megan Brown identified a need for resources to aid high schoolers in being successful students at each high school grade level. She worked with the high school counselor and created a booklet that high school students can access.”
Amy is obviously very proud of the two girls for their dedication and accomplishments. “The Girl Scout Gold Award is an elite group of girls [which] only fewer than 6 percent of Girl Scouts achieve annually,” Amy says. “Becoming a Gold Girl Scout encourages others to address a community issue —rather it be local, regional, or global — that they are passionate about and make a change and a positive impact within that community.”
Through being Girl Scouts, Amy believes Sarah and Megan have learned many valuable life skills. “It has taught them leadership, passion, work ethic, and creativity toward developing novel ideals to society’s challenges,” she observes. “It has also enhanced their communication skills and community engagement.
The success of these two projects demonstrates how southeastern Indiana continues to produce young leaders who are determined to be a force for positive change. Anyone can accomplish anything, they just have to put their mind, heart, and soul into it.
