The Gold Award Girl Scouts are inspiring leaders whose projects create a lasting impact in the worlds of STEM, education, agriculture, medicine and more on a local, national and global level.
Kaitlyn Ruano noticed a lack of mental health resources at her school and the visible toll it was taking on some of her friends. Through the mental health awareness club she founded called Open Minds, Open Arms, she and her group hosted several school-wide events, including a week of educational activities during Mental Health Awareness Month. MDCPS has cited the symposium as one of the inspirations for designating a stipend for each school in the district to use for mental health resources.
Madeline Gonzalez works on voter registration and civic engagement via Vote Florida. She’s been able to “educate, motivate and inspire young people about their right to vote.” Her efforts will be sustained as her program is now part of the American Government class at her high school and hopefully beyond.
Daphne Cholodofsky has always enjoyed cooking with her grandmother and hearing stories about secret family recipes. These memories inspired her to make a difference in the lives of elderly residents in a local nursing center through Reminiscing About Recipes. Through these entertaining reminiscing exercises, the elderly improve their mental and physical health, reduce stress and fine tune social and communication skills; GirlScoutsFL.org.
