Once a Girl Scout, Always a Girl Scout

· by · in Gold Award, Gold Award Centennial, Once a Girl Scout, Always a Girl Scout. ·

As we prepare to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scout Gold Award in 2016, we’re recognizing all the amazing women who earned Girl Scouts’ highest award. Want to share your story? Take our Girl Scout alumnae survey. 

A passionate Girl barb 3Scout alumna, First Vice President of the Board Barbara Krumsiek has been a proud advocate for Girl Scouts’ highest award since she earned the First Class in 1967. Today, as the chair for the 100th anniversary Gold Award steering committee, Barbara is spearheading the efforts to increase visibility for this highest award. In fact, sheappeared on an episode of Comcast Newsmakers to discuss the upcoming celebrations.

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Karen Dickson

Karen Dickson knows the value of Girl Scouts’ highest award. While earning her First Class in 1968, Karen developed invaluable leadership skills and discovered a lifelong passion for theater. Today, Karen is the proud parent of a Gold Award Girl Scout, who says having the Gold Award on her resume helped land her first paying job.

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priya

Through the Gold Award, Girl Scouts improve their communities while bettering themselves. By organizing a math night to provide children with educational games, Girl Scout alumna Priya Arokiaswamy learned organizational and interpersonal skills which have helped her throughout her career in healthcare administration.

“My Gold Award is very special to me,” says Priya. “It’s a reminder that I can do anything I set my mind to.”

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meghan

As a medical corps officer in the US Navy, Girl Scout alumna Meghan Quinn says the skills and experience she gained through her Gold Award project helped her gain confidence to compete in a male-dominated field. To earn Girl Scouts’ highest award in 2009, Meghan taught fire safety and prevention to local students, even creating a children’s book on the topic.

“My time in Girl Scouts taught me to advocate for myself and push myself, with the knowledge that I can really accomplish anything,” said Meghan.

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Girl ScAAEAAQAAAAAAAAZ4AAAAJDQ0Nzc0ZjM5LTZlMjMtNDlmNy1hMTg0LTQ0N2RjOGY0ZmNiYwout alumna Catherine Moore learned invaluable leadership skills through her Gold Award project, a safe-driving campaign to raise awareness about the high rate of teen car accidents. Today, as the Senior Individual Giving Officer at Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital, Catherine’s Girl Scout journey has come full circle.

“Earning the award opened a new realm of possibilities for me,” says Catherine. “It taught me to dream bigger and recognize my own leadership skills.”

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A Gerinirl Scout for more than 28 years, Gold Award alumna Erin Headson’s blood runs green. To earn her Gold Award in 1997, she combined her passion for theater and Girl Scouting by creating a theater camp for children to help build their self-confidence and leadership skills. Today, Erin shares her love of Girl Scouting with others as a proud Girl Scout parent and leader of a multilevel troop.

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holly lynne.jpgA second-generation Gold Award Girl Scout, Holly Lynne McKinley Schmidt combined a love of service and passion for history to earn Girl Scouts’ highest award in 1997. Holly Lynne planned a historical reenactment of 1920s school days at the Great Falls Schoolhouse in Maryland, which grew into the annual “Great Falls Day.”

“Being the second in my family to earn this honor is special not only for the award itself, but to show the strength and commitment of the organization it represents,” said Holly Lynne.