Creating a sustainable Nature Trail: A Girl Scout Gold Award Project

Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont is pleased to announce that Anika Kreider, Mebane, has earned her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement a Girl Scout can earn.

Kreider, daughter of Jason and Christine Kreider and a member of Girl Scout Troop 2188, revitalized a neglected trail for a local elementary school that had started to have negative impacts on neighboring property and was causing runoff and flooding issues for nearby homes. During her cleanup, she was able to update the existing outdoor learning space to make it useable again, fixed the water damage and added natural water breakers to the old trail, as well as created an additional nature trail with bird houses. To go along with the outdoor learning aspect, she also created videos teaching students how to follow trail markers and how to identify different species of birds.

Girls in high school are able to earn their Girl Scout Gold Award by creating sustainable change on a community or world issue. Gold Award Girl Scouts address the root cause of a problem, plan and implement innovative solutions to drive change and lead a team of people to success. Each girl must dedicate a minimum of 80 hours to planning and carrying out her project, which must benefit the community and have long lasting impact.

As they take action to transform their world, Gold Award Girl Scouts gain tangible skills and prove they are the leaders our community and world need. Gold Award Girl Scouts from Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont have created community gardens, addressed issues in foster care, combated bullying in schools and so much more.

“Earning the Girl Scout Gold Award designation is truly a remarkable achievement. It is the culmination of so many things- from a girl’s self-discipline and leadership abilities to time management and the creativity, initiative and mastery of skills it takes to complete these kind of projects,” said Jennifer Wilcox, CEO for Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont. “Every girl who earns this prestigious award is making a difference not only in her community, but her own life as well. The skills gained through the Gold Award process- strategic thinking, communication, collaboration, problem solving- are ones that will be used often in her future endeavors.” Thousands of Girl Scouts earn the Girl Scout Gold Award each year, which first began in 1916 as the Golden Eaglet. Earning the Gold Award opens doors to scholarships, preferred admission tracks for college and amazing career opportunities.

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