Norah Parrish of Thomasville earned the Girl Scout Gold Award for accomplishing a community service project to increase awareness of a community resource and create sustainable change in her area.
This project addressed the lack of community awareness of Barkdale Park while increasing socialization and exercise for dogs and their owners. Norah completed this project from 2022 to 2024 with the support of 18 community sponsors to install a dog agility course and host a grand re-opening with over 100 attendees including members of the Archdale Chamber of Commerce, the Archdale City Council and the Randolph County Tourism Authority. The park originally opened in 2020 when many people were not social due to the pandemic. Norah increased awareness of the park through months of advertising on social media and with flyers and banners, made the park more engaging for dogs and their owners with the agility course and hosted a pet adoption fair at the grand re-opening with Ruff Love Rescue to help break the cycle of overpopulation.
“I have learned so much about myself and how to interact in a business world with professionals. I feel I have become a more confident teen and that I have the ability to speak to people in authority with respect and confidence,” said Parrish, member of Girl Scout Troop 13077. “I feel that I am more patient and that I have empathy toward people that do things out of the kindness of their heart, because they want to – not because they have to. My mentor taught me how to bring a team together to get a job done efficiently.”
Girls in high school can earn their Gold Award by creating sustainable change on a community or world issue. They 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 that benefits the community and has a long-lasting impact. Gold Award Girl Scouts gain tangible skills and prove they are the leaders our community and world need, and those from the GSCP2P council have created community gardens, addressed issues in foster care, combated bullying in schools and so much more.
Norah said, “My project will be sustained after my involvement because its location is within an existing park that is open to the public. They have a full maintenance crew that will mow and keep the area clean. They will also be able to know if any repairs are needed because they go by the dog agility course daily. The equipment company was also one of my sponsors, so I feel that they are invested in the project.”
Thousands of Girl Scouts across the country 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. In 2024, 40 GSCP2P Girl Scouts earned their Gold Award.
To learn more about earning a Girl Scout Gold Award, visit https://www.girlscoutsp2p.org/en/members/for-girl-scouts/badges-journeys-awards/highest-awards/gold-award.html.
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