Madelyn Hovis of Girl Scout Troop 2305 in Lincoln County has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award for a community leadership and service project that addresses the need for special education resources.
Madelyn identified that local special education teachers have had difficulty managing their classrooms due to limited access of individualized resources their students need. She partnered with Iron Station Elementary School to create busy boards for special education learners that are durable and customized to the needs of their students.
“My project has provided a tactile activity for students to independently practice fundamental skills cost-effectively that can be used consistently without significant wear,” said Hovis, a Girl Scout of 13 years. “These busy boards tackle a handful of skills, including ABCs and weather, and I have provided other similar boards to aid with motor skills. Developing these skills will benefit students’ everyday lives and promote their academic future.”
Hovis realized that the number of special education classrooms in her school district had increased within the last decade, but the funding hadn’t increased as quickly. Many of the schools are just starting special education programs and nearly all of them have struggled to provide the specialized resources they need to give each student a proper, individualized education.
Madelyn partnered with a special education teacher at Iron Station to ensure her project met the needs of their students, including the motor and cognitive skills they needed to work on, as well as the safety and maintenance of the boards. With her team, she developed three designs – ABCs, numbers and weather – and created 10 of each based on the number of students. She worked with an organization at her church who agreed to make a yearly donation to the classroom to put toward resources and help with any future repairs. She also created board-building instructions to be shared with other teachers across the 14 elementary schools in the district and reach more students in need.
Girls in high school can earn the Girl Scout 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 Girl Scouts Carolinas Peaks to Piedmont (GSCP2P) council have created community gardens, addressed issues in foster care, combated bullying in schools and so much more.
“My busy board design is easy to make, inexpensive and can be easily replicated by youth groups, other troops or community service organizations,” said Hovis. “Meeting the needs of special education students will always be important, and my project provides an easy way for ordinary people to help out.”
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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