Molly Ruth Redding of Girl Scout Troop 2493 in Guilford County has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award for a community leadership and service project that provides educational resources for local elementary students.
Aiming to address the need for more hands-on educational resources at Irving Park Elementary School, the Girl Scout Ambassador created “Irving Park STEAM Bins” to encourage creativity, critical thinking, and innovation among local students.
“Project-based and experiential learning increases student engagement, problem-solving ability and long-term understanding of academic concepts,” said Molly Ruth, a Girl Scout of 10 years. “However, these types of activities can require additional materials and preparation that teachers may not always have access to.”
Molly Ruth collected and organized a variety of STEAM activities, which stands for science, technology, engineering, arts and math, into specialized bins for her project. She donated the bins to a fourth-grade classroom, providing students with regular access to hands-on learning opportunities and allowing students to experiment, build, create and solve problems. Activities were intentionally chosen to be durable and reusable with clear instructions to ensure they can continue to be used for future classes.
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 Scout must dedicate a minimum of 80 hours to planning and carrying out their 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.
“Some of my favorite memories from school come from hands-on activities, so being able to provide such activities for these children is so meaningful to me,” said the Gold Award Girl Scout. “I hope that through these hands-on activity boxes, the students will be inspired to learn in and out of school.”
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 2025, 30 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.
