Girl Scouts of South Carolina–Mountains to Midlands to Honor 28 Gold Award Girl Scouts

Through the Gold Award, girls not only provide solutions that last to some of society’s biggest problems—like cleaner oceans, equity in girls’ education, and greater access to science and technology training—they grow more confident and strengthen skills that will carry them into a successful future in both school and their career.

While the Girl Scout Gold Award receives little publicity, it is the most prestigious award in the world for girls, the most difficult to earn, AND it is only available to Girl Scouts.

Gold Award Girl Scouts are making the world a better place.  They are inspiring leaders whose Gold Award projects are impacting the world of STEM, education, agriculture, medicine, and more on a local, national, or global level.

Girl Scouts who demonstrate outstanding leadership by initiating and completing sustainable service projects will be recognized with the prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award in Belk Auditorium at Presbyterian College on Sunday, May 5, 2019.

This year’s Gold Award Girl Scouts are: Holly Lodmell, Spartanburg; Erin Villanueva, Inman; Bethany Bagwell, Fountain Inn; Sylvia Zaragoza, Chester; Trystyn Gaston,Chester; Camden Meetze, Chapin; Brieanna Wangsness, Columbia; Loren Brown, Columbia; Jessalyn Stevens, Cayce; Micah Cook, Columbia; Aisha Griffin, Lexington; Reagan Davis, Columbia; Bonnie Frick, Little Mountain; Kayleigh Jordan, Sumter; Aniaya Price, Columbia; Zola Jane Aplin, Irmo; Celeste Paglialunga, Fountain Inn; Grace Davis, Greer; Caitlin Roberson, Lyman; Nichole Reitz, Lyman; Emma Sandango, Spartanburg; Lauren Stover, Easley; Jimeace Bonaparte, Greenville; Elisabeth Harkins, North Augusta; Amelia Guerry, Aiken; Cameron Barron, Aiken; Madeleine Maylath, Chapin; Janaki Raman, Columbia. 

Holly Lodmell believes that literacy access is very important for young children to develop better reading and writing skills. Holly created four Little Free Literacy libraries to encourage reading. Her libraries were placed at Jesse Bobo Elementary School and The Woodland Apartments in Spartanburg, as well as rural areas in New Mexico where her grandparents live. The placement of her libraries has decreased the hours long drives of traveling to access different literature. Holly also taught Cadettes in her troop how to construct the libraries, allowing them to earn their Cadette Woodworking Badge.

Erin Villanueva loves the water and wanted to share with young swimmers the correct survival skills when swimming. Erin partnered with her local YMCA to develop an annual Swim Safety Week which teaches kids ages 5-13 the importance of safe swimming. Kids are now more excited about swimming and ready to splash the summer away with their new skills thanks to Erin.

Bethany Bagwell partnered with a local community church to renovate and refurbish the only public playground in Gray Court. Bethany created new features to the playground that now include an area specific to kindergarten students, as well as structures that involve STEAM. Bethany also wanted to make sure to make her Girl Scout mark by placing Girl Scout verbiage on the fence of the playground. What was once considered unsafe, is now fun and open to all children who desire to learn and play.

Sylvia Zaragoza loves art and has a passion for nature. For her project, Sylvia created permanent Shadow Boxes that are mounted on the Wylie Park Nature Trail. The shadow boxes feature illustrations, all hand drawn and painted by Sylvia, of deer, birds, butterflies, and reptiles that can be found in the Chester city park.

Trystyn Gaston wanted to make sure that her Gold Award project addressed a need for the homeless in her community. Trystyn partnered with a local homeless shelter in Chester and created hygiene baskets that are given to each woman who enters the shelter. She also managed the shelter’s renovation project to improve its functionality.

Camden Meetze created a Butterfly and Honey Bee garden in the Town Square of Chapin, South Carolina. This project is Camden’s true passion, as butterfly and honey bee populations are dying out more and more each year due to lack of pollinating flowers. To promote pollination, Camden planted dwarf butterfly bushes, society garlic, and lantana.  

Brieanna Wangsness, who was inspired by her mom, partnered with South Carolina Oncology Associates to create Wear Cancer Out! bags for cancer patients. Each bag contains a handmade t-shirt and other essentials to let patients know that they are not alone. South Carolina Oncology Associates will continue to work with Brieanna’s troop and receive handmade shirts and bags for their patients.

Loren Brown partnered with St. Martin de Porres Catholic School and built a raised vegetable and flower garden for her fellow classmates. Loren also taught students in 4th-6th grade the importance of nutrition and how to upkeep the vegetable and flower garden. Students received a “Peace for Healthy Eating” chart created by Loren to keep up with their healthy eating and document how the herbs and flowers are developing in the garden.

Jessalyn Stevens’ Gold Award project focused on the awareness of mental illness. Jessalyn was able to create a social media page and brochures that provide information for parents who have a child or teenager with a mental illness. She was also able to partner with the National Alliance on Mental Illness to create an awareness walk.  

Micah Cook wanted to help improve the happiness of children with incarcerated parents or other disadvantages. Micah partnered with her home church’s Prison Ministry and created Project Christmas and Beyond, which allows kids to receive special cards and items for each national holiday of the year. Almost 50 kids, ranging from ages 5-14, were impacted by the project. 

Aisha Griffin loves to read and wanted to share her love with others. She created her own alphabet system for the children’s library located at the Brookland Academy Childhood Development Center’s media center. This allows each child to check out a book to read and properly return books back to the shelves while learning the alphabet and numbers. Aisha furthered her project by renovating the media center with new chairs, posters, and wall art.   

Reagan Davis’ Gold Award project was inspired after the school shooting that took place in Parkland, Florida. The purpose of her project is to bring awareness and help prevent such tragedy at her own school. Reagan formed Pride Week to spread happiness and kindness through the school. Each day of Pride Week, different activities took place to create a more positive environment at the school. Reagan also created wristbands for each student at her school so they are always reminded when they See Something, Say Something.

Bonnie Frick has a true passion for environmental awareness and beekeeping. Bonnie partnered with Spring Hill High School to build outdoor planters that allow students in the Special Education Department to engage in outdoor agricultural lessons. The planters have created more opportunities for students with limited mobility.

Kayleigh Jordan Inspired by her brother, Kayleigh created Quiet Books for younger children who have autism. The books are designed to offer quiet educational activities on each page that they can do while meeting with a therapist. The donated Quiet Books are filled with activities made out of different types of sensory fabric that is detachable. Some of the quiet activities include how to braid hair and how to button clothes, even how to wash and dry clothes.

Aniaya Price loves math and finds it exciting to solve mathematical problems! Because of this, she decided to ensure that middle school students in her community were taught math in a fun and exciting way. Aniaya’s project helped students increase their math scores on standardized tests and opened opportunities for their future education.

Zola Jane Aplin knows that proper training and awareness is key for the American Red Cross. Outside of assisting American Red Cross trained volunteers, Zola created a video which features herself and her local American Red Cross to inform Donor Ambassadors about the need for donations of blood and platelets. During her project, she too, became a Donor Ambassador. 

Celeste Paglialunga partnered with the Shriners Hospitals for Children-Greenville by building an activity cart and making it possible for kids who couldn’t leave their hospital rooms to remain mentally, socially, and physically engaged in activities while waiting for their treatment or meeting with their doctor. Celeste exceeded her goal by making sure kids were more comfortable with going to the doctor’s office. 

Grace Davis partnered with the Dunbar Child Development Center, a preschool that serves children from low income families, to fund and create an interactive library. Grace, along with staff members, formulated a plan to deliver resources that would prepare the students for future educational success. The library consists of two rolling carts, each with 26 book bags. Each book bag contains a children’s book along with manipulatives and props that relate to the story. 

As a Girl Scout and AFJROTC Cadet, Caitlin Roberson developed confidence, character, and leadership skills. As the Director of the James F. Byrnes AFJROTC-SC-932 Annual 5k Run with Corps for Community and Education, Caitlin raised awareness for the Middle Tyger Community Center programs by educating local businesses on the importance of healthy exercising as well as enjoying the camaraderie of friends and fellow cadets.

Nichole Reitz has a 12-year involvement with her school district’s band, including being a member of the award winning band at James F. Byrnes High School. Her Gold Award project allowed her to bring awareness to 4th grade students at a local elementary school on the importance of band and music. Posters where created for the students with quotes from past James F Byrnes band alumni that inspire students.

Emma Sandango’s project focused on rates of owner surrender due to cost at a local Humane Society. Such rates have caused the shelter to be overpopulated with animals. To decrease these rates Emma partnered with a local food pantry, TOTAL Ministries, to setup a number of local pet food drives through organizations in Spartanburg County. These drives allowed pet food to be distributed to clients with TOTAL Ministries who are food insecure. Emma also provided shelving for the ministry to store all pet food donations.

To increase the quality of learning outdoors for students and teachers, Lauren Stover, used her construction skills and created a 24-foot by 24- foot wooden outdoor classroom at Powdersville Middle School. This outdoor classroom allows a full class to sit outside, rain or shine, and enjoy reading time and learning. Lauren is a firm believer that any child can fall in love with reading if provided the opportunity, and what a better way to read a book then to be outdoors. Lauren also donated two bookshelves to a local children’s emergency shelter to provide the children with more storage for books.

The Ronald McDonald House holds a special place in Jimeace Bonaparte’s heart.  Wanting to give back, Jimeace created care packages. Each included food, hygiene items, and a cookbook; each meal being designed by Jimeace. Jimeace also taught her younger Girl Scout troop cooking skills so that they may be of service to others at the local Ronald McDonald House.

Elisabeth Harkins noticed that there was a huge need at the Nurture Home for children and women who were experiencing homelessness and domestic violence. Elisabeth’s project provided reading nooks in the shelter that are equipped with stuffed animal reading buddies and reading pillows all handmade by Elisabeth, as well as created “Birthdays in a Bag” for each child to have a special birthday celebration. Elisabeth secured organizations to continue to provide bags and books to the shelter.

Beautification and education are Amelia Guerry’s passions. Amelia created a butterfly garden to educate preschoolers on the life cycle of a butterfly. The garden is filled with native plants that are host to caterpillars that become butterflies, along with bird baths and benches. Amelia also created a lesson plan for preschoolers to follow that will teach them about the different plants that host and sustain butterflies.

Cameron Barron created Blessing Boxes for a local community park and elementary school. Each box is filled with food and toiletries donated by the community for the homeless and low-income families who may not have access to the local shelter. Cameron also created a forum and Facebook page to alert the community when the boxes need additional materials.

Madeleine Maylath partnered with Camp Gravatt and recruited volunteers to clear a wooded area and build a 1-mile walking trail and bridge over a creek. The walking trail and bridge is now used by all visitors at Camp Gravatt for exercise and enjoying the outdoors.

Janaki Raman has a passion for working with children with special needs as she too had learning challenges in her early childhood. Janaki partnered with Epworth Children’s Home to help kids with special needs build an agility ladder using rudimentary materials such as pool noodles and PVC pipes. Ten kids, ranging from K5-12th grades, assisted Janaki in this project and are now able to work towards better physical and mental agility. 

Since 1916 Girl Scouts have been earning the Gold Award by making meaningful, sustainable change in their communities and around the world.  The Girl Scout Gold Award acknowledges each recipient’s dedication to not only empowering and bettering herself, but making the world a better place for others.  These young women are Go-getters, Innovators, Risk Takers, and Leaders.

Gold Award Girl Scouts spend, on average, one to two years on each project.  The requirements of the Gold Award are designed to strengthen each girl’s leadership skills, encourage her to explore career opportunities and to make a commitment to self-improvement.

These girls are inspirations to our communities.  We hope you will consider stories on the girls from your area to really highlight the difference these girls are making and will continue to make in our world.  Please don’t hesitate to contact me for pictures and contact information.

                                                                                                                            

For more than 100 years, Girl Scouting has helped girls develop positive values and become active, responsible leaders in their communities. With emphasis on personal growth and leadership development through service to others, Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Girl Scouts of South Carolina-Mountains to Midlands serves more than 7,000 girls, grades K5-12, and nearly 4,000 adults in 22 counties of central and western South Carolina, including Abbeville, Aiken, Anderson, Cherokee, Chester, Edgefield, Fairfield, Greenville, Greenwood, Kershaw, Lancaster, Laurens, Lexington, McCormick, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Richland, Saluda, Spartanburg, Sumter, and Union.