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Armada High School Graduate Earns Girl Scout Gold Award
June 04, 2022
GSSEM Girl Scouts, who have been doing great things in their communities, were recognized for their efforts during a celebration at Freedom Hill Amphitheater in Sterling Heights on May 15.
The highest honor, the Gold Award, was given to 14 Girl Scouts who dedicated at least 80 hours to impactful projects, like teaching healthy eating habits, creating a sensory path for kids, and addressing literacy.
Nearly 100 Girl Scouts also earned the Silver Awards, and more than 150 received a Bronze Award. Winners of the Tammie Murray Spirit Award, Jennifer Barnum Spirit Award, and GSSEM's 2022 Young Woman of Distinction, along with graduating seniors, were also recognized for their commitment to Girl Scouts.
"It was amazing to see this award ceremony come to fruition yet another year," said Leatrice Thompson, Director of Council programs at GSSEM.
All of the awards—which require girls to identify challenges in their communities and come up with permanent, positively impactful solutions—require a great deal of dedication to earn and set Girl Scouts apart from other youth organizations.
Each of the many honorees was recognized by the entire Girl Scout community and was given a special, well-deserved award. Each Gold Award Girl Scout was also awarded with a $500.00 scholarship to further her education, including Maddy Yarema, a Macomb County student who worked to support a food pantry in Armada.
When Maddy discovered the pantry, which services the surrounding communities, had a dwindling number of volunteers, she went to work creating the Metro Detroit Food Pantry Index website, a resource for volunteers and food pantries.
Maddy directed food pantries to the website so they coul create an accurate list of food needs in order to diminish waste and help supply hard-to-acquire resources, such as personal hygiene products.
She also connected local Girl Scout and Boy Scout troops to help maintain the website, spread education and kindness, and allow a continuous community commitment of services to help them flourish.
For Yarema, completing her Gold Award project helped her learn a whole new set of skills, including how to use technology in meaningful ways. As a result of the project, she has also become an advocate for food security and community outreach in the surrounding areas by educating locals and inspiring local youth to make a difference.
Yarema recently graduated from Armada High School and is a member of GSSEM Troop 30231. Other 2022 Gold Award Girl Scouts include Jennifer Bricker, Sofia Buatti, Victoria Cattermole, Sarah Cromwell, Larissa Dougherty, Sydney Ferns, Emily Forbes, Ingrid Huang, Scarlet Jackson, Nyra Mays, Deanna Moreau, Mikayla Porter, and Katina Proen.
"Watching our girls engage with their communities and achieve their goals shows just how much potential they have as they navigate their way through future high award projects and in life," said Thompson. "This is what Girl Scouts is all about and how impactful these girls truly are."
For more information about Girl Scouting's Highest Awards, please visit www.gssem.org/highestawards.
