Girl Scouts of Citrus Council, Inc., which serves girls throughout Brevard, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, and Volusia Counties, celebrated the accomplishments of 56 girls who’ve earned their Girl Scout Gold Award at the 2009 In Her Honor ceremony. Another 48 girls earned their Silver Award.

“Fifty-six Gold Awardees sets a wonderful record for our council,” says Dr. Pamela Lennox, CEO of Girl Scouts of Citrus Council. “The Gold Award is the pinnacle of a girl’s experience within our organization, and earning it showcases her courage, confidence, character and commitment to make the world around her a better place. Today’s girl, tomorrow’s leader: I know each of these 56 young women will continue to make her mark on our community.”

The Girl Scouts of Citrus Council’s 13th annual In Her Honor ceremony featured a keynote address by Lucille O’Neal, inspirational speaker, community volunteer, recent master’s degree recipient and mother of NBA star Shaquille O’Neal. She spoke of all of the young women in the audience as “Awesome Blossoms” with the skills, the drive, and the support of the entire community to reach the goals they set for themselves in life.

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest achievement a young woman can earn in Girl Scouting. To earn this award a girl must plan and carry out a large-scale community service project. This award’s prerequisites include earning the Senior Girl Scout Challenge, Senior Girl Scout Leadership Award, Career Exploration pin and four interest projects patches related to the project. The Senior Girl Scouts honored are between the ages of 14-18 from across the six county region.

Kathleen McNatt, from East Orlando’s Timber Creek High School, Brittani Bass, from Oviedo’s Hagerty High School, and Laura Schultz, who goes to Trinity Prep High School, teamed up on their Gold Award project to benefit the children with chronic or life threatening illnesses who attend Camp Boggy Creek. The trio’s project raised awareness in the community about the camp and collected donations.

Girl Scout Laura Schultz explains they also wanted to leave a lasting impression, “We left our mark by building a butterfly garden to represent new life.”

Brittani Bass, a lifelong Girl Scout, says the organization has had an important influence in her young life. “While in kindergarten, my teacher realized I was having hearing trouble. Growing up hard-at-hearing was difficult because people didn’t really understand why I had the hearing aids. I was sometimes treated different. But the people who treated me like a normal, every-day girl were my Girl Scout Troop, always!”

Kathleen McNatt had a number of extra-curricular activities throughout high school, but that this year, her junior year, she narrowed her focus to her studies and Girl Scouting. She says the change was hard, “But once I started getting into the Gold Award, the work kept me busy. I enjoyed it and I couldn’t have done it without my amazing troop mates, Brittani and Laura, or my awesome troop leader!”

Bass adds that Girl Scouting has really changed her life: “I’ve seen and done many things and accomplished so much that I probably wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do without Girl Scouts. It has taught me that girls can accomplish anything they set their minds to and to never give up on your hopes and dreams no matter the adversity you might encounter along the way.”

Article by Sara Bridget Au