
Each year, Girl Scouts of West Central Florida hosts a Gold Award Ceremony to celebrate Gold Award Girl Scouts and their accomplishments.
Gold Award Girl Scouts are rock stars, role models and real-life
heroes. They make real, lasting and sustainable changes in their
community.
The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. Once achieved, it shows colleges, employers and their community that a girl is out there changing the world. We couldn't be more proud of this year's Gold Award Girls!
The 2023 Gold Award Event Program will be posted soon. View the 2021 and 2022 Gold Award Event programs to learn more about past Gold Award Girl Scouts.
Elaine created a sustainable literacy awareness website for adults and children. For adults, it provided information about literacy, examples of how they could help children with reading, and other resources. For children, it provided resources for many read-aloud videos and fun learning sites. To promote her website, Elaine created social media accounts, designed bookmarks for children, made a business card for adults, and collected books and created a stamp so she could stamp the books before donating them. Elaine collected more than 4,400 books, all stamped with her website address and the phrase “Read. Share. Repeat.” to encourage others to share the book when finished. She also distributed packets to 34 elementary schools to highlight the importance of literacy. Her project will be sustained by the National Honor Society at Freedom High School, 34 Hillsborough County elementary schools and by Hillsborough County School Board Members. Elaine graduated from Freedom High School in 2023.
Kathleen’s Gold Award Project aimed to show local veterans an appreciation for their service and the sacrifices they made for their country. With the help of a local civic group and members of her community, Kathleen raised more than $4,500 and built four benches to commemorate different branches of the military at the American Legion Post 138. American Legion Post 138 overlooks beautiful Tampa Bay, yet there was no place to sit to enjoy the view and reflect. Kathleen built the benches so that veterans and military families would have a place to relax and enjoy nature. On Veterans Day, Kathleen hosted a dedication ceremony that had more than 20 attendees and was broadcasted on FOX13. This news coverage raised awareness of her Gold Award Project and American Legion Post 138. The benches that Kathleen built will be used by the community indefinitely. Kathleen graduated from Henry B. Plant High School in 2023.
Emily’s project allowed the community to come together to learn how to garden, enjoy nature’s beauty and improve their mental health. Emily created two gardens—a butterfly garden and a sustainable vegetable garden at Trinity Education Academy of Christian Homeschoolers—since many homes do not have the space for a personal garden, the funds to start one or the knowledge to grow one. Emily provided students with a class on sustainable gardening as well as created a curriculum outlining gardening tips, types of plants, the butterfly cycle and how mental health can be improved through gardening. The curriculum she created was distributed to Keep Pinellas Beautiful and two Trinity schoolteachers. Emily reached more than 500 students, 200 school families and 100 church members. Her curriculum will continue to be shared and her gardens will be used for years to come. Emily graduated from Pinellas County Homeschool in 2023.