Virtual ceremony will highlight 215 Girl Scouts

By Cathy Molitoris

Girl Scout Cadettes throughout Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania (GSHPA) dedicated more than 4,800 hours over this past year helping their community through their Silver Award projects.

The girls and their projects will be spotlighted in a virtual Silver Award ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 14, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Click here to register for the Zoom program.

“We have an amazing range of 215 Silver Award Girl Scouts in this year’s class, representing 21 of our 30 counties and in total working on 73 projects that cover topics from literacy issues, getting outdoors, foster care, education, poverty, history awareness, elder care, and so much more,” said Brynne Hall, GSHPA program coordinator for girl leadership. “I can’t wait to share these amazing stories with our council family at the ceremony.”

The Silver Award is the highest award a Cadette Girl Scout in sixth, seventh, or eighth grade can earn. Projects go beyond traditional community service, Hall said. Girl are tasked to identify a root cause of a problem in their community and create a long-term solution. “They are asked to think about how to educate their community on the issue, and how their project can live on.”

The projects have all made an impact on the greater community, including a project completed by Freyja, a Cadette in Wyoming County who created a Dungeons & Dragons kit for her local library. “Teens are an audience that we’ve been consistently working on building,” said Mary Graham, youth services coordinator. “It’s nice that we have this kit they can check out and then they are free to just play it here in the library. They’ve really enjoyed it.”

While GSHPA has honored Gold Award Girl Scouts with a ceremony for many years, last year marked the first time we hosted a Silver Award ceremony. “We started doing a virtual ceremony last year as a way for Silver Award Girl Scouts to get the chance to be center stage and get a taste of what Highest Award recognition feels like,” Hall shared. “Then, when they earn their Gold Award, they get even more to look forward to.”

Anyone is in GSHPA’s 30-county footprint can watch the ceremony on Nov. 14. It will also be recorded for anyone to watch at a later date.

Hall encourages all Girl Scouts to consider earning their Silver Award. The projects help girls hone leadership skills and make a lasting difference in their community. “Since there are three years of Cadettes, this gives you plenty of time to think about and create an amazing project that leaves a lasting legacy of your time in Girl Scouts,” she said.