Local Garden City Teens Earn Prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award

Girl Scouts of Nassau County recently celebrated 55 local Girl Scouts who are members of the 2023 Girl Scout Gold Award class who made a sustainable impact, addressing causes they care about in their communities. Garden City residents Cristina Seoylemezian, Ella Pocock, Grace Power, Gretchen Murphy, Jaci Licari, Juliana Mitchell, Kathryn Maloney, Madeline Mitchell, Maria Dalia, Keira Regan, Ryan Sievers and Kennedy Wilgosz were among 55 Girl Scouts throughout Nassau County who reached this milestone.

“Each of the Girl Scouts who earned their Gold Award this year showed fortitude, diligence and enthusiasm in creating and executing a plan to act on a societal issue. We are very proud and impressed by each of them for reaching their goals and leaving a legacy with their communities,” said Randell Bynum, the CEO of Girl Scouts of Nassau County. “Their dedication is evident and their hard work has touched countless lives. This year, we had Girl Scouts addressing real-life issues such as environmental justice and sustainability, mental and emotional wellness, gender equality in sports, and more. We commend each of them for their important work.”

Girls in grades 9-12 begin their Gold Award journeys by identifying a civic or social issue that holds importance to them. Next, a Girl Scout builds a team to support her project with a mission to create a positive impact in her community. Gold Award projects are coordinated so that they can continue long after girls earn their award by establishing nonprofit organizations, publishing books to be added to school library collections, implementing classroom lessons to be taught for years to come or other initiatives to create lasting change. Through the process, Gold Award Girl Scouts become innovative problem-solvers, empathetic leaders, confident public speakers, and focused project managers, while educating and inspiring others. They learn resourcefulness, tenacity, and decision-making skills, giving them an edge personally and professionally. As they take action to transform their communities, Gold Award Girl Scouts gain tangible skills and prove they’re the leaders our world needs.

For her project, “Mental Health Post-COVID-19,” Cristina addressed the issue of poor mental health, specifically in teens and children, caused by the pandemic and a severe lack of mental health professionals. She taught people about the potential causes and signs of depression and anxiety, as well as coping mechanisms for negative emotions. She also provided free resources to use for mental health support and information. Cristina’s Gold Award project will continue to educate individuals on anxiety, depression, and different coping mechanisms through her social media pages and her website, which contains all of the information from her presentation.

Through her project, “The Eco-Art Project,” Ella implemented an environmentally based art therapy curriculum to address the issue of adolescent mental health while educating children on plastic pollution and biodiversity loss. She partnered with the Ocean Beach Youth Group on Fire Island, where she conducted eco-art workshops educating children on the benefits of engaging in artistic expression to alleviate stress and anxiety, while learning innovative forms of recycling. Ella taught the children how to upcycle plastics to create crafts such as bird feeders, piggy banks, and self-watering planters. Ella’s project will be sustained through the use of her eco-art instruction manual by several youth education and summer camp programs and her online eco-art social media account.

Grace’s project, “Senior Center Games and Brains,” focused on helping senior citizens build relationships and increase their accessibility to books. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many senior citizens became reluctant to leave their homes and interact with others. Grace created programs throughout the Garden City Senior Center to encourage seniors to come together. Word and board games, book chats and Bingo allowed seniors to connect with others. Grace provided senior citizens with guides on how to play board games and have an engaging book chat. She created a presentation about the importance of building relationships, where she included ways for seniors to interact with others.

For her project, “A Sunny Tuesday in September,” Gretchen recognized that her generation, born after 2001, did not have a true understanding of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. She viewed television footage, watched documentaries, and interviewed first responders who survived the rescue efforts. Gretchen created a presentation targeted to middle and high school students to educate them on the history and events of that day. She shared her presentation with Girl Scout troops, peer groups, and high school history classes. Her materials have been adopted by high school teachers for their AP Government curriculum.

Jaci worked with the Association for Children with Down Syndrome (ACDS) for her project “Everyone Can Cook!,” which focused on teaching adults with Down Syndrome how to cook easy and fun recipes that they could make with friends and family. She visited an ACDS group home weekly and taught two recipes each time to give the residents all the cooking skills they needed. Jaci’s project is sustained by cookbooks given to each resident and weekly recipe posts on the ACDS Facebook page.

Juliana’s project, “Using Social Media for Good,” focused on the potential of social media to help young people instead of perpetuate harm. Through a partnership with SmartSocial.com, a website that provides resources about digital citizenship for teenagers, she developed a presentation and pamphlet called “Social Media for Good.” Her work highlighted how to use social media safely, appropriately and purposefully to show one’s best self by focusing on academic, athletic or extracurricular accomplishments. The information was distributed at meetings and fairs to parents and students. Juliana created a social media platform for the Garden City Service Unit of Girl Scouts to distribute Service Unit information. Her presentation and pamphlet are available at guidance departments and local libraries. The Garden City Girl Scout Instagram page continues to promote using social media for good.

Through her project, “Doggie Do’s and Don’ts,” Kathryn developed an interactive program about dog behavior that aimed to teach kids how to develop positive relationships with their pets. She led discussions with children at local schools, parks and libraries to teach them how dogs communicate emotions like anxiety or aggression through body language. She also educated the children on how to stay safe in situations where a dog may attack. Kathryn developed educational resources and created activities that gave participants a chance to test out the information they had learned. She also published a book on dog behavior that is available at her local library, and her resources can be accessed through her project’s website and social media.

For her project, “Learning, Living, Loving: Growing the Game of Field Hockey,” Madeline partnered with USA Field Hockey and her club team, Lasting Legacy, to introduce and develop the game of field hockey for students in second through sixth grade. Madeline’s team helped initiate access to an instructional league which provided the opportunity to learn the sport through match play. She also hosted a clinic for Girl Scouts to learn while playing and interacting with volunteers from her school’s field hockey teams. Madeline’s club team will continue through the instructional league and her school, Garden City High School, will offer ongoing community service via “give back days.”

Through her project, “Food Allergy Awareness,” Maria partnered with Garden City Middle School to add a lesson to the curriculum about understanding food allergies. She developed worksheets and put pamphlets and educational materials outside of local doctors’ offices and libraries. Maria also started a Facebook group about food allergies, where her educational materials are readily available.

For her project, “Arts Alive,” Keira brought awareness to the importance of art, specifically in schools. She worked with Garden City High School to create its first art club in over 20 years, aiming to educate students on all the different pathways of art. Keira made and presented art history lessons, ran competitions and contests, collected for local organizations and arranged activities with speakers and professional artists to widen the perception of what art is and how it affects us. Keira’s project will continue after she graduates through her club’s existence, social media presence and a website she created.

Ryan Sievers embarked on her project, “Homage to our Historic Homes,” by collaborating with the Garden City Historical Society (GCHS) to emphasize the significance of preserving historic homes in the area. To achieve this goal, Ryan conducted video interviews with homeowners in Garden City, exploring the history and stories behind their homes. Through her project, Ryan gained valuable insight into the importance of historic preservation. Her project’s impact extends beyond its completion, as it is now sustained through the GCHS and Ryan’s Instagram page, @HomagetoGardenCity.

“Butterfly Gardens,” Kennedy’s project, addressed the issue of monarch butterfly endangerment caused by deforestation and habitat loss. She built a beautiful garden at Eisenhower Park full of specific plants monarch butterflies need to live. She teamed up with Hicks Nurseries to secure the proper plants and materials to make her vision become a reality. Now, her monarch butterfly garden is a nationally recognized way station for the butterflies to stop at during their migratory path. This project will continue to have a long-term impact on the ecosystem due to the unique importance these butterflies have, and it will be supported by having troops maintain the garden.

Girls in grades K-12 can begin their Girl Scout journeys at any age. As girls grow with Girl Scouts, they learn hands-on leadership skills they’ll use to make their mark through the Gold Award and beyond. To join or volunteer, visit www.gsnc.org/join.

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We Are Girl Scouts: Girl Scouts bring their dreams to life and work together to build a better world. Through programs in Nassau County, across Long Island and from coast to coast, Girl Scouts of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges—whether they want to climb to the top of a tree or the top of their class, lace up their boots for a hike or advocate for climate justice, or make their first best friends. Backed by trusted adult volunteers, mentors, and millions of alumni, Girl Scouts lead the way as they find their voices and make changes that affect the issues most important to them. To join, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, visit girlscouts.org.