Local Herricks Teens Earn Prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award

HERRICKS, NEW YORK (JUNE 2022) — Girl Scouts of Nassau County recently honored Herricks residents Aveena Desai, Katerina Gounaris and Emma Joseph for earning their Gold Awards. The Gold Award is the highest and most prestigious award a Girl Scout can achieve as it recognizes the remarkable dedication she has for improving their community and the world around them. Aveena, Katerina and Emma were presented with their Gold Awards at the Girl Scouts of Nassau County's 2022 Gold Awards Ceremony, joining an elite group of 53 young women from throughout Nassau County who earned the highest honor a Girl Scout can achieve.

“The recipients of this year’s Gold Awards have displayed diligence, compassion and altruism in approaching issues facing their communities,” said Randell Bynum, the chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of Nassau County. “Their efforts have not gone unnoticed in their communities and their impacts will leave an imprint for years to come. I applaud them for addressing topics like social justice, mental health, the environment and more, while putting forth solutions to create a better world.”

The Gold Award program is designated for girls in grades 9-12 and is intended to help girls explore civic and social issues they are passionate about pursuing. The process of earning a Gold Award begins with a Girl Scout identifying a civic or social issue, drafting a plan to approach the issue and, lastly, partnering with volunteers or community leaders to implement it.
Aveena Desai’s project, “The Trivialized Toll of Poverty on Mental Health,” took on the mental health crisis by focusing on those living in poverty who are often the most in need of mental health services and are simultaneously the least likely to receive help. Through presentations, she educated her community on this issue and taught others how they can take action. Aveena provided under-privileged children with mental health resources as well as developed cost-effective coping mechanisms to share with Uplift Humanity, an organization in India that works with underprivileged children. Aveena recently completed her freshman year of college at Stony Brook University.

Through her Gold Award project, “Intersection Safety and Teen Driving,” Katerina Gounaris helped improve traffic safety and spread awareness of safe driving to teenagers. She worked with her County Legislator and the Department of Public Works to implement a grid box and a “Do Not Block the Box” road sign. Katerina developed a presentation which she gave at school clubs and during class times. She partnered with the head of driver’s education and teachers at her school to accomplish this.

Katerina’s project will be sustained through the grid box and her presentation will be continued to be used by the Students Against Destructive Decisions club at her school. Katerina is a recent graduate of Herricks High School and will study psychology at the University of Miami’s Honors Program in the fall.

For her Gold Award Project, Emma Joseph created a youth support group in partnership with the Long Island Alzheimer’s and Dementia Center. The purpose of “The Support Project,” and her group is to emphasize that children who have family members experiencing Alzheimer’s and other progressive dementia are not alone. Through livestream presentations, Joseph connected with teens to educate them on the impact that Alzheimer’s and dementia has on their loved ones. She also informed members of her support group on various coping mechanisms. The Long Island Alzheimer’s and Dementia Center will continue her youth support group, and her presentation has been uploaded on their YouTube channel and Facebook page. Emma recently completed her freshman year at Drexel University.

According to the Girl Scout Research Institute, girls who have achieved their Gold Award, experience greater life success due to a greater sense of self, satisfaction, leadership, life achievements, community service and civic engagement. Gold Award Girl Scouts who enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces may receive a higher pay grade and can receive scholarships or other recognition from most colleges or universities.
For more information about the Girl Scouts of Nassau County and the Gold Award program, visit www.gsnc.org.

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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 leads the way as they find their voices and make changes that affect the issues most important to them. To join us, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, visit girlscouts.org.