Local Levittown Teens Earn Prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award

LEVITTOWN, NEW YORK (JUNE 2022) — Girl Scouts of Nassau County recently honored Levittown residents Priya Dubey and Rhythm Osan 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. Priya and Rhythm 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. The plan implemented needs to be sustainable and reach beyond the Girl Scout’s personal community.
Priya Dubey presented her Gold Award project, “Equal Learning Environments,” to local high school students by bringing awareness to how educational inequality continues to be an issue the world is facing and the consequences that follow if we do not work together to alleviate the matter. Working with a local NGO in India, she created a pathway for school supplies to be delivered to students in the village of Gorakhpur. Priya organized a tutoring website chain where volunteer tutors continue to be recruited to teach Indian students through Zoom and communicate through WhatsApp. Her resources can be accessed through her website to learn more about steps being taken to battle educational and social inequality. Priya’s academic tools continue to influence students’ educational achievement in rural schools in India. Priya is a recent graduate of MacArthur High School and will attend Johns Hopkins University in the fall.

For her Gold Award Project, “Unity in Cultural Diversity,” Rhythm Osan's goal was to raise cultural awareness in her community, overcome ethnic stereotypes, and educate people on the differences among people and cultures. She worked with her public library to host cultural workshops for kids where she read a diverse selection of books and then completed a cultural activity.

Rhythm organized an annual cultural fair for her high school that provides students the opportunity to try different foods, play games, wear cultural attire, and listen to ethnic music. Her website and Instagram page educates viewers on different cultures’ geography, scientific accomplishments, attire, food, artworks, architecture, music, language, and holidays. Rhythm is an alumna of Division Avenue High School and is studying Architectural Engineering 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.
###
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.