Local Seaford and Wantagh Teens Earn Prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award

SEAFORD/WANTAGH, NEW YORK (JUNE 2022) — Girl Scouts of Nassau County recently honored Seaford and Wantagh residents Emma Alexander, Rachael Brite, Danielle Galardi, Amanda Ham, Katie Moulder and Melanie Zylberberg 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. Emma, Rachael, Danielle, Amanda, Katie and Melanie 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.

Emma Alexander raised student interest in the history of her local community with her Gold Award Project, “Hometown History.” Partnering with the Wantagh Preservation Society for information, Emma wrote a book and created a pamphlet for community members to learn about their town’s history. She organized a scavenger hunt that takes students to different historical locations throughout her town to help them discover more about the area. Emma’s historical account of her town can be easily accessed through local school libraries and can be downloaded from the internet. Her scavenger hunt will continue to be used as supplementary material for elementary aged students in her school district. Emma is a recent graduate of Wantagh High School and will attend Cornell University in the fall.

For her Gold Award Project, “Heads Up 360,” Rachael Brite addressed the social and emotional effects of increased screen time in children. After developing and administering surveys, Rachael found that screens were distracting, and can lead to a lack of socialization, deficiency in interpersonal skills, and low self-esteem.

Rachael presented this information in online workshops, and provided solutions to help students decrease their screen time. Her participants were mailed tech stickers with the Heads Up 360 logo she designed as a reminder to look up at the world around them, and her research can also be accessed through her project’s social media account. Rachael is studying education, with an emphasis on Early Childhood Development, at the University of Hartford.

Danielle Galardi took on the challenge of bringing mental health awareness to teenagers and young adults with her Gold Award Project, “You Are Not Alone in this World.” Post COVID-19, mental health in teens and young adults have suffered more than in prior years. To prevent stigma around mental health, she created a presentation to educate her community on the importance of mental health and emotional wellbeing. She also developed a resource guide that was shared with her school’s psychologists to assist students. Danielle’s Gold Award will be sustained through her high school’s psychology teacher who has implemented her message into his curriculum. Danielle will be a senior at Plainedge High School in the fall.

Through her Gold Award project, Amanda Ham took on the challenge of helping native bird populations. For her project “Bird Habitat Conservation,” she educated students at a STEM camp in upstate New York on the importance of protecting and sustaining wildlife in their communities. Ham also created basking sites in Levy Park and Preserve for birds to be able to have a safe place to rest in their own environment. Additionally, she designed a sign, “Native Bird Species of Levy Park and Preserve,” that describes the appearance and ways of life of six different native bird species to that area. Her lesson plans will be implemented in the camp’s curriculum, and her basking sites and sign will remain at Levy Park and Preserve. Amanda is a recent graduate of John F. Kennedy High School and will study occupational therapy at the University at Buffalo in the fall.
Through Katie Moulder’s project, “Scoliosis Awareness,” she developed discussion cards for the Curvy Girls scoliosis support group to earn her Gold Award. During meetings, sometimes the attendees get distracted, are unfocused, or too shy to speak up. She wanted to help them become more confident, engaged, and interested in learning about their condition. To help improve this, she created discussion cards to help keep the conversation flowing. She used input from the support group to develop the cards. Katie posted inspirational quotes on Instagram to show people that they are never alone. The discussion cards will be used by Curvy Girl scoliosis support groups around the world. Katie is a recent graduate of Holy Trinity Diocesan High School and will study psychology and biology at Catholic University of America in the fall.

Melanie Zylberberg was determined to spread awareness about the Guide Dog Foundation to anyone and everyone she could. For her Gold Award Project, “Guide Dogs for Gold,” Melanie took action by providing trained service animals for the visually impaired by home-socializing multiple puppies for two-week time periods. She also made crate mats to give back to the puppies in training. From Daisies to Junior Girl Scouts, onto high school students, and adults including the elderly in her community, Melanie expressed the importance of her project, and how they can help. She created an Instagram page to spread her message through social media. Melanie’s project is sustained by the local Guide Dog Foundation utilizing her PowerPoint presentation in their Guide Dog Training class curriculum. Melanie is a recent graduate of Kellenberg Memorial High School and will attend High Point University in the fall.

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.