Thirteen years of Girl Scouting has culminated in earning the Gold Award for Briann Meyers, a member of Ambassador Girl Scout Troop 230 and 2014 graduate of Valparaiso High School. On June 1st Briann was presented with her Gold Award at a Girl Recognition ceremony at St. Paul’s School.
The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouting and requires at least 80 hours of planning, executing, and evaluating a project of significant contribution to the community. Girls must submit a detailed plan of action and schedule an interview with the Awards Committee of the Girl Scout Council of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana for approval. Briann chose Alzheimer’s disease as her area of concern and ended up working 96 ½ hours toward the project’s completion. Avalon Springs Health Campus was the recipient of 30 lap blankets which Briann created for residents of their Alzheimer’s Unit. Under Briann’s direction, the 4th grade Junior Girl Scout troop at Northview Elementary School in Valparaiso helped make the lap blankets by cutting out squares of donated material, learning how to use a sewing machine, and stitching together the squares. Briann, with help from her mother and grandfather, added backings and finished off the edges. The final part of the project was a flyer Briann created to bring more community awareness to Alzheimer’s disease which has affected a number of people in her family.
Additional requirements for the Gold Award include having earned the Silver Award and completing a Girl Scout Journey as well as leadership skills. Briann has been the leader of Daisy Girl Scout Troop 473 at Northview School for 2 years and Assistant Leader to Junior Troop 31. In addition, she earned 20 Interest Projects and numerous activity badges while a Cadette and Senior Girl Scout.
The Valparaiso Area Girl Scouts annually present the Food for Thought award to graduating seniors who have completed their Gold Award and submitted an essay about how Girl Scouting has enriched their lives. Briann Meyers is this year’s scholarship recipient which will help toward the cost of books her first semester of college.
Briann is the daughter of Jennifer and Brian Meyers and is heading to Indiana University in the fall where she will major in Biology.