Hello,
In this page I will be talking about how I was able to do my Gold Award: If you have or are a Girl Scout watching feel free to learn more about my journey.
I first submitted my proposal in August of 2019. Unfortunately, it was rejected. When I worked on it and was ready to resubmit, I discovered that updates were being made to the Girl Scout GoGold Portal website. This meant I essentially had to make another proposal according to these new guidelines. Luckily, it was accepted in February of 2020.
After that, I teamed up with the Avon Senior Center and a club at my high school called the Asian Cultural Club. We were all set to make an in-person convention style event (with food and activities) when the coronavirus crisis hit.
I consulted with my Advisor and others to see what we might do instead. Eventually we came to the realization that we must do an online presentation. I filled it with all the information that would've been at my presentation, including quick facts, photos, and recipes. But instead of providing the food and having activities at such an event, I put recipes and coloring pages on my website. The essential essence of my project was not lost in this transfer.
I used my leadership skills to reach the Asian Cultural Club and still work with them, even in quarantine, to get pictures and explanations of Indian Culture (India was the country I worked with them on). Additionally, while I was initially set to host my in-person event at the Avon Senior Center, I still was able to work with them to figure out how best to hold my online presentation and what ideas we could use for engaging the audience. In this way, I could still demonstrate strengths I received from the Girl Scout program; not only leadership but seeing my project through a crisis and still delivering on my goals.
Looking at my project more technically, I used Google Slides to make my presentation, and right now I'm using Google Sites for this website. I used the online service Screencastify to prerecord my presentation, and used a Google Meets call to broadcast it. Zoom could also be used for this purpose, but I chose Meets since only a Gmail is required to use it.
After my presentation, I posted the video on my website where anyone can view it. Along with my Before + After Surveys, it gives me a clear picture of what visitors have learned.
My advice for Girl Scouts pursuing their Gold Award is to keep fighting, no matter how difficult it gets, and your hard work will pay off.
-Allison Rinehart