Gold Award Spotlight: Skills and Drills

Girl Scout Ambassador Poppy from Poquoson has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement in Girl Scouting. For her project, Poppy organized a seven-week basketball skills and drills camp that she hosted for 74 students at Sanford Elementary School in Newport News. She chose to run a camp at Sanford because the school has very few afterschool activities, and she wanted to provide an outlet for children to release stress, learn, play and be active.

During the camp, Poppy and a team of volunteers that she organized, taught the children basketball skills, including dribbling, passing and shooting. They also played games to help work on their skills and ended the camp with a basketball game tournament.

“Playing sports has given me amazing opportunities and made me the confident person I am today,” Poppy said. “I wanted to share my love for sports and make all the kids who participated feel how amazing it is to be a part of a team.”

After the camp, Poppy donated the basketballs that she purchased for the camp to Sanford Elementary Schools so that the students would continue to have access to them. She also gave her lesson plans for the camp to the physical education teacher at Sanford so that she can continue to help the students develop basketball skills.

The Gold Award requires girls to identify an issue in their community and carry out a Take Action project to address the matter through leadership work. Nationwide, less than 6 percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award, which adds Poppy to an elite group of female leaders across the country with the honor.