Gold Award Spotlight: Blazing a Trail to Success

Emily, a Girl Scout from Chesapeake, has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouting.

Emily noticed that the trails at Indian River Park were unmarked and difficult to navigate. For her project, Emily decided to mark the outer trail at the park. She placed trail signs on over 100 trees along the 6.4 mile trail by removing a small patch of bark from each tree and painting the bare patch a bright color.

After she finished blazing the trail, Emily created QR codes on stickers that she placed on the signs at the trailheads to direct users to the park map. She hopes that the updated trails will encourage more people to visit the park and be active.

“I chose this project because I saw a lot of potential in the park while hiking there with my family,” Emily said. “I also wanted to make a difference in the Indian River community.”

The Gold Award requires girls to identify an issue in the 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 Emily to an elite group of females across the country with the honor.