2023 Girl Scout Impact Report

National Gold Award Scholarship

Changemaker Scholarship In 2023, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri awarded three $5,000 higher education scholarships to Gold Award Girl Scouts at Council’s signature fundraising event, Dessert First. Coumba Diallo

The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouts, and those who earn it set themselves apart from their peers through their perseverance and grit. GSUSA’s 111 councils were each provided the opportunity to nominate one of their outstanding Gold Award Girl Scouts to receive a national scholarship. Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri’s Meghan Jachna, a 2023 graduate of St. Joseph’s Academy, was a recipient of a $10,000 national GSUSA scholarship. Jachna partnered with the Missouri Botanical Garden to create educational activities on what plastic film is, the life cycle of a plastic bag, and how to reduce, reuse and recycle it. Jachna also taught visitors to the garden about the negative impacts the product can have on human health. To ensure she had accurate information for the activities, Jachna interviewed an expert, the director of the plastics sustainability team at the American Chemistry Council. Jachna then used all the gathered information to share handouts with her audience that covered how to make reusable bags and getting involved with organizations to work to change policy to reduce the amount of plastics companies are using. Jachna’s project will continue to be presented by the SAGE (Students at Garden Educators) program through the Missouri Botanical Garden. The students will be trained to deliver the program through the Missouri Botanical Garden volunteer portal.

Diallo collected donated art supplies and assembled 150 art kits for teens in the St. Louis region. She then coordinated with teaching artists and facilitated ten virtual painting workshops with children in Saint-Louis, Senegal. Diallo invited the teens to submit their artwork for a virtual exhibition. Through her project, Diallo reached more than 100 teens. Mira Iyer Iyer developed an app, CHOMP, an innovative nutrition app created for users to understand their bodies better and the foods they eat. Iyer committed more than 200 hours developing her app to ensure an easy-to use interface and utilized uninimidating nutritional terminology. Iyer worked with a local SSM Hospital dietitian, who provided knowledge and guidance, so the app better equips users with the tools to read nutrition labels and choose healthier snack options. Gracie Steinmeyer Steinmeyer filmed five tutorial videos for FTC Robotics teams to learn how to set up and program their robots using two robotics programs. Steinmeyer also hosted a workshop for more than 20 robotics teams which covered TensorFlow software and how to program with machine learning. Steinmeyer visited three elementary schools to present FTC demo bots and other STEM activities to more than 80 students.

“I believe that it is important to not only educate yourself on pressing social and environmental issues, but also take action to improve these issues. I was drawn to earning my Gold Award because it gave me the opportunity to work towards self-initiated goals and lead my own project.” -Meghan Jachna, Gold Award Girl Scout

Changemaker Scholarships were made possible by: • Laurna Godwin in memory of Corrynne Godwin • Penny Pennington and Michael Fidler in honor of every girl making her mark on the world! • William R. Orthwein and Laura Rand Orthwein Foundation

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