Local Girls Receive Highest Award in Girl Scouting

girl scouts

Earlier this month, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee congratulated several Williamson County Girl Scouts for earning the Girl Scout Gold Award. Kaitlynn Rabb, Kaitlin Pisani, Heather Perry, Rebecca Perry and Ellie Hildabrand earned this award – the highest achievement in Girl Scouting.

Kaitlin Pisani

Kaitlynn’s project, Kids Kicking Obesity, addresses childhood obesity in the United States. She educated and motivated children and adolescents to be healthy and remain active. Her project will teach and allow them to share and spread their new knowledge.

Kaitlin built and landscaped a 60-foot illuminated, paved wheelchair-accessible path displaying raised perennial flower and herb gardens at a nursing home in Franklin. Each garden box has a plaque with an inspirational poem and a featured bird or butterfly house, or sun globe. Perennials, treated wood used for boxes and bird/butterfly houses, rubber mulch to eliminate weeds, solar powered lights and an automatic watering system will result in minimal maintenance for staff and residents. A binder outlining the different types of plants, flowers and herbs along with additional care instructions was left with the site.

Just by their nature, butterflies have a global link. They inhabit every continent in the world except the Antarctic. Due to urbanization and the increased use of pesticides, herbicides, invasive and hybrid plants, butterflies have lost proper habitats. Heather created a garden habitat for butterflies using indigenous, perennial, self-propagating, seed bearing plants. The site was chosen because of its rocky, cavernous soil conditions, which means it will not be able to be developed.

Rebecca built a combination “Waystation Bench and Educational Center” located between St. Mary’s Fitness Trail and Heather’s butterfly garden. This bench provides shade and a resting spot for individuals using the fitness trail, and the other portion provides educational information about the migration and life cycle of butterflies. Rebecca also planted over 20 trees, which will eventually provide more shade for the butterflies and the individuals using the fitness trail.

Ellie Hildabrand

Ellie used historical information provided from the Brentwood Library archives to develop one-of-a-kind portable trunks. She prepared two different Traveling History Trunks–one for the Battle of Brentwood and one for the WSM Radio Station Tower. The trunks are designed to be permanent educational resources. Maintained and circulated by the Brentwood Library through their school partnership campaign, the trunks provide a resource that educators can use for years to teach generations of students about local history.

By earning the Girl Scout Gold Award, Kaitlynn, Kaitlin, Heather, Rebecca and Ellie have become community leaders. Their accomplishments reflect leadership and citizenship skills that set them apart.

“Earning the Girl Scout Gold Award is truly a remarkable achievement, and these young women exemplify leadership in all its forms,” said Shelia Majors, director of training, volunteer relations and outreach at Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee. “They saw a need in their communities and around the world and took action. Their extraordinary dedication, perseverance and leadership is making the world a better place.”

Kaitlynn, Kaitlin, Heather, Rebecca and Ellie will receive their awards at the 2017 Salute to Outstanding Leadership Awards ceremony on Sunday, April 30 at Lipscomb University’s Allen Arena.

Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee serves more than 14,000 girls and 7,000 adult volunteers in 39 counties. It is a part of Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), the world’s preeminent organization for girls, with a membership of more than 2.6 million girls and adults nationwide. GSUSA continues to strive to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. For more information on how you can be involved in Girl Scouts visit www.gsmidtn.org.