Girl Scouts Louisiana East honored five area Girl Scouts with the Gold Award, the Girl Scouts’ most prestigious honor, during a pinning ceremony and celebration at the Old Governor’s Mansion in Downtown Baton Rouge earlier this week.
Girl Scouts earn this award by demonstrating exceptional leadership, organizational skills, and completing a community service requirement.
This year’s recipients are: Alyssa Bishop from Denham Springs High School; Alyssa Daigle from Nicholls State University; Lena Gunn from Mandeville High School; Giavanna Raby from Louisiana State University; and Lindsay Michel from Covington High School.
Growing up in a military family, Lena Gunn has been a devoted volunteer for Operation We Care, a nonprofit organization supporting military members and first responders with care packages and other resources. These experiences coupled with the ongoing pandemic, Gunn noticed the lack of volunteerism and awareness of military service in young people today. She created the “Military Mindset” to help grow awareness for military service and encourage volunteering for organizations that support the military. Gunn is a graduate of Mandeville High School and will attend LSU in the fall, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
Lindsay Michel’s concern for the amount of time children and youth spend on social media and technology led her to create the Long Leaf Pine Savannah and Live Oaks Digital Catalog to get children outdoors and utilize their technology. Her project created a geocache and letterbox for children of all ages to use the tree-related clues on a scavenger hunt. She has also created other informational materials about the environment in Covington and hosted several informational booths. Michel is a graduate of Covington High School and will attend Nicholls State University to major in Biology with a focus on Marine Sciences.
During the award ceremony, two scholarships were awarded. Giavanna Raby received the Kelly C. O’Mahoney Scholarship from Kelly Kicking Cancer. Lindsay Michel received a scholarship from Girl Scouts of the USA.
