Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast Honors 324 Local Girl Scouts at Annual Highest Awards Celebration

MILWAUKEE – Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast (GSWISE) is recognizing 324 local Girl Scouts for earning the Girl Scout Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards, the highest honors a Girl Scout can earn, during its annual Highest Awards Celebration on Tuesday, May 20 at Waukesha County Technical College. The 324 Girl Scouts who earned their Highest Awards – ranging from Girl Scout Juniors to recent Girl Scout alum – contributed more than 9,690 hours of impactful service toward projects that created measurable and lasting change in southeastern Wisconsin communities and beyond.

Highest Awards are presented to Junior, Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador Girl Scouts (grades 4-12) who display leadership while engaging in projects that improve their communities through direct action. To earn the Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards, Girl Scouts must complete the required Journeys, explore the community and identify an issue, work with other Girl Scouts and/or local leaders to make a plan that creatively addresses the problem, and take action that leads to long-term impact. At each level, Highest Award projects give Girl Scouts progressive opportunities to develop their time management and communication skills, move outside of their comfort zones, gain experience in goal setting, and discover firsthand how to contribute to their communities in meaningful ways that make a difference.

At this year’s Highest Awards Celebration, GSWISE will honor the achievements of:

• 16 Gold Award Girl Scouts who achieved the highest honor in Girl Scouting by contributing more than 1,280 hours developing and carrying out lasting solutions for issues inside and outside their neighborhoods. To earn the Gold Award, a Girl Scout identifies an issue in their community, drafts a plan to address its root cause(s), and leads a team of volunteers to implement change. This year’s projects included the creation of a community math tutoring program, the development of a local youth basketball and leadership camp, and the implementation of accessible hygiene products, food, and school supplies in local communities. Other projects focused on increasing women in the plumbing trade, creating resources for individuals with mobility challenges, and providing educational tools on the importance of youth civic engagement.
• 75 Silver Award Girl Scouts who dedicated more than 3,750 hours of service through their projects. Girl Scout Cadettes can team up with a small group of fellow Girl Scouts or work independently to research an issue and take action to improve their community. This year, Silver Award Girl Scouts addressed community issues by creating fidget blankets and memory mats for dementia patients, developing educational programs around microplastics and landfills, providing youth mental health resources to those in need, and constructing educational butterfly gardens and other pollinator habitats.
• 233 Bronze Award Girl Scouts who gave more than 4,660 hours of service to the community through their projects. Junior Girl Scouts discover a need or issue they care about and work together with fellow Girl Scouts to address it. This year’s Girl Scouts focused on solving community issues by organizing pet supplies, toiletries, and clothing drives, building owl nest boxes, establishing a school-wide composting program, and creating fleece tie blankets and comfort kids for those in need. Other projects focused on improving neighborhood literacy through Little Free Libraries, building safety awareness through first aid training, and connecting with assisted living residents for meaningful and engaging activities.

“Girl Scouts who earn their Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards represent the bright future of leadership in our communities,” said Ana Simpson, CEO of Girl Scouts of Wisconsin Southeast. “Not only are they making an impact on their communities and the larger world, they’re learning critical skills like time management, resilience, communication, decision making, and organization. Earning these awards is no small feat, and we are so proud of all 324 Girl Scouts who we’re celebrating this year. Congratulations, Girl Scouts!”

Girl Scouts who receive Gold, Silver, and Bronze Awards not only distinguish themselves from peers through their perseverance, grit, and resilience, but they also build their resumes to set themselves up for college scholarships or career opportunities. Research about Girl Scouts who earn Highest Awards shows:

• Eighty-seven percent of Gold Award Girl Scouts agree that earning their Gold Award helped them succeed professionally.
• Eighty-six percent of Gold Award Girl Scouts said earning their Gold Award helped them during college applications and interviews.
• Eighty-two percent of Gold Award Girl Scouts are likely to volunteer versus thirty-three percent of non-alums.
• Eighty-two percent of Gold Award Girl Scouts are more likely to vote frequently versus sixty percent of non-alums.
• Seventy-six percent of Gold Award Girl Scouts are more likely to donate money to causes versus forty-seven percent of non-alums.

Gold Award Girl Scouts are eligible for a national scholarship to apply to their post-secondary education. The Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) Gold Award Scholarship recognizes and provides significant financial support to one Gold Award Girl Scout per council. The council’s 2025 recipient will be selected and announced by GSUSA in summer 2025. Locally, colleges and universities, including Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design, Milwaukee School of Engineering, and Gateway Technical College, offer scholarships unique to Gold Award Girl Scouts too. In addition, Gold Award Girl Scouts entering any of the U.S. military branches are entitled to enlist at a higher pay grade.

The Highest Awards Celebration will be hosted on Tuesday, May 20 at Waukesha County Technical College’s Anthony J. Natalizio Center (AJN). The Gold Award display reception will begin at 5:30 p.m., and the award ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m. The celebration is supported by generous sponsors, including Gold Sponsor We Energies Foundation.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.