Girl Scouts of the USA has dubbed a Florida girl the 2018 National Gold Award Girl Scout -- the organization's most prestigious honor.
According to a press release, Kelly Cullhane is the first Girl Scout from Miami and the Keys to achieve the title.
Each year, GSUSA selects ten National Gold Award Girl Scouts among candidates who have earned their Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn
Each year, thousands of girls in grades 9-12 nationwide are recognized as Gold Award Girl Scouts for transforming an idea and vision for change into an actionable plan with strong impact on local, national, and global levels.
Approximately 5 percent of Girl Scouts earn their Gold Award each year—and just ten girls in this high-achieving group receive the National Gold Award Girl Scout distinction.
For her Gold Award Project, Kelly partnered with Ear Peace: Save Your Hearing Foundation, an educational nonprofit organization.
More and 1 billion young people worldwide are at risk for noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL), and one in five teens in the United States now has NIHL by age 19 due to their exposure to damaging levels of sound from personal audio devices and noisy entertainment venues.
According to the release, Kelly set out to inform teens, parents, and educators about this permanent, yet preventable, form of hearing damage.
Working with Ear Peace: Save Your Hearing Foundation, she scripted, filmed, and edited an educational video, Band Together to Protect Your Hearing, which is used in the foundation’s teacher training workshops for 392 schools in Miami-Dade County.
She has educated elementary and high school students about hearing conservation, presented on this topic at a statewide music educator’s conference, and presented to 125 teachers at a professional development workshop.
Kelly has also created and distributed educational posters and informative brochures to pediatric offices and hospitals statewide. She plans to expand this distribution to a nationwide campaign.
“We are extraordinarily proud of Kelly, and all our Gold Award Girl Scouts, for exemplifying the values of Girl Scouts and commitment to serving our community with such important work,” said Chelsea Wilkerson, CEO, Girl Scouts Tropical Florida.
To join or volunteer, visit www.girlscouts.org/join.