Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

When you look back to your childhood, are there goals you always dreamed of achieving? Something that you just knew you had to do, despite how much work it would take? For me, I dreamed of earning my Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting. It is an 80 hour sustainable service project developed and led by high school Girl Scouts. It requires an extensive amount of prerequisites, planning, and leadership. Despite how difficult the requirements seemed, I was intent on completing it.

My name is Kye, and I am a recipient of the Gold Award. I live in Westmont Illinois and I have been a member of the Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana since I was in second grade. I've been attending and volunteering at their summer camps since 6th grade, and it's played a large role in my love for the environment. I've been taught types of trees, survival skills, and ways to care for the environment. In addition, I've taught these skills to younger Girl Scouts in the hopes that they continue the tradition of caring for the outdoors that has been passed through Girl Scouts since it was created. I've earned badges, patches, and other awards in relation to the outdoors, and have helped kids earn them during their time at camp. It's amazing to see kids show up on their first day of camp who have never gone hiking, are terrified of bugs, and have never lit a match, leave camp on Friday with a love for the outdoors.

As someone very involved in Girl Scouting, I heard a lot about the Gold Award. I read stories about other Girl Scout's projects, and I began researching the prerequisites 6 years before I actually began my project. Starting in 7th grade, me and my troop held a donation drive for toys for our local humane society. In 8th grade, I earned my silver award by spending 50 hours building bat houses for local forest preserves. Starting in high school, I became first aid and cpr certified, and planned a camping trip that unfortunately got canceled due to covid. Finally, after all of this, I was ready to begin my Gold Award project.

While I wasn't sure what my project should be at first, I did know that I love improving the outdoors and teaching kids new things. I based it off that, deciding to educate my community about native plants. To achieve this goal, I decided to design a native plants patch program for younger Girl Scouts, a brochure for a native plants garden in Westmont, and an annual native seed donation program. This was not an easy achievement.

The first section of my project, my patch program, is a 26 page pdf consisting of 13 activities Girl Scouts can complete to earn a patch for their vests. Kids do not have to complete all 13, instead they will complete a certain number based on their age. Some of the steps are simple, such as going on a native plant scavenger hunt that I wrote or learning about 3 animals or bugs that are benefited by native plants. Other steps are more difficult, such as teaching younger Girl Scouts about native plants, planning a native plants service project, or planting native plants. By completing these steps, kids will learn about native plants and will grow their love for the outdoors. It is intended to inspire children to care for the environment throughout their lifetimes.

The second section of my project, my brochure, is both a tri-fold brochure that can be printed and a digital brochure. I designed it for Richmond Gardens, a garden containing beds with native plants, vegetable plants, a bat house I built in middle school, and a few other items. It's mostly been built through service projects with both Girl and Boy Scouts. Groups can go visit the garden for various events, as well as just to walk around. There will be a sign at the garden that has a link to my digital brochure, and people will be able to print out the tri-fold online. The brochure has information about the benefits of native plants, as well as a list of some that are easy to grow. This way, people will know more about native plants and be inspired to plant some themselves.

The last section of my project is the native seed donation program. I partnered with my high school's National Honors Society to plan a recurring native seed collection drive. I typed out a list of common native plants that can be grown by seed and gave it to the students who are collecting donations this year. They are going to collect seeds from the community and put them in a central location where anyone can take them. The project will be continued by a new member of Westmont High School's National Honors Society every year. This way, more native plants will be grown in my town.

I believe that it is important to increase the knowledge and growth of native plants in my area because it will give native insects and animals more space to live. There can be more locations for butterflies to lay their eggs, insects for birds to eat, and places for animals to build their homes. It's especially important for kids to know about native plants, because then they will grow up with a connection to the environment. They will also have a higher likelihood of choosing environmental topics for their Girl Scout service projects so that they can continue to create more change. It creates a cycle that will bring change for as long as possible.

Earning my Gold Award has taught me a lot of important life skills. One of the ones I learned the most about was time management. I completed half of my project during my first month at college. Completing 40 hours of my Gold Award while adjusting to college was really difficult, but it taught me that everything is achievable if you put your mind to it. You have to schedule your time well and prioritize what is most important, but it can result in success. In addition, I learned how to stand up for myself. At one point in my project, it felt like other people were trying to plan the project for me. I had to remind myself that it is my Gold Award, my project, and my time. Other people do not get to decide what I should do with my life. I stood up for myself, designed my plan how I wanted to, and completed my project.

In the future, I plan to continue working with kids outdoors. I will work at Girl Scout camp again next summer, and I'll continue to teach kids everything I can about nature. In addition, I have decided to major in music education, because I've learned that I really love working with kids. I'm also looking for future service projects to plan, because I want to continue to benefit the environment and my community.

If I were to talk to my childhood self, they would be in awe that I actually earned this award. Despite how much work it took, I finished my project. I achieved this dream, and I'm going to use the skills it taught me for the rest of my lifetime.