GSCB Girl Scout receives National Recognition for Sensory Pathway Gold Award project
Each year, Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay is honored to recognize it's exceptional Gold Award Girl Scouts. The council’s charter organization, Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), has awarded one of those Class of 2024 Gold Award recipients, Tessa Gaylord of Magnolia, DE, a $5,000 national scholarship for her outstanding community-based project, Sensory Walk at John S. Charlton.
Tessa, a 2024 graduate of Polytech High School in Woodside, planned, built, and shared an outdoor Sensory Pathway for the John S. Charlton Program. According to their website, the John S. Charlton Program serves students 2 to 21 years of age with special needs and learning disabilities. When she began her Gold Award project, Tessa was disappointed to learn that teachers at John S. Charlton did not have outdoor equipment that would support the complex needs of students with various sensory disabilities.
Tessa writes, "Every individual person has a different set of skills, abilities, and needs. Genetic anomalies can cause some people to have different sensory needs and reactions than others. People with these special needs often required extra caring, experiences, and opportunities...Sensory Pathways/Walks are quickly becoming a recognized resource for educators and therapists worldwide." The goal of her Gold Award project was to provide the best possible experiences for the children at John S. Charlton Program as well as create a new, innovative resource for her community. Tessa's Sensory Pathway includes a balance beam, hopscotch, wobble board, two musical chime areas, a color section, and a star ceiling. To make her vision a reality, Tessa fundraised, recruited volunteers, drew blueprints, consulted with landscaping experts in the community, and led her team through several weeks of construction. The project was completed in September of 2023 and celebrated with a ribbon-cutting event ceremony attended by community members and students of the school.
In addition to constructing the pathway, Tessa created a website that explains her inspiration for the project, photos, the purpose for each section of the pathway, calming techniques, and highlights of community partners that helped make her project a success.
Tessa is among a group of Gold Award Girl Scouts from across the U.S. receiving national scholarships. She was selected because her project exemplifies the core components of the Gold Award and demonstrates extraordinary leadership to drive lasting change in her community and beyond.
This year’s class of world-changers raised $2.5 million in funding and invested over 300,000 hours to address real-life problems such as environmental sustainability, racial justice, mental and physical wellness, and gender inequality in STEM. Gold Award Girl Scouts demonstrate the breadth of issues American teens feel are most prevalent in society today.
To earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, Tessa completed more than 80 hours of work and seven steps which include:
- Identifying an issue in her community
- Investigating the issue thoroughly
- Building a team to support her efforts
- Creating a plan to take action
- Presenting the plan and gathering feedback
- Taking action by leading a team to carry out the plan
- Educating and inspiring
Gold Award Girl Scouts become innovative problem-solvers, empathetic leaders, confident public speakers, and focused project managers. They learn resourcefulness, tenacity, and decision-making skills, giving them an edge personally and professionally. As they take action to transform their communities, Gold Award Girl Scouts gain tangible skills and prove they’re the leaders our world needs.
When asked about the impact her Gold Award Journey had on her, Tessa had this to say about the many lessons she learned along the way: "Hopefully these lessons will allow me to move forward and excel in college. I have a dream of becoming a Forensic Chemist, a career that will let me learn through examination, discovery, and innovation. These discoveries will make it so I can work together with others and lead those around me, so we can all work to reach our goals of making the world a better place."
According to recent research, Gold Award Girl Scouts are more likely to fill leadership roles at work and in their personal lives and are more civically engaged than their non-Girl Scout peers. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Gold Award Girl Scouts agree that earning their Gold Award gave them skills that help them succeed professionally. Seventy-two percent (72%) said earning their Gold Award helped them get a scholarship. Changing the world doesn’t end when a Girl Scout earns her Gold Award. Ninety-nine percent (99%) of Gold Award Girl Scout alums take on leadership roles in their everyday lives.
Pictured: Tessa Gaylord working on her Gold Award project Sensory Pathway at John S. Charlton
Pictured: Tessa Gaylord working on her Gold Award project Sensory Pathway at John S. Charlton
Pictured: Partially completed Sensory Pathway
Pictured: Partially completed Sensory Pathway
