GOOD NEWS MIDDLE GEORGIA: Local girls earn highest honors from Girl Scouts

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Five girls from the middle Georgia area have received the highest award in girl scouting.

The Gold award is given to girls in high school who demonstrate leadership by creating projects that impact the community.

Ana Trussell, of Montezuma, completed research that found giving dementia patients something to do with their hands can help ease their anxiety and calm them. Her project provided sensory blankets for people with dementia.

Macon’s Mallory Adams addressed the need for reading books and activity books at local children’s hospitals. Her project involved creating a mobile activity station that can be pushed room to room for bed-bound children.

Megan Ostrat is from Bonaire. Her project, called “Artists of our City,” brings high school artists into a local library to teach art to elementary school children. She wanted to focus on art education because of the lack of resources to teach art at some schools.

Meredith Buchanan’s project focused on helping children who may have a difficult time talking about difficult things that happen to them. She worked with the Rainbow House to help children who have been abused. She created a puppet theater to help children play out what happened to them and tell their stories. Meredith is from Macon.

Warner Robins’ Natalie Verhage created a pen pal program for senior citizens who don’t have many visitors. She discovered that not many young people interact with seniors. Her program allows children in her church to write letters to senior citizens at a facility.

A report from the Girl Scout Research Institute found that recipients of the Gold Award develop a positive sense of self, civic engagement, and leadership.

The recognition could also lead to an advanced rank in the U.S. armed forces and scholarships from colleges and universities.