JERSEY VILLAGE – Emily Wussow, a Jersey Village High School sophomore, has become a Gold Award Girl Scout.
The honor recognizes girls in grades 9 through 12 who demonstrate extraordinary leadership through sustainable and measurable community service projects that require a minimum of 80 hours to complete. Less than five percent of Girl Scouts earn the award.
Wussow created an after-school girls book club at the Longhorn Hope Center which serves disadvantaged Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District students. She was inspired by her own personal experience in participating in a summer book club which helped her improve her reading skills and developed her passion for reading.
“My grandmother is a reading interventionist at a local school, so I am aware of the struggles many kids face while learning to read,” said Wussow.
Wussow led more than 10 volunteers in her project which also organized a book drive for the girls to take home books to read and help supplement the Longhorn Hope Center library. The first book the club read was “The Lemonade War” by Jaqueline Davies, and Wussow planned the meetings based on the book. The girls enjoyed book themed snacks, crafts, discussion question, math problems and games inspired by the book.
“At a young age, I set the goal to complete my Gold Award and knew that I wanted to focus my project on inspiring other girls to read just like I had been inspired,” said Wussow. “As my troop and I completed our Bronze and Silver Awards, I saw the positive impact that I could have in my community.”
Wussow hopes to attend Texas A&M University and major in engineering in the future.
According to the Girl Scout Research Institute’s (GSRI) report, The Power of the Girl Scout Gold Award: Excellence in Leadership and Life, Gold Award Girl Scouts receive greater lifetime benefits than their peers with regard to positive sense of self, life satisfaction, leadership, life success, community service and civic engagement thanks to their experience in Girl Scouting, including earning their Gold Award.
To learn more about the Girl Scout Gold Award, visit http://www.gssjc.org/goldawardgirlscout.
We’re Girl Scouts of the USA
We’re 2.5 million strong—more than 1.7 million girls and 750,000 adults who believe in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ to change the world. Nationally, our extraordinary journey began more than 100 years ago with the original G.I.R.L., Juliette Gordon “Daisy” Low. On March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, she organized the very first Girl Scout troop, and every year since, we’ve honored her vision and legacy, building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. Chartered by GSUSA to provide Girl Scouting locally, Girl Scouts of San Jacinto Council, a United Way agency, is one of the largest Girl Scout councils in the country serving more than 53,000 girl members and 17,000 adults in 26 southeast Texas counties. We’re the preeminent leadership development organization for girls and we offer every girl a chance to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure and success. To volunteer, reconnect, donate, or join, call 1-800-392-4340 or visit www.gssjc.org.
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