Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania would like to congratulate Jillian Fishell, a 2023 graduate of Upper Saint Clair High School and the winner of the $10,000 Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) Gold Award Scholarship for our council.

The GSUSA Gold Award Scholarship program recognizes the outstanding achievement of and provides financial support to one Gold Award Girl Scout per council and is earned by a Girl Scout who completed a Gold Award project that demonstrated extraordinary leadership, measurable and sustainable impact, and addressed an issue of national and/or global significance.

Fishell’s project, My Turn to Tri Training Program, centered around creating a training program for the athletes of her local YMCA’s annual special needs triathlon, My Turn to Tri.

“I have been able to see firsthand my brother Christian’s desire to participate in the more ‘typical’ activities at school and in athletics. Although he has exceptional abilities for a person with Down Syndrome, I have seen limits on Christian’s ability to excel because of his intellectual disability label. Growing up, my sisters and I would compete in different races and our number one fan in the cheering section was our brother. He always said ‘I can’t wait to do a race one day!’ Christian was delighted to now be able to participate in the My Turn to Tri triathlon at our YMCA. However, I noticed inadequate preparation and the need for a training program for the participants. People with special needs are lacking physical fitness opportunities and specialized programs. The goal of the program was to address the inclusivity issue of those with special needs participating in sports, as well as to create equality in athletics training.”

Fishell partnered with her local YMCA, Pittsburgh Autism Society, Miracle League of Pittsburgh, The Special Olympics, and her school districts to instruct classes and create workout plans to teach proper stretching and exercise techniques.

“My goal for the athletes in my program was to increase their confidence on race day, improve their physical endurance, and build meaningful relationships with the other athletes.”

Fishell assembled a team of expert volunteers and led a four-week program for the athletes leading up to the race, improving their strength and confidence. The workout plans she created include the stretches, exercises, and warmups she used for each class. Her program has now been converted into a monthly class at the YMCA for the athletes and others with special needs and she hopes her plans will be shared with workout facilities nationwide.

“I have learned that one small idea can make a large impact on the lives of others if I take action.”

Fishell plans to attend the University of Pittsburgh this fall for nursing.

Lakshanya Rajaganapathi earned her Girl Scout Gold Award for her project, “Changing the Course of Media: Inspiring Skills of Media Literacy.” She was celebrated alongside 54 other Girl Scouts at Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania’s 2023 Gold Award Ceremony. The following is the speech she recited at the ceremony.

“Get your Savannah Smiles—lemon and so much more,” my best friend and I would sing when we would have our annual cookie sale at Giant Eagle with our troop. I remember Thin Mints would always be the first to sell out, so my friends and I would have to get creative to sell the Savannah Smiles (or we would just buy them and eat them).

I have been a Girl Scout since I was in Kindergarten and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that Samoas and Thin Mints are the superior cookies . . . I’m kidding.

Girl Scouts has taught me that you need resilience and creativity, not just one or the other (especially when it comes to selling cookies), but it has also shown me the power of being a woman who strives to help others and develop her leadership skills.

Oftentimes throughout middle and high school, I would find myself being the only girl in certain clubs and felt like quitting. My dad would always come back to the Girl Scout values and remind me that I can do anything I set my mind to. It’s funny, at the time, I really didn’t see how holding up three fingers at the beginning of our meetings could have such a tremendous impact down the road. I now am in a leadership position in all of the clubs where I was the only girl, and it just goes to show how if you show love and passion, you can achieve all you want.

From this, I was really inspired to take on the challenge of pursuing the Girl Scout Gold Award. My project is called, “Changing the Course of Media: Inspiring Skills of Media Literacy.”

I’m sure most of our parents have said, “Don’t watch that,” “Let me check your phone,” and in school, we’ve heard, “And remember kids, Billy the Safety Robot says ‘don’t give out personal information.’” This may seem like a laughing matter, but these words are very important in today’s world since we are influenced so much by media. Children of all ages are impacted and oftentimes, the rate at which media literacy is spread is slower than the rate at which information is thrown at them. I would read stories of negative turns that children would have on Snapchat and how their whole world would be flipped upside down.

I partnered with my local library, school, and a school in India to hold seminars to teach skills on effective ways to independently navigate through media, reflect on personal experiences with audience members, and dive into the connection between social media and mental health.

One of my favorite moments was when a student asked, “How can Instagram and Snapchat be bad?” We then walked through this topic and connected it to how it could be like receiving a bad present. I also created a website to allow students to give their own tips on media literacy and continue to grow their media literacy skills. At my local middle school, I created a media literacy council so that the students can also take part in this important cause.

Now that I am a Gold Award Girl Scout, my favorite moment where I could truly see the impact of my project was when the students were able to give me tips and tricks on how to navigate safely online. Reflecting on this incredible journey, I see just how much Girl Scouts has had such a positive impact and has allowed me to grow into the strong, independent woman that I am today. I hope to use the Girl Scout Law and continue to inspire the next generation of fantastic Girl Scouts!

Mackenzie Borkovich earned her Girl Scout Gold Award for her project, “All About Allergies.” She was celebrated alongside 54 other Girl Scouts at Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania’s 2023 Gold Award Ceremony on May 7, 2023. The following is the speech she recited at the ceremony.

It took me eight near-death experiences to become a Gold Award Girl Scout. Funny
enough, they all happened before I even logged my first hour. I’ll explain soon, but first, I wanted to start my speech at the true beginning of my Girl Scout journey. Before I even hit kindergarten, I had my first adventure with Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania at around the age of four.

My older sister, Madison, a past Gold Award closing speaker who is in the audience with us today, was attending one of her first overnight trips. Members of Troop 51086 and their families were invited to Idlewild Amusement Park’s then-annual family Camp-o-Ree. Each family stayed in tents overnight, and the days spent on the grounds were filled with rides on the Wild Mouse and exchanging SWAPS. It was great—until it wasn’t.

I realized there weren’t “real” bathrooms—only outdoor, camp-style dwellings, which I
was not going into. My mother was onto my tricks, constantly asking, “Kenz, are you sure you don’t need to go to the bathroom?” An inquiry to which I kept lying, “No!” However, it wasn’t until Madison burst out of the tent to greet my mother at the entryway, abandoning the cards we were playing with to scream, “MOM! Mackenzie PEED her PANTS!” that the jig was up for good. I tried to lie, but the wet spot on my fruit-patterned shorts was fooling no one. The Girl Scouts, like outdoor plumbing, was not for me, I decided.

Considering I stand before you as a speaker today, unsurprisingly, I was enrolled the next year anyways. In addition to the lessons I learned from my times with the great (and not so great) moments outdoors, Girl Scouts became a family affair—my dad even registered as an official [Girl] Scout online! He commemorated the event by donning a shirt that read, “Man enough to be a Girl Scout.” When we went on a trip to Savannah, Georgia, the birthplace of the organization, we all visited the home of founder Juliette Gordon Lowe, or as the tour guide said, “the original J-Lowe.” He got a kick out of that. The shop also had pins for registered [Girl] Scouts only. He was arguably even more pleased to gleefully tell the cashier, “I am a Girl Scout!” and snatch one.

Camping, oddly enough, became one of the central themes of my experience and also brought me more frights before I started my Gold Award journey. I attended our local summer “Sunset Camp” for years before finally becoming a counselor. The first rule of Sunset Camp is that all the counselors had camp names. My name was Mouse (yes, like the Wild Mouse). As a counselor, the primary rule was that under no circumstances were real names to be revealed. This taught crucial lessons in patience and delayed gratification, and of course, added to the fun of the atmosphere. My mother, the camp photographer, taught a quickly corresponding lesson on how to ruin all of these things by yelling, “Mackenzie! Move over in the photo!” Sigh.

Between the years of archery, songs, ziplines, and s’mores (complete with my sister
ridiculing me each time for eating the pieces all separately, marshmallow golden brown only), I became a “real” Girl Scout and began my journey through . . . well, journeys! The Bronze and Silver Awards were all teamwork, and I was fine with hopping onto other people’s ideas and helping them to get whatever was needed done. Unlike my sister, who does not play well in the sandbox, I thrive through working with others. This is why when I realized I had to complete the Gold Award independently, I promptly announced that I . . . was quitting.

To be completely honest, the journey I was looking at involved coding. I figured I could pawn that off well enough to my sister, majoring in, among other things, information science and technology design and development. I had procrastinated the Gold Award for so long, the nervous feeling I had over a decade ago at Idlewild started to creep back up. First, I would never finish in time. Next, what was I going to do? What was I . . . dying for?

Nuts! Throughout my time in school, there were eight (that we can remember) occasions in which I was almost eliminated from the planet by an afoul almond, potent pistachio, or baneful Brazil nut: most of them involving teachers and, yes, a school NURSE! I decided to take on allergy awareness with my project. After building a network of amateurs and professionals, I did some research and created an article and videos for high school student awareness. Participants are required to read and watch materials including Epi-pen and Auvi-Q demonstrations, as well as take a yearly quiz.

Of course, I told my outdoor origin story to make fun of myself and shed light on where everything started. However, more importantly, I want my tale to leave you all with hope today. No matter how challenging something may be, sometimes, you just need a good team to get through it. Although I often was venomous about constant nagging, it is what I needed to see the forest through the trees. Additionally, you must believe in yourself. And last of all, if your big goals in life don’t scare you just a little bit, then you are probably shooting too small. In your future endeavors, be sure not only to find your campground, but to actually leave the tent when it’s time to go. Thank you.