Gold Award Spotlight: Planting the Seeds to Reroot Our Agriculture
Through pursuing the Gold Award, Girl Scouts change the world by tackling issues they are passionate about. Girl Scout Ambassador Emma R. earned the highest award in Girl Scouting for ensuring members of her community have access to hands-on agricultural experiences when visiting the Southhampton County 4-H Club livestock barn.
“As a future agriculture education teacher, I have seen firsthand the lack of knowledge and concern for our agriculture industry in the younger generations,” Emma said. “I promote agriculture as a Miss Agriculture USA queen and as a member of two different 4H clubs. While volunteering in the community, I have learned that many people do not realize how essential our agriculture industry is to our survival and sustainability.”
Emma’s project consisted of three phases in which she enhanced the barn area designated for use by the Southampton County 4-H Livestock Club and their guests.
“The first component was to create a sitting room and dressing area in the Southampton County livestock barn. This will provide a common area for youth participating in the 4-H shows an area to change, eat and relax. This is essential because the youth spend approximately 12 hours a day at the fairgrounds with their animals. The second, the easiest, was to create learning stations around the barn. This consisted of posters describing different livestock, meat cuts, and kid-created posters. The third was the most challenging: the educational/play area. This area was further sectioned off into a play area, sensory area, reading area, and crafting area. I have a ‘do and don’t’ safety educational brochure to help visitors understand barn safety for visitors and the animals.”
To complete this project, Emma dreamed up a plan and brought her vision to life. She enlisted and led a team of volunteers through the planning, demolition, and construction of the updates. In addition to leadership skills, Emma gained hands-on experience using power tools and developing blueprint plans. Thanks to her additions and updates to the facility, guests now have resources to learn about the livestock animals they’ll encounter at the Southhampton barn while visiting, and Emma’s project will plant a seed of change in her community.
Congratulations, Emma!
