Girl Scout Macayla B. was awarded the Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouts, for taking action to create a library space at Northeast Academy for Aerospace & Advanced Technologies (NEAAAT).
NEAAAT, located in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, is an innovative regional public school that fuels students with STEM-related skills to prepare them for the global workforce. Macayla graduated from the school this year, but made sure to leave a legacy behind with her Gold Award project.
The school was founded on the campus of an area college where NEAAAT students had library access. The school now operates in an independent and nontraditional space and does not have an area designated for use as a library. In addition, NEAAAT is listed as a Title I school, a school where at least 40% of the student body comes from low-income households, and relies on special funding for projects and renovations. Macayla recognized that a library, while not in the school’s budget, was a need for students who may not have ready access to reading materials elsewhere.
