Gold Award Girl Scout Earns National Scholarship
Girl Scout Mila Chetto from Ripon was awarded a $10,000 national scholarship from Girl Scouts of the USA for her Gold Award, the highest achievement a Girl Scout can earn, focused on literacy and behavior.
After noticing an increase in negative student behaviors and a decline in the literacy rate in the country, Mila wanted to find a way to make a real difference in her school district. She came up with the idea of a book vending machine - students would receive tokens from teachers for positive behaviors and efforts to improve and would then use those tokens to pick books from the vending machine that would be theirs to keep.
Mila dedicated 91 hours to turning this idea into reality. She held reading events and book fairs to earn money for the machine, met with the school board to gain approval, designed custom artwork, and so much more. Earlier this year, the vending machine was installed at Green Lake Elementary School, and it has been a huge hit so far. The vending machine will continue to be stocked through donations and younger Girl Scout troops in the area will keep an eye on Mila's incredible accomplishment.
"Completing my Gold Award was a challenging but rewarding experience, especially when I started getting all of the positive feedback from the students benefitting from my project. When I found out I earned the scholarship, I was seriously speechless and couldn't believe it," said Mila. "I knew Girl Scouts was always going to be a big part of my life, but I never imagined it would change my life like this. It will help me achieve my dreams and I can't express enough how excited and proud I am to have been chosen for this scholarship."
"Mila and her project are the perfect embodiment of Girl Scout values. We at Manitou Council were delighted to nominate her for the $10,000 scholarship from Girl Scouts of the USA, made possible in part by the Kappa Delta Foundation, alongside philanthropists Robyn and Aldo Manzini, and Diane Tipton," said Denise Schemenauer, CEO of Girl Scouts of Manitou Council.
The Gold Award is the highest achievement a Girl Scout can earn, available to girls in high school who create sustainable change on a community or world issue. Gold Award Girl Scouts address the root cause of a problem, plan and implement innovative solutions to drive change, and lead a team of people to success. Gold Award Girl Scouts become innovative problem-solvers, empathetic leaders, confident public speakers, and focused project managers. They learn resourcefulness, tenacity, and decision-making skills, giving them an edge personally and professionally. As they take action to transform their communities, Gold Award Girl Scouts gain tangible skills and prove they're the leaders our world needs.
Congratulations Mila!
