Local Girl Scout Helps Classmates and Earns Gold Award
Lillian James
(May 9, 2025)—Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England is excited and proud to announce that Lillian James from Wrentham, MA has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting. Lillian’s Gold Award project is titled Sí Se Puede: Strengthening Spanish Education in Schools. When Lillian noticed that most of her classmates were struggling in their Spanish class, she decided to take action. She observed that many students were struggling but unwilling to seek aid. This left students in need of assistance with no one to turn to and no resources to help them.
For her Gold Award project Lillian created a website filled with study guides and helpful resources for the Spanish students at her school. She also helped to re-implement a Spanish-specific tutoring program at the high school and worked with the Spanish National Honors Society to recruit volunteers who could help tutor after school. After its implementation, Lillian started to see more and more students take advantage of the tutoring and study services.
There are several students who come to tutoring almost every week, and it has made a real difference in their performance in class. Lillian was able to see firsthand how students can better understand their classes, and they are consistently performing stronger!
“I want to double major in Spanish and another subject in college, and I hope to study abroad while there. Part of my love for learning the language comes from my desire to work in international politics, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience of learning another language!
The skills it has taught me will be vital in my career, and I know the impact that knowing multiple languages can have on someone’s life. In my school, I saw most of my classmates struggling in their Spanish classes, and they did not enjoy it like I did.
Because of this, I decided to focus my project on helping my fellow students succeed in their Spanish classes. Getting the chance to create resources for them and work with my teachers has been very rewarding, and it has reminded me how important learning the language is to me. Seeing students begin to understand tricky concepts and perform better on their exams has let me know the importance of the project, both to me and the community!” said Lillian James, Gold Award Girl Scout.
About the Girl Scout Gold Award
Since 1916, Girl Scouts have been making meaningful, sustainable change in their communities and around the world while earning this award. The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting, acknowledges the power behind each Gold Award Girl Scout’s dedication to not only empowering and bettering herself, but also to making the world a better place for others. These young women are courageous leaders and visionary change makers. They are our future, and it looks bright!
Lillian will join the millions of Girl Scout alum around the world who have successfully created, developed, and executed “Take Action” projects that have positively impacted their communities and the world, earning Girl Scouts’ highest award.
Gold Award Girl Scouts become innovative problem-solvers, strong and 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. The 2025 Gold Award Girl Scout class identified issues in their communities, took action, and found or created solutions to earn their Gold Awards, addressing real-life problems such as environmental sustainability, racial justice, mental and physical well-being, and gender inequality in STEM.
According to recent research, Gold Award Girl Scouts are more likely to fill leadership roles at work and in their personal lives and are more civically engaged than their non-Girl Scout peers. Eighty-seven percent (87%) of Gold Award Girl Scouts agree that earning their Gold Award gave them skills that help them succeed professionally.
Seventy-two percent (72%) said earning their Gold Award helped them get a scholarship. Changing the world doesn’t end when a Girl Scout earns her Gold Award. Ninety-nine percent (99%) of Gold Award Girl
Scout alums take on leadership roles in their everyday lives.
Earning the Gold Award is just one of the amazing things girls and gender-expansive youth can do as part of Girl Scouts. To join Girl Scouts or learn more about volunteering, please visit www.gssne.org/join.
We Are Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts bring their dreams to life and work together to build a better world. Through programs across Southeastern New England, girls and gender-expansive youth of all backgrounds and abilities can be unapologetically themselves in a safe space as they discover their strengths and rise to meet new challenges. Backed strong friendships and trusted adult volunteers, mentors, and millions of alums, Girl Scouts lead the way as they find their voices and make changes that affect the issues most important to them. Girl Scouts feel comfortable trying new things without the pressure to be perfect, speaking their minds, and processing their emotions in healthy ways. They discover how being different makes them special, strengthens their sense of belonging, and, ultimately, makes them proud to be themselves. That’s the magic of Girl Scouting. To join us, volunteer, reconnect, or donate, visit gssne.org, follow @gssne on Instagram, follow @GirlScoutsofSNE on Twitter, and like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GSSNE.