Local Girl Scout Educates Youth about Pollinators
GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARD
HIGHEST AWARD IN GIRL SCOUTING
Warwick, R.I. (May 13, 2025)—Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England is excited and proud to announce that Emma Quigley from Bristol, RI has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting.
EMMA AND TWO SCHOLARS
Sammy’s Gold Award project is titled Project Pollinators. Emma’s project focused on education, outdoors, and animals. The central issue that her project addressed was helping to restore pollinators to the local environment.
She started her project by attending lectures at her local library, met with her advisors, and read several books to gain background knowledge on pollinators, their habits, and reasoning for their decline. Throughout her project she focused on educating younger children about the importance of pollinators and their relation to us. Emma ran hour long classes at her local library that focused on different types of pollinators such as butterflies, bees, bats, and hummingbirds.
She spoke about their habitats and the importance of pollinators. Emma read stories and conducted craft activities and games to keep the children engaged in learning. She provided take-home projects such as seed bombs and biodegradable planters for the children to take home and plant to create their own gardens.
Emma also created a pollinator kit for people to check out at the library. The kit includes activities and information about pollinators as well as tools to observe and record information about local pollinators.
“My project was important to me because I care about the environment, and I enjoy working with children. I know that pollinators are an essential part of our lives and ecosystems, but they are declining. I like working with younger children and they will be able to pass along the knowledge that they gained to keep saving pollinators.” said Emma Quigley, 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!
Emma 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.