Port Washington Resident Earns Girl Scout Gold Award

Port Washington resident Isabel Hazel is taking community service to new heights.

The recent Sacred Heart Academy graduate recently earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can achieve through the organization.  

Hazel was recognized for her community action projects that address local social issues or promote acts of kindness and goodwill throughout Nassau County.

For this project, Hazel strove to raise awareness of other cultures for children in her community. By researching various cultures, she designed a series of lessons that included songs and dances to make the learning process more fun. She also encouraged the children to learn more about their cultural backgrounds from their parents.

Hazel joined 121 Girl Scouts Gold Award winners this year in Nassau County who devoted a minimum of 80 hours of community service.

"We are so proud of all the young women who earned their Girl Scout Gold Award this year,” said Donna Ceravolo, executive director of the Girl Scouts of Nassau County. “Through their projects, these women have changed the lives of others and improved their communities in significant ways.”

As a student at Sacred Heart Academy, Hazel was a member of the National Honor Society, student council and French club. Outside of school, she served as president of the Junior Board of the Josephine Foundation, which promotes sports and arts programs for youth.

On June 12 the Girl Scouts of Nassau County honored Girl Scouts Seniors and Ambassadors between the ages of 15 and 18 at aspecial ceremony held at Adelphi University in Garden City. In addition to the Girl Scout ceremony, on June 21st, Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano will present the girls, along with their Eagle Scout counterparts from Boy Scouts, with certificates for their achievements at the Theodore Roosevelt Legislative Chamber in Mineola. Town of Hempstead Supervisor also honored Girl Scout Gold Award recipients and Eagle Scouts on June 3 in an event at Levy Preserve in Merrick.

The Gold Award project helps high school-aged Girl Scouts develop leadership skills and explore various career paths. Overall, the Gold Awards require up to a three-year commitment from each young woman. It affords teens the opportunity to learn about arts and humanities, cultural and global relations, personal well-being, technology and science, environmental concerns and many of the innumerable issues facing young women and the world today.