Emilie Fox was inspired by her Prairieview-Ogden Music teacher Jennifer Anderson.
Anderson died April 2 after a six-year battle with pancreatic cancer but her influence lives on in Fox’s Gold Award Project for Girl Scouts.
Anderson was Fox’s music teacher at PVO and encouraged her to continue music in high school at St. Joseph-Ogden.
Fox said she realized her grade school, Prairieview-Ogden, needed help with its music program.
“I could hear noticeable differences between the skill level of a class that had a music program and one that did not,” she said.
Fox completed her music curriculum video project in phases. First, she picked the most important topics and planned each lesson. Mrs. Gordon, a retired teacher, advised her during this process. She then created scrips to film and eventually edited each video.
Fox’s uncle Doug Albers, helped her with this part of the project.
Finally, she created a game to go with the lessons. The entire project took 100 hours of work.
“It was worth the time and effort,” she said.
Receiving a Gold Award in Girl Scouts requires many hours of work. The scouts must work to solve a community problem and investigate all aspects of the problem thoroughly. They also have to present their project and get feedback from their local council.
Fox said that whenever she explains a Gold Award to people not involved in Girl Scouts she always says “It’s the equivalent of the Eagle Scout” but she wishes she didn’t have to do that.
Fox said the award is a major accomplishment that many people don’t know anything about.
“The time and effort each recipient puts into their award should be recognized by saying they earned their Gold Award – without having to mention the Boy Scout equivalent,” she said.
Fox said she had heard about the Gold Award for years before beginning her project. She had been told what an incredible accomplishment it was to receive the award and how very few scouts actually accomplish it.
“Since Girl Scouts has been a large part of my life for so long, earning my Gold Award almost feels as if I’ve completed Girl Scouts in a way,” she said. “My troop worked to earn a variety of badges and awards over the years and most, if not all, prepared me for completing my gold award.”
Fox said she never seriously considered working on her Gold Award until she got to high school. Her Girl Scout troop would often talk about the Gold Award as we were competing for their bronze and silver awards.
“Still in the back of my mind I think I always knew I would at least attempt to earn my Gold Award,” she said. “The Gold Award is the highest award Girl Scouts offers. More than anything, I just wanted to say that I earned my Gold Award.”
Fox said she feels scouting is important for girls because it offers them opportunities not offered elsewhere.
Fox said she feels that for younger scouts the program is a great way to make friends and be involved in an activity outside of school. Fox said the program is especially beneficial for older girls because starting in fourth grade, girls learn valuable leadership and life skills that they can use for the rest of their lives.
“Girl Scouts teaches young women and girls how to be leaders, how to speak up, and how to help others,” she said. “Scouts can prepare girls for success in life.”
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