Student Earns Girl Scout’s Highest Achievement

Chloe LaGrone ’26 has been a part of Girl Scout Troop 5432 for 13 years. During that time, she has learned countless skills: how to organize a team, listen, communicate, persevere, and carry herself with confidence. However, if she had to boil down her time as a Girl Scout, she would say, “Hard work pays off.” And her hard work did pay off, as she earned her Girl Scout Gold Award last month.

The Gold Award is the highest and most prestigious achievement in Girl Scouting, awarded to Senior and Ambassador Girl Scouts who demonstrate exceptional leadership through projects that address a community issue. To earn the Gold Award, girls must commit 80+ hours to a project, build a team of advisors, and make a lasting positive impact.

For her project, she addressed disparities within the food desert in the Vickery Meadows neighborhood of Dallas. She tackled the issue directly by providing each family with a pot of winter and spring herbs that were distributed throughout the early months of the year. Rich in vitamins and flavor, herbs provide nutritional benefits while adding taste to culturally significant dishes. By providing seedlings that could be grown and regularly harvested, she gave the residents ingredients for dishes that remind them of their cultures. She and her team produced and distributed more than 80 pots of seasonal herbs.

“With each batch, we as a team learned the herbal preferences of the people we served from each season, engaged them in meaningful conversation outside of the topic of food, thanks to my AP Spanish skills and experience, and in the end, watched them be happier and inspired to keep these pots alive,” Chloe said.

Congratulations, Chloe, on your accomplishment and on making a difference!