Orono High School seniors Mallory Dudra and Etta Moline, apart of Orono troop #11842, recently earned their Gold Awards–the highest achievement in Girl Scouting.

The prestigious award challenges high school girls to change the world–or at least their corner of it–by completing a seven-step project.

“The gold award means that we’ve put in a lot of time and effort into volunteering,” senior girl scout Etta Moline said.

The seven steps include: identify an issue, investigate thoroughly, get help and build your team, create a plan, present your plan and gather feedback, take action, and finally educate and inspire.

By the end of the seven-step project, they have solved a community project, not only short-term but also for years to come.

“In order to get it, we needed to create a sustainable volunteer project,” senior girl scout Mallory Dudra.

“For our award, we made a volunteer campaign to get more teens to volunteer in the community, and we hosted an event at the Amplatz Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis,” Moline and Dudra both said.

Girl Scout Gold Award recipients do well in life. They rate their general success in life significantly higher and report higher success in reaching their goals in many areas.

There have been 100 years of extraordinary projects from extraordinary girls. As a Gold Award recipient, one is apart of an elite group of women. Starting in 1916, the best and brightest undertook projects that improved their communities, and the world.

Since 1980, the Gold Award has inspired girls to find the greatness inside themselves and share their ideas and passions with their communities.