Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians has announced its 2026 Gold Award recipients, presenting the organization’s most prestigious honor to 24 girls across the region, 12 of whom are from East Tennessee, including Knox, Blount, Hamblen, Roane, and Sevier counties. Honorees completed Gold Award projects ranging from bat habitats and butterfly gardens to combating period poverty and creating a community for seniors.

The distinction is presented to girls in grades 9-12 who demonstrate exceptional leadership and dedication. Gold Award recipients dedicate hours of hard work, planning, and executing a sustainable project that addresses a need in the community. The distinguished award is bestowed annually on just 6 percent of Girl Scouts across the country.

“Achieving the Girl Scouts Gold Award is a significant milestone in a Girl Scout’s career, and these young women have truly earned this achievement,” said Lynne Fugate, CEO of the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians (GSCSA). Their hard work, compassion, and leadership highlight what it means to be a Girl Scout. We celebrate their vision and hard work.”

Gold Award recipients were recognized for their achievements on April 26 at a celebration at Rothchild Catering & Conference Center in Knoxville. The Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians board of directors also presented $10,000 in Gold Award Scholarships.

Knox County Gold Award recipients:

  • Miriam Campfield of Knoxville recognized that moving into a nursing home or assisted living facility can be difficult for both residents and their families, often leading to depression and isolation for residents. Miriam partnered with NHC Holston to interview residents about their experience with social programs and community activities. Using these insights and NHC Holston’s schedule, she created a custom brochure and program outreach system to help new and current residents connect with available activities and build community. Her brochure is now distributed to all new residents and their families and is being reviewed by the organization’s parent company for national distribution in the United States.
  • Molly Hull of Knoxville realized that her high school nursing lab lacked infrastructure for storing necessary equipment, limiting access for students working to become a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA). Working with the nursing lab instructor and a local builder, Molly installed acrylic glove box holders and hand sanitizer dispensers in each of the four rooms. She also ensured the design was universal so it would work with a variety of donated supplies. Molly has earned her certification and graduated, and her work has ensured future students are better equipped for success.
  • Abbigale Johnson of Knoxville recognized that cheerleaders at South-Doyle High School lacked proper seating during practices and games, often sitting on the ground or unsafe surfaces. Abby gathered a team to install a bench for the cheerleaders. She received school permission, prepared the site, mixed and poured the concrete pad and even drove to Georgia to get a vinyl-covered metal bench. As an added bonus, the bench even came in school color blues.
  • Madelyn Johnson of Knoxville learned that women miss school and work due to a lack of access to feminine hygiene products. Madelyn partnered with Helping Mamas Knoxville and St. Tabitha Ministry to teach classes about combating period poverty and taught others how to make reusable pads out of towels. She worked with younger Girl Scout troops to educate and assemble more than 300 period kits for distribution in East Tennessee. In addition, she collected and shipped seven manual sewing machines, along with patterns, needles, thread and a trunk full of towels, to women in The Gambia, empowering them to make their own reusable pads and helping them rise above period poverty.
  • Olivia “Liv” Mekelburg of Knoxville recognized the vital role bats play in biodiversity and the threats they face. After initially planning a habitat infrastructure project, she shifted her focus to education. Liv partnered with a local bat rehabilitation facility and Knox Forest School to lead workshops for students from kindergartners through high school peers. Liv educated them on the importance of bats and guided older peers in building bat houses, which were installed at Knox Forest School and other local sites. Her workshops were ultimately so successful that when a local kindergartner found an injured bat on a family hike, he pestered his mother for hours to call “the bat lady” for help until she finally did. Liv considers that the most successful part of her project.
  • Sophia Timmerman-Pelensky of Knoxville combined her passion for education and missions to help schoolchildren in Kondoa, Tanzania, and her peers and neighbors in East Tennessee. Working with congregations in Knoxville and Kondoa, she raised funds to provide books and educational materials at St. Peter and St. Paul’s Primary School and Chemba Secondary School in Kondoa. Sophia helped donate more than 1,500 books and raised awareness about global educational needs, impacting students and communities across two continents.
  • Elizabeth “Ella Kate” Vinson of Knoxville combined her passion for sustainability and waste reduction with a desire to help. Ella Kate developed the first annual Pond Gap Clothing Closet and Wellness Fair to address clothing waste and community need. She collected gently used clothing from her peers, troopmates, neighbors, and friends and made it available for the Pond Gap community. Ella Kate partnered with local schools, the United Way, and other community members to host the closet, arranging clothes in a store-like fashion. She also received food donations from local restaurants so attendees could enjoy a snack while shopping, and invited healthcare providers to share information about available services to more than 160 attendees. She also created a detailed guide to help others replicate the event in future years, ensuring long-term impact.

Blount County Gold Award recipients:

  • Julia Smith of Maryville realized that the existing infrastructure at Everett Hills Baptist Church was suitable for small children, but not for middle and high schoolers. Julia partnered with church staff, and with the help of peers and family, she designed, planned and built a ga-ga ball pit for the playground. Julia raised funds, prepared materials, sanded and stained lumber, coordinated site preparation and led construction of the pit. She also taught peers and community members how to play gaga ball.

Hamblen County Gold Award recipients:

  • Sarah Jarnigan of Morristown was determined to leave her high school’s greenhouse better than she found it. The existing greenhouse tables were severely damaged with splintering wooden frames, exposed staples and nails and rusting wire tops. Concerned about safety and usability, she partnered with her agriculture teacher and local Girl Scouts to design and build 26 new greenhouse tables. After extensive planning and material gathering, she and her team completed installation in time for the 2025–26 school year, ensuring a safer and more effective learning environment for future agriculture students.

Roane County Gold Award recipients:

  • Lily Regan of Kingston addressed concerns about how urbanization, climate change and common landscaping practices can harm local biodiversity. She partnered with her local elementary school to transform a grass lawn into a flourishing butterfly garden, featuring a variety of native plants, a stone walkway and a bench beneath an arbor for students to enjoy. Lily also worked with the second-grade teachers to create curriculum based on the garden for use in their science unit on butterflies. Lily’s project created both an educational resource and a habitat for butterflies.

Sevier County Gold Award recipients:

  • Eloise “Ella” Evans of Gatlinburg created an outdoor classroom to enhance hands-on learning opportunities at her local junior high school. Working with school leaders, community members and friends, she transformed an unused grass courtyard into an outdoor classroom space featuring ground turf, picnic tables and azaleas, all donated from local businesses. Wanting to ensure others could use her model, Ella created a website and video, “Move Outside to Learn,” explaining why the space was conducive to learning and important for students and teachers to experience.
  • Lyra Bales of Seymour helped educate people on the importance of bats through educational workshops and a website. She worked to combat misinformation and prejudice against these helpful creatures. Lyra also provided 17 bat boxes to support local bat populations, distributing them to Girl Scouts in her service unit, the City of Gatlinburg for use in parks and partner locations in Norton Creek and the Foothills Land Conservancy.

Gretchen Crawley is chief communications officer for Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians. 

Find more information on Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians: here.

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