Sarah Dean of Ramona, Hailey Harkness of La Mesa and Estrella Herrera of Lakeside have earned the Girl Scout Gold Award—the organization’s highest honor—for their outstanding leadership and commitment to taking action in their community.
Just five percent of Girl Scouts nationwide achieve this distinction. Recipients qualify for special college scholarships and can enter the military one rank higher than usual, among other rewards.
Sarah Dean of Ramona, Hailey Harkness of La Mesa and Estrella Herrera of Lakeside have earned the Girl Scout Gold Award—the organization’s highest honor—for their outstanding leadership and commitment to taking action in their community.
Just five percent of Girl Scouts nationwide achieve this distinction. Recipients qualify for special college scholarships and can enter the military one rank higher than usual, among other rewards.
For her Gold Award project, Dean worked with the First Congregational Church of Ramona to refurbish their children’s library. With a team of volunteers, she catalogued all the books, revamped their checkout system, cleaned up the space and introduced the revitalized library to children and churchgoers.
Dean graduated summa cum laude from Ramona High School in 2015 and has completed her first year at Smith College, where she is double majoring in dance and education. In the course of her 13 years as a Girl Scout, she earned the Bronze Award (the highest honor a Girl Scout Junior can receive), as well as three religious awards developed by her church and recognized by Girl Scouts. She is the daughter of Karen Wallace and Jeff Dean; her mother is a Girl Scout alumna and also received the Gold Award in high school.
Harkness let her personal history inspire her Gold Award project. As a baby, she spent 14 days in the Balboa Medical Center’s NICU due to a rapid heart rate. She returned as a Girl Scout Ambassador to support families with children receiving care there, providing blankets, books and crafts to help them through the experience.
A Girl Scout since grade 1, Harkness also earned the Silver Award, the greatest recognition available to Girl Scout Cadettes. She is entering her senior year at Helix Charter High School, where she is a member of the honors program, Academic League and yearbook staff. She volunteers at the La Mesa Public Library and Fuerte Elementary School. Her parents are Joanne and Brian Harkness.
Herrera earned the Gold Award with a two-pronged approach to addressing hunger, an issue she knew could affect anyone. She gave presentations on the subject to children and adults, encouraging them to donate to food banks and volunteer. Additionally, she helped families change their own situations by teaching them to grow food.
The daughter of Michelle and Mario Herrera, Estrella Herrera is a member of Troop 6353, her mother is her troop leader. She has been in Girl Scouts since Daisies and earned both the Bronze and Silver Awards. This year, she graduated from IDEA Center High School, where she was on the honor roll. She will attend Bellus Academy in the fall. Estrella volunteers with her church community and vacation bible school.
Sarah Dean, Hailey Harkness and Estrella Herrera are among 32 Girl Scouts in San Diego who earned the Gold Award this year. They received the award at a ceremony on June 4.
This is the centennial year of Girl Scouting’s highest award, which recognizes young women who create meaningful, sustainable change in their communities and around the world. The Gold Award is the most current in a series of honors—starting with the Golden Eaglet of Merit in 1916 and including the Curved Bar and First Class—that have acknowledged the power behind each recipient’s dedication to empowering and bettering herself, and making the world a better place for others.
Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA is America’s premier leadership development experience for girls, helping girls discover themselves, connect with others, and take action to make the world a better place. Girl Scouts San Diego provides activities for nearly 40,000 girl and adult members, trains volunteers, and maintains two camps near Julian and program/service facilities in Balboa Park, Carlsbad and Escondido.
