Ursuline Academy of Dallas proudly celebrates juniors Addison K. '27 and Savannah M. '27, along with alumna Kate W. '25, who each received the Girl Scout Gold Award in 2025 - the highest achievement in Girl Scouting. This prestigious honor recognizes young women who demonstrate exceptional leadership, initiative, and a sustained commitment to creating positive, lasting change in their communities.

Addison focused her Gold Award project on raising awareness of the signs and symptoms of ovarian cancer to promote early detection and treatment. With volunteer support, Addison helped organize the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition’s Together in Teal Walk, where she and her cheer team encouraged participants and hosted a children’s art table. She also delivered 10 presentations at Ursuline to educate students and teachers and distributed goodie bags containing ovarian cancer awareness materials. To extend the impact of her work, Addison created a PowerPoint presentation to support ongoing outreach and to share resources for survivors and their families.

Savannah designed her Gold Award project to support students with sensory processing challenges who may feel overlooked in a traditional classroom setting. After conducting informational interviews, Savannah created 50 sensory kits filled with stress-relief tools to help students manage focus and self-regulation throughout the school day. She partnered with To Be Like Me, a disability awareness program, to distribute the kits, helping both educators and students better understand diverse learning needs. The organization plans to continue producing similar kits and to build on Savannah’s efforts, ensuring her impact extends beyond the scope of her project.

Savannah credits her years in Girl Scouts with shaping both her confidence and compassion. “I love being a Girl Scout because of all the different ways I have been able to get out of my comfort zone,” she shared. “As a Girl Scout, I've gotten the opportunity to spend time with people vastly different from me starting at a young age, and I believe it has given me so much empathy for others.” Reflecting on the significance of the Gold Award, Savannah added, “I believe the main thing my project accomplished was making those kids feel seen and heard.”

Ursuline alumna Kate W. also earned the Girl Scout Gold Award for a project focused on empowering girls through athletics. Recognizing barriers such as limited exposure, few female role models, and the financial costs often associated with sports, Kate took action to inspire girls in an at-risk community to pursue athletics. With volunteer support, she designed and hosted a two-day basketball camp for fifth through eighth graders at St. Mary of Carmel Catholic School. To encourage continued growth beyond the camp, Kate created and shared instructional videos that highlighted the skills taught, with the goal of helping her campers continue participating in sports long-term.

Together, Addison, Savannah, and Kate embody Ursuline’s Serviam spirit, leading with compassion, courage, and purpose. Their Girl Scout Gold Award achievements reflect the power of young women to lead meaningful change and make a lasting impact in their communities.

^{Photo: Savannah M. '27}