7 Chattanooga Girl Scouts Achieve Highest Honor

Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians has announced its 2025 Gold Award recipients, presenting the organization’s most prestigious honor to 18 girls across the region, seven of whom are from the Chattanooga area.

Officials said, "The distinction is presented to girls in grades nine-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 to just six percent of Girl Scouts across the country annually."

“Earning the Girl Scouts Gold Award is a great achievement, and we are so proud of these young women,” said Lynne Fugate, CEO of the Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians. “Through compassion, creativity and determination, they’ve shown true leadership and made a positive impact on their communities. We celebrate their vision and hard work.”

Gold Award recipients were recognized for their achievements April 27 at a celebration at Lighthouse Knoxville. The Girl Scouts of Southern Appalachians board of directors also presented more than $10,000 in Gold Award Scholarships to eight recipients, including two Girl Scouts from the Chattanooga area.

Chattanooga area Gold Award recipients:

• Ella Brandon, of Ooltewah, had a difficult time finding information about science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) career options for women while planning her future, which inspired her to create a STEM career resource blog. The blog features interviews with women in various fields, providing a resource for young women exploring career paths. The posts share clear descriptions of what different STEM jobs involve and how to get started. The website has been shared with schools across Hamilton County and through the Chattanooga Public Library. Ms. Brandon attends Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga.

• Anna Catherine Critchfield, of Ooltewah, wrote and illustrated a children’s book, “Accepting ADHD,” to challenge the stigma of disabilities, particularly ADHD. Using her creative talents as an artist, the story features a main character who uses ADHD to help others and receives unconditional love from family. Ms. Critchfield’s book encourages young readers to normalize ADHD and break down social stigmas. Copies were shared with families of children with ADHD, and free digital versions are available online. Ms. Critchfield, who attends Notre Dame High School, was presented with a $2,000 Gold Award Scholarship for her efforts.

• Ash Edwards, of Signal Mountain, realized the lack of safe green space for pollinators at her school’s outdoor spaces. She created a pollinator garden and an animal water station that have brought pollinators and butterflies back to the spaces. Students at the school also will utilize the garden with the help of Ms. Edwards’ agriculture teacher. Ms. Edwards attends Ivy Academy in Soddy-Daisy.

• Lillie Grant, of Lookout Mountain, addressed the issues of deforestation and pollution. In partnership with Master Gardeners, she created a pollinator garden at Reflection Riding Arboretum & Nature Center, featuring exclusively native plants and designed to have at least one species in bloom throughout the year. Ms. Grant also collaborated with the Tennessee Aquarium to create lesson plans for elementary school students at the local nature school and high school students visiting on field trips to teach the importance of pollinators in for the environment and food system. Ms. Grant attends Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga.

• Isabella Lucarelli, of Ooltewah, wanted to address the declining bee population, which has been negatively impacted by harmful pesticides and a lack of safe food and flowers. Through her partnership with Tiger Lily Farm, Ms. Lucarelli built bee safe habitats and distributed bee friendly wildflower seed packets. She led presentations about her work to educate more than 100 people and inspired others to take action in conserving the bee population. Ms. Lucarelli attends homeschool.

• Siri McDonough, of Chattanooga, cares deeply for animals and wanted to help increase adoptions at her local shelter. In partnership with the Pet Placement Center, she created a “Pet Library” where potential adopters can check out an animal for a day or weekend to see if it’s a good match. Ms. McDonough made pet binders of each animal, designed flyers and created contracts to ensure animals would be safe during their time away from the shelter. Her program has been shared with other shelters and continues to be run by the PPC. Ms. McDonough, who attends Notre Dame High School in Chattanooga, was presented with a $500 Gold Award Scholarship.

• Cassie Wolfe, of Harrison, initially set out to combat childhood poverty, but soon learned its connection to human trafficking. After discovering that girls wearing brand-name clothing are less likely to be targeted by traffickers, she partnered with her school, local churches and the Tennessee Bar Association to create new dresses for girls in Cuba and Liberia. Girls also received safety booklets created by Ms. Wolfe and translated by her team members. To raise awareness, she led community presentations about the project and launched a website featuring resources, updates and ways for others to get involved. Ms. Wolf attends homeschool.