Girl Scouts of SE MI honor Myranda Ivey with Gold Award

Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan (GSSEM) has honored Myranda Ivey of Belleville with the highest award in Girl Scouts: the Girl Scout Gold Award.
Myranda is among 19 young women who have taken the initiative to better their communities through sustainable community change projects.
For her Gold Award project, Myranda focused on discipline in the education system. She designed and created a Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) store at Inkster Preparatory Academy. She said she felt that in today’s society, children are not motivated to do well in school, and school staff spend more time punishing children for the mistakes and wrong decisions they make. Instead, she believed, they should reinforce a positive attitude by rewarding them for good behavior.
The store works by students who do good deeds or are well behaved in the classroom setting (i.e. helping another student, turning their homework in everyday for a week, etc.), earn “Tiger Tickets” and are able to spend those tickets in the PBIS store for various rewards. For example, students can earn a range of incentives from pencils and pens, to skipping the lunch line, to 15 minutes of extra recess. The overall goal is for students to improve their grades, behavior, citizenship, expectations, and attendance using “prevention not punishment.” There was a grand opening for the store, and nearly 100 students came to the celebration.
“I learned the importance of motivators, improved my confidence, developed better communication and decision-making skills,” said Myranda. “But most importantly, I learned that I can get the job done.”
Denise Dalrymple, chief executive officer of GSSEM, shared in her excitement.
“We couldn’t be happier to congratulate and honor our 2020 Gold Awardees,” said Dalrymple. “These Girl Scouts are the brightest examples of what Girl Scouting is about, inspiring girls to be leaders and change agents. This award is an honor for them, but truly we are the ones who are honored to support and promote these go-getters as they take bold steps and share their work with the world.”
The Gold Award is Girl Scout’s highest honor and is presented to Girl Scouts who address a community issue or problem they are passionate about. They’re required to spend a minimum of 80 hours investigating the problem, creating a plan, and implementing it. Some of the projects have reached beyond Michigan to national and international communities.
GSSEM has launched a social media campaign to highlight a Gold Award Girl Scout, running until June 5. The posts will detail the remarkable contribution each girl made to improve her community. Follow @GSSEM on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to join the digital recognition.
For a full list of Gold Award Girl Scouts and their projects visit gssem.org/honors2020.