Dylan's Gold Pollinator Garden

The gold award is the highest recognition a Girl Scout can receive. It is awarded to girls who complete a project that helps to better their global and local community, while also carrying on after the initial project is done. 

My name is Dylan Mayo. I completed the project as a high school senior at The Woodstock Academy. Most girls must submit their project for review to be approved 2-3 times. During my original idea, I submitted a proposal outlining how I would work to use the Academy's Sengal Exchange to grow the cultural understanding in Woodstock. After I sent the project in twice, it became approved. After COVID-19 hit though, the Senegal Exchange program died away, leaving me without a gold award project. So, I did research into ways that I could help to better my local community, and one of the most prevalent issues I saw was a lack of food, and homes for pollinators. I had always been passionate about having butterfly bushes in our home, so I thought this would be a great task for me to take on. Once I solidified my plan, I sent it to Girl Scouts for review. The original proposal was denied, but after I revised it and sent the new one in it was accepted! So, I began work to make my idea a reality. I met with local gardeners and bee keepers to help and make a plan that would best suit the pollinators. After many hours of brainstorming how the garden would be played out, I was finally able to start taking action. Making the garden was such an amazing experience, it let me not only learn plants that will help to replenish our pollinator population, but it also helped me to connect with the local community, and create a garden that will not only be pleasing to look at, but also serve the purpose of enhancing our crops.