Gold Award Girl Scout - Grace Regan
Jackson Girl Scout Earns Prestigious Gold Award
Billings, MT— November 29, 2022 — Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming (GSMW) is proud to recognize Grace Regan for earning her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement a Girl Scout can earn.
Gold Award Girl Scouts, like Regan of Jackson, are changing the world today—their ingenuity enables them to meaningfully address some of the most pressing issues facing their communities and the world.
For her Gold Award Project, Regan authored a mental health coloring book for teens. Regan learned from the National Institute of Mental Health that 31.9% of adolescents have an anxiety disorder. In fact, anxiety and other mental health concerns have increased substantially in adolescents and teens in the last decade. In doing her own research and talking with mental health professionals, she learned various tools and techniques for dealing with anxiety, one of which was art and coloring. “My concern for teenage anxiety and my love of art helped me decide to create a coloring book. With the help of my project advisor, Dr. Kelly Gutierrez, Ph.D., I incorporated several activities in addition to coloring, such as breathing and mindfulness” reported Regan.
She goes on to say, “As a high school student, I experience first-hand anxiety in teens. Anxiety from school, extracurricular activities, and the COVID-19 pandemic are common in high schools. I found that when I was feeling anxious, I enjoy doing art. This inspired me to create a coloring book for others.” To meet the requirements of the Gold Award, projects must be sustainable long term. In order to do this, Regan created a digital copy of her coloring book and had several hard copies printed. She provided the digital copy to various groups and presented her findings to her local school counselor, the middle school, county library, three local therapists, and local Girl Scouts. Additionally, Regan shared the coloring book with doctors, nurses, and therapists. If you or someone you knows could benefit from Regan’s mental health coloring book, you can find a copy here.
The Gold Award is the highest achievement a Girl Scout can earn, available to girls in high school by developing and carrying out lasting solutions to issues in their communities and beyond. Gold Award Girl Scouts address the root cause of a problem, plan and implement innovative solutions to drive change, and lead a team of people to success. Gold Award Girl Scouts truly are the world changers, rock stars, role models, and real-life heroes we all look up to. They’re excellent candidates for colleges, scholarships, competitive internship programs, and exciting careers.
To learn more, please visit www.gsmw.org.
