Here is a link to the article I penned for Huffington post regarding "Geared Up", my gold award, and my inspiration. Huffington Post Article
It was officially announced today, I have been named one of 2014's Young Woman Of Distinction by the GSUSA! National Young Women of Distinction (NYWOD) is the designation, and special honor, conferred by Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) on ten Girl Scout Gold Award recipients whose final projects demonstrated extraordinary leadership, had a measurable and sustainable impact, and addressed a local challenge that related to a national and/or global issue. -GSUSA I created this program as my Gold Award.
"The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout may earn. The leadership and organizational skills, sense of community, and commitment that come from "going for the Gold" set the foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship. This prestigious award challenges girls to change the world." I can hardly believe that I have been chosen as one of ten girls for this tremendous honor, I am still in shock and truly grateful for this distinction. Here are some links to Press Releases and articles as of today. PR Newswire -- Press Release Yahoo News -- Article/Press Release Ad Hoc News (Germany) -- Article/Press Release Today I learned how to say "I love you" I didn't think it would be useful until I saw the sign... A week ago, on the first day of the program, when I was setting up the room, the janitor came in to ask how long I would be there and how often so he could fit his schedule around it. He spoke to me in ASL (American Sign Language) because he could not hear; however, my vocabulary in ASL is very very small. A nearby teacher stepped in to translate what he said to me and my replies. At the end of the conversation, we introduced ourselves. He signed his name and asked for mine. I asked the teacher how to say "my name is" and then proceeded to form each letter of my name very carefully. Apparently I said "My name [is] "H" "A" "L" "E" "I love you". He laughed and corrected me "Y". I didn't know what I had said until this very day as I watched a youtube video teaching 'Baby Sign'. We continued the "Be the Robot" game at Albuquerque Sign Language Academy, the kids were able to redesign the course and try to have "Robots" program "Robots" by having a line of people with only one "Programmer" in the back. Lots of fun today as we met more people! Everyone is super excited for the mission model build. Today is the first day at the first school to have the the first program created. A day of firsts! The program has been established and is starting at ASLA (Albuquerque Sign Language Academy) I met so many great kids and can't wait to work more with them in the future. The activity today was "Be The Robot", since everyone could participate in this activity, I worked with kids from 1st grade on. Wednesday will be the kindergartner's turn!
First step of the program, Train the Instructors, is complete. Had a basic overview of the entire program. Everyone is 'Gearing Up' for Monday.
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AuthorI am Haley Hanson and I started this after-school program as part of my Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouts, with the purpose to get kids "Geared Up" for all things STEM and to make robotics more accessible. Archives
July 2014
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