SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A local Girl Scout has received the highest award possible, the Gold Award.
Isabele Johnson received the Gold Award by completing her project, which was to train a search and rescue dog. She trained her dog, Atlanta, to be a cadaver dog and aid in law enforcement endeavors when needed.
Johnson has spent the last four years working with her dog, Atlanta, to become a search and rescue cadaver dog.
“It’s a very long process. It’s a lot of long nights,” said Johnson. “When she was a puppy, I woke up at midnight every night to take her outside, and I went home everyday at noon during school to take her outside again. I began training with Big Paws Canine when she was younger to get some of those basic obedience skills and just continuing training from there.”
By completing this project, Johnson has be presented the Girl Scouts Gold Award, the highest honor achievable through the organization.
“It means the world to me. It’s something that I’ve worked so hard for and worked so long for. That’s just really rewarding for me to finally complete it and finally just have it be done and it’s an amazing honor for me to get it,” said Johnson.
“It really goes back to our main mission at Girl Scouts, creating girls or building girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place and doing a community service project like this that creates sustainable change really does make the world a better place,” said Bailey , Director of communications at Girl Scouts Dakota Horizons.
Only 6 percent of Girl Scouts receive the special award.
“It’s just a great feeling to see them accomplish it and then the joy on their face and their families, so it’s really a great experience all around,” said Brooker.
Working hard to be a strong role model for younger Girl Scouts.
“It means the world to have younger girls looking up to me because I remember when I was younger always looking up to the older girl scouts that you know were PAing and CITing, I loved looking up to them,” said Johnson.
They can really do anything that gives back to the community to earn their Gold Award, from teaching younger girl scouts life skills like cooking and sewing, starting community gardens or even creating sensory rooms for a preschool, really anything that addresses a need in their community.