Girl Scouts-Arizona Cactus-Pine Council Presents National Girl Scouts High Achievement Awards to 23 Volunteers
(PHOENIX –June 22, 2017) – Girl Scouts–Arizona Cactus-Pine Council (GSACPC) is pleased to announce 23 adult volunteers were honored with Girl Scout High Achievement Awards. The criteria for these awards is established by Girl Scouts of the USA and are nationally recognized. The High Achievement Awards are granted annually to volunteers who have distinguished themselves by their outstanding service in furthering the Girl Scout mission.
“Volunteers are truly the backbone of our organization,” said Tamara Woodbury, GSACPC CEO. “They are the heartbeat and the heroes of Girl Scouting and play one of the most important roles in our girls’ lives—providing them a space for each girl to be herself.”
Each year, GSACPC holds a special recognition ceremony to honor these volunteers, who are nominated by their peers and selected by the nominating committee. The honorees usually have served as a Troop Leader for several years and volunteer at the neighborhood level. GSACPC’s jurisdiction is broken into 48 geographic areas called neighborhoods. The neighborhoods are run by volunteers and support the Girl Scout troops in their area.
This year, the ceremony was at GSACPC’s newest facility, The Bob & Renee Parsons Leadership Center for Girls and Women at Camp South Mountain. The following awards were presented:
- The Appreciation Pin is given to volunteers who have gone above and beyond the expectations of their position in at least one neighborhood.
- The Honor Pin is given to adult volunteers who have delivered outstanding service in two or more neighborhoods.
- The Thanks Badge is the highest honor in Girl Scouts and recognizes an adult Girl Scout whose ongoing commitment, leadership and service have had an exceptional impact on the goals and mission of the entire Council.
- The Thanks II Badge is given to those volunteers who have already received the Thanks Badge but continue to provide exemplary service in a leadership role to the entire Council.
The 2017 High Achievement Awards were given to the following outstanding women:
Keri Bigelow
Appreciation Pin
Phoenix
A Girl Scout Service Team volunteer for nine years, Bigelow has volunteered during fall recruitment, been a cookie coordinator who planned and executed a cookie rally, organized an overnight outing for 60 girls, acted as the girl Service Unit team facilitator, encouraged her Girl Scout Senior and Ambassadors to take minutes for Service Team meetings, mentored four girls working on their Silver Award and continued to lead her “travelling troop” on many adventures, both in Arizona and in other states.
Tammie Bohnker
Appreciation Pin
Lake Havasu City
Troop Leader, Cookie Manager and Cookie Team member Bohnker serves as her Service Unit’s team leader and provides the Girl Scout experience not only to her troop and Service Unit but also to her neighboring Service Units by planning joint events and sharing resources. Her work has helped unify her Service Unit and strengthen several extended area neighborhoods. Bohnker is also active in the Kiwanis flag program and multiple programs at her church.
Stephanie Carriere
Appreciation Pin
Gilbert
This year, Carriere served as Cookie Manager, was a presenter at the Council Cookie Conference, and a Council Boothing Committee member, in which she helped to secure booths at grocery stores for the entire council. She has been a Troop Leader, Service Team member, Neighborhood Cookie Manager and Council Cookie Team member. During her first year as Cookie Manager, she increased the number of adult volunteers on the Cookie Product Team by 40 percent, enabling them to have a very successful cookie season.
Sandy Dettmering
Appreciation Pin
Phoenix
A Girl Scout Troop Leader for three years, Dettmering works as a school organizer and has participated in multiple recruiting events. Dettmering recognized the need for a second volunteer support coach in her very large Service Unit and completed the training in 2016. She also helps with fall product sales and cookie sales and was responsible for distributing 4700 rewards that Girl Scouts earned during the annual cookie sale.
Kimberly Goldberg
Appreciation Pin
Queen Creek
Goldberg, a strong believer in the Girl Scout mission, is a leader of a multi-level troop with almost 50 members. She has helped girls working on their Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn, and has been a great resource to new leaders by facilitating the Getting Started beginner’s volunteer training. She’s also worked with her Service Unit on encampments and organizing community service projects.
Kate Gookin
Appreciation Pin
Scottsdale
Gookin began as a Daisy Troop Leader and grew her troop to more than 40 girls. She is a volunteer support coach, cookie coordinator and recruitment coordinator. She also arranges “Sister Angels” in her neighborhood and volunteers on several council-level committees, including product advisory board, Getting Started coach, Service Team retreat planning committee and the council advisory team.
Kathy Hale
Appreciation Pin
Glendale
A Troop Leader for over a decade, Hale along with Heidi McBreen has merged two Service Units of more than 800 girls and 80 leaders. Hale successfully recruited new volunteers and built a 34-member Service Team while also running her own multi-level troops. She has served as a volunteer training coach, recruitment and recognitions coordinator, camp team manager and event coordinator. She has also helped girls in their troops prepare for their Gold Awards, Girl Scouts highest award.
Alanna Iannone
Appreciation Pin
Scottsdale
Iannone has been a Troop Leader, school organizer, coordinator for school organizers, recognitions coordinator, Getting Started coach, girl/troop recognitions chair and a Service Unit meeting facilitator. Under her recruitment guidance, her Service Unit is now serving an impressive 24 percent of the girls in its area. She inspires and motivates reluctant volunteers and this year has supported 43 new leaders through the process.
Nita Kerl
Appreciation Pin
Phoenix
Kerl, a Girl Scout Troop Leader for over six years, is always willing to lend a hand and to open her 43-member multi-level troop to new girls. She believes in learning through progression and gives her girls a multitude of experiences to help them become leaders. Besides leading her large troop, she is a school coordinator, recruiting chairperson, experienced leader and product sales director for her neighborhood.
Lee Kline
Appreciation Pin
Scottsdale
Kline has been a Troop Leader for more than 30 years and part of her Service Unit for more than 16 years. She has helped with planning encampments, facilitating outdoor education and has sat on the Gold Award board. She has changed the way hundreds of young girls, teens and adults view camping and has taught leadership to all of them along the way.
Angela Lian
Appreciation Pin
Glendale
Lian is a leader with a troop of 22 girls and Service Unit facilitator. She is passionate about STEM and makes sure her girls have plenty of opportunities to gain experience in this area. She also helps Girl Scouts in other neighborhoods by working to secure Walmart boothing locations, offering learning opportunities through Journey in a Day events, heritage training and canoeing.
Dianna Laulainen-Schein
Appreciation Pin
Scottsdale
A Gold Award winner herself, Laulainen-Schein has served as the adult day camp director, archery instructor, Gold Award mentor, event planning committee liaison, event coordinator, in addition to being a Troop Leader for over 10 years. She keeps all events girl-led and girl-focused, teaching all girls the leadership skills they need.
Heidi McBreen
Appreciation Pin
Glendale
In partnership with Kathy Hale, McBreen merged two Service Units of more than 800 girls and 80 leaders. She successfully recruited new volunteers and built a 34-member Service Team while also running her own multi-level troops. She has served as a training coach, recruitment and recognitions coordinator, camp team manager and event coordinator. She has also helped girls in their troops prepare for their Gold Awards as well as complete their scholarship packets and has been a Troop Leader for over 10 years.
Rebel Rice
Appreciation Pin
Phoenix
A Girl Scout Troop Leader for five years, Rice has led at least seven neighborhood events this year, which resulted in her Service Unit growing to more than 750 members. Her planning has resulted in increased attendance at neighborhood events, including having more than 500 attendees at the annual hayride for the last three years. She also organizes events for older girls and has helped retain many girls who traditionally leave after fifth grade to build a thriving community of older Girl Scouts.
Jessica Smith
Appreciation Pin
Chino Valley
Smith helped to merge two Girl Scout Service Units into one by streamlining communication and by always remaining positive. To promote unity between the Service Units, she led a group of girls and volunteers in a renaming ceremony. Her positivity, resounding energy and passion for Girl Scouts has enabled the troops in her area to be successful.
Laura Laizure
Honor Pin
Phoenix
Laizure sits on multiple GSACPC level training groups and committees. Through the Girl Scout Authoring Your Own Life program, she has shown the ability to quickly read a room and adjust accordingly to best serve participant needs. She turned a difficult time in her troop into a learning opportunity and a Silver Award for her girls. With teamwork as her top priority, she has helped many older girls accomplish big tasks, like becoming outdoor coaches.
Susan Liming
Honor Pin
Scottsdale
Liming has mentored more than 300 Girl Scout volunteers in the last seven years. She is described as a “Girl Scout machine,” who leads by example and represents everything Girl Scouting stands for. She sits on the GSACPC advisory team and is a council trainer for new leaders. She was instrumental in helping two Service Units merge, and with her help, her Service Unit’s membership increased significantly over the past year. Additionally, her work also helped raise more than $10,000 for the Parsons Leadership Center.
Andrea Polyak
Honor Pin
Queen Creek
Polyak sits on multiple GSACPC committees including cookies and Gold Award. She helps girls from at all levels and is so organized that her team sorted nearly 6,000 boxes of cookies in less than 40 minutes. Her diligence, dedication and commitment to Girl Scouting and the many committees on which she serves demonstrates how much she cares about girls’ development and the Girl Scout experience they receive.
Donna Pocano
Honor Pin
Gilbert
Pocano not only holds multiple positions in her Girl Scout Service Unit, she is an archery instructor, a Getting Started volunteer coach and a delegate to the GSACPC annual meeting. As an Authoring Your Own Life trainer, she has helped girls and women grow as they explore their own leadership stories. She is always willing to step in and lend a hand wherever she is needed. She lives the Girl Scout commitment of inclusion and diversity.
Gordon Lewis
Thanks Badge
Phoenix
Gordon, a member-at-large on the GSACPC board of directors for eight years, has served two full terms as a member of the Board Development Committee, has chaired the personnel committee for several years and has been a member of the executive committee for eight years. He attends Girl Scout events and activities in order to observe the Council’s operations in action and to meet volunteers and girls and takes the time to understand the context and the meaning of the materials and the data. He also supported his two daughters through their time as Girl Scouts and his wife in her role as a Troop Leader.
Jan Mossman
Thanks Badge
Phoenix
Mossman has been a member-at-large on the GSACPC’s board of directors for six years. Her contributions and input have influenced some of the council’s most critical decisions. Prior to that, she served two terms as a regional representative and is now serving her second term on the GSACPC’s board development committee. She does all of this while still being an active Troop Leader and involved in her Service Unit with product sales and large events.
Brenda Wardon
Thanks Badge
Phoenix
As a lifetime Girl Scouts member, Wardon has been a Troop Leader over 12 years, is part of the Girl Scout Financial Literacy Innovation Circle and helped develop the Troop Treasurer patch. She’s a GSACPC trainer, tireless in her efforts and often the first to volunteer and last to go home. When she’s not volunteering with the Girl Scouts, you’ll find her busy with the Elks Lodge or the Arizona Animal Welfare League.
Harriet (Hootie) Rewine
Thanks II Badge
Phoenix
Rewine is a lifelong Girl Scout and has served GSACPC for more than 50 years. She currently serves on the GSACPC’s property committee board. She is an invaluable member of the team who took part in overseeing the successful completion of the new Parsons Leadership Center. She is also an active member of the council’s history committee, where she catalogs documents and girls’ narratives. Rewine epitomizes what it means to live by the Girl Scout Promise and Law. She’s always friendly and helpful-whether it’s her work with girl Scouts, her church or in general relationships with her community. She’s always making the world a better place.
About Girl Scouts—Arizona Cactus-Pine Council (GSACPC)
GSACPC is Arizona’s leading organization preparing girls with the skills and experiences they need to empower themselves for life. Given the opportunity, every girl can become a leader, act confidently on her values, and connect with her community. We know that girls built of courage, confidence and character make the world a better place. GSACPC serves 22,000 girls, grades K-12, across central and northern Arizona, in partnership with more than 10,000 adult volunteers. For more information, visit our website, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
