North County High School Student Earns Highest Award in Girl Scouting

Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri is pleased to announce Udipti Sinha, a senior at North County High School in Bonne Terre, has recently earned the mark of the truly remarkable–the Girl Scout Gold Award.

The Gold Award is earned by a high-school-aged Girl Scout who has dedicated on average more than 80 hours, to address an issue they are passionate about in a way that produces meaningful and permanent change. Whether it is on a local, national, or global level, Gold Award Girl Scouts provide innovative solutions to pressing and relevant challenges.

Gold Award Girl Scouts become innovative problem-solvers, empathetic leaders, confident public speakers, and focused project managers. They learn resourcefulness, tenacity, and decision-making skills, giving them an edge personally and professionally. As they take action to transform their communities, Gold Award Girl Scouts gain tangible skills and prove they’re the leaders our world needs.

The 2025 Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri class are identifying issues in their communities, taking action, and finding or creating solutions to earn their Gold Awards, addressing real-life problems such as environmental sustainability, food insecurities, mental and physical well-being, emergency preparedness and veteran affairs.

Udipti Sinha
Inspired to help her community of DeSoto discover an interest in space exploration, Udipti developed a comprehensive awareness and education plan surrounding her town’s moon tree. A moon tree is a tree grown from seeds that have been taken into orbit around the moon. The first moon trees went into space in 1971, traveled around the moon and back to Earth to be planted at locations across the world. As part of her project, Udipti created a larger plaque for the local moon tree located in DeSoto Park to raise awareness with the local community and visitors. She also created fliers and brochures that were posted in neighboring communities to help educate and encourage residents to visit the moon tree. To complete her project, Udipti presented to a group of 2nd graders and their teachers on the Apollo 14 mission, space exploration and moon trees and arranged for local Girl Scouts to continue to care for the site for years to come.

“The leadership skills I put into practice throughout my Gold Award Project included not letting my team down when we hit a rough spot and listening to all input,” said Udipti. “I became a more confident speaker, not afraid to say my mind and what I wanted for my project.”

“Gold Award Girl Scouts, like Udipti, are the leaders our world needs! She found a meaningful way to address a pressing issue facing her community, and discovered she has the power to create the future she wants to see.” said Danielle Washington, Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri Chief Program Officer. “We are proud of her remarkable achievement!”