St. Charles Gold Award Girl Scout Honors Veterans Through Storytelling

As the nation pauses to honor the courage and sacrifice of those who have served this Veterans’ Day, Girl Scout Hannah Halterman, a 2025 Francis Howell Central graduate, is doing her part to ensure their stories are never forgotten. She earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouting, for her project focused on protecting and sharing the stories of local veterans.

Partnering with the Mid America Veterans Museum in O’Fallon, Missouri, Hannah worked to enhance the experience and quality of interviews conducted for the Library of Congress Veterans History Project. The museum regularly records in-person interviews with local veterans, preserving their stories in Washington, D.C., and often inviting them to expand upon their experiences on the museum’s podcast, The Dog Tag.

Hannah identified that high school student volunteers who conducted interviews often felt unprepared, which sometimes led to less detailed and less focused conversations. To address this, she created a comprehensive interviewer training program and resource materials designed to help students feel confident, ask thoughtful follow-up questions, and guide interviews with greater emphasis on veterans’ military experiences.

“I’ve wanted to be a journalist for years. Telling someone’s story is the most important work a journalist can do,” said Hannah. “Veterans have so many important stories to tell. I’m so honored to have worked with them during this project.”

Through her project, Hannah ensured that veterans’ stories are captured with the respect, empathy, and historical value they deserve, creating a more meaningful experience for both the veterans and the students who learn from them. Her project will be sustained through the Mid America Veterans Museum, which will continue using her training resources for future student interviewers.

“My favorite part of the Gold Award process was making my final video,” said Hannah. “It gave me the chance to reflect on the entire process and every step along the way. I hope that video can help guide future Girl Scouts as they begin working on their Gold Award projects.”

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 2026 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.

For more details on this event and Girl Scouts Highest Awards, visit girlscoutsem.org/highestawards.