Amanda Joa of New Hyde Park recently earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the most prestigious award in Girl Scouts. The award was presented at a ceremony on June 28th at the Madison Theatre at Molloy University.  

For her project, Amanda educated elementary school children on mental health and stress management. Her project aims to help prevent students from feeling overwhelmed by daily stressors as they get older.

She planned and led lessons to teach students the significance of staying organized, time management, gratitude and breathing exercises and created engaging crafts to help them de-stress. Amanda created a basket of motivational quotes, stress toys and activities to allow children to use different techniques to help relieve stress during the school day. Amanda’s materials and resources will be implemented in elementary school classrooms for teachers to continue to use.

Amanda has been a Girl Scout in Troop 1402 since the second grade. She previously earned both the Bronze and Silver Awards and has spent many hours over her years in Girl Scouts serving the community.  Her fondest Girl Scout memory is going to Camelback Water Park with her troop.

A recent graduate of New Hyde Park Memorial High School, Amanda was the president of her school orchestra and is a member of seven honor societies.  She ran varsity-level track, played field hockey for five years, and was a writer for her school yearbook. Amanda will be attending Binghamton University in the fall.