Girl Scouts of Southeastern Michigan honors Deanna Moreau with the most prestigious award in the world for girls: the Girl Scout Gold Award. Deanna, of Lake Orion, is among 14 young women who have taken the initiative to bettering their communities through sustainable community change projects. The time and commitment they’ve dedicated towards these projects prove they’re true leaders and exceptional examples for all girls to look up to.

The Gold Award is Girl Scout’s highest honor and is presented to Girl Scouts who address a community issue or problem they are passionate about. They’re required to spend at least 80 hours investigating the problem, creating a plan and implementing it.

For her Gold Award project, Deanna researched a passion of hers: animals. She learned that Barn Owls, a natural predator in our ecosystem, have become endangered while other owl species have thrived. To address this issue, she educated her community about owls and installed owl shelters in ideal habitats to encourage the owls in our ecosystem. She partnered with Polly Ann Trail to build both Barn Owl and Barred Owl houses in their ideal habitats along the Polly Ann Trail. She also created and posted educational signage explaining the difference between the Barn and Barred Owl, and how her community can help the Barn Owl so it can flourish just like the Barred Owl.

“Through teamwork and optimism, not only did I accomplish my goals, but I also found that time management is a huge part of staying on task and being organized.”