Courtney Lloyd’s 13th year in the Girl Scouts was a lucky one for her when she earned the prestigious 2025 Girl Scout Gold Award for her work with STEM with middle school students.
Lloyd, a member of Wayland Troop 78052, joined the Girls Scouts when she was in kindergarten. She stuck with it as she appreciated the emphasis that the program had on empowering girls to create change in their communities.
Last year the 19-year-old made positive changes of her own when she advocated for making STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) classes achievable for all, especially girls, Lloyd harnessed her passion and crafted a project based on the delivery of STEM lessons to local youth.
Fellow Wayland resident Fiona White garnered her Gold Award by providing music therapy classes at Wayside Youth & Family Support Network.
STEM and Scouts mesh
Lloyd’s passion naturally gravitated to math and science. At WHS, she especially liked the extended chemistry labs and calculus classes. She credits teacher Barbara Coughlin for providing a solid foundation and engaging lessons. Outside of high school, Lloyd discovered that her favorite Girl Scout activities were the ones that centered around these subjects.
“The activities that I enjoyed most frequently revolved around STEM and real-life applications of the skills that we had learned in school,” Lloyd said. “One example that comes to mind was making model animal prosthetics.”
During her senior year, Lloyd interspersed the knowledge she gained from high school classes and Girl Scout meetings to design her project and submit a proposal for the Gold Award project. Application requirements included creating a project that addressed a specific need, it provided measurable results, and it would continue to be sustainable after the project was completed. Her teachers and scout leaders recognized her talent and drive and the proposal was approved.
“During her time at WHS, Courtney radiated a sense of joy and purpose,” said Principal Allyson Mizoguchi. “Her upbeat, positive personality and kindness to everyone were attributes that benefited and strengthened our community.”
After crafting some creative STEM activities and lessons, Lloyd then contacted Tyler Reynolds, Adventure and Outdoor director at the Framingham YMCA, and offered to teach some STEM classes. The two agreed to a summer of 2024 timeframe and Lloyd delivered instruction to 8- to 13-year-old summer campers. In addition to teaching, Lloyd created a website that included video tutorials of all of her activities.
“The Girl Scout Gold Award recognizes young women who don’t wait for someone else to solve a problem. They step forward and lead,” said Monica Roberts, CEO of Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts. “Courtney recognized the need to inspire more girls to explore STEM and created a welcoming environment where they could build confidence, embrace challenges, and learn through discovery. Her leadership will continue to make an impact for years to come through the resources and programs she has created.”
Lloyd, who just completed her first year at college at Brigham Young University, had to miss the award ceremony because she was completing her spring semester. She admits that she learned a lot from her project and teaching the classes. While she is studying to be a chemical engineer, she says she cannot rule out some kind of teaching somewhere later down the line.
“One of my favorite activities at the YMCA was constructing miniature homemade green houses,” said Lloyd. “The kids learned about agriculture and made their own irrigation systems out of plastic food containers.”
The classes were a success and the project proved that it was an excellent way to engage youngsters in learning more about STEM and bolstering their confidence.
“Even in high school, I saw students who felt that they couldn’t do well in the STEM classes,” said Lloyd. “In doing my project, it was cool to be in a setting where I could show kids that they could do well.”
Music-based DBT curriculum
White wanted to provide music as a tool for children who face mental health challenges. She partnered with Wayside Youth & Family Support Network to create a music-based dialectical behavior therapy curriculum. Focusing on mindfulness, emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and interpersonal effectiveness, she wanted to make the therapy more fun and engaging.
White was not able to run the program herself, due to HIPAA regulations, but Wayside staff did implement her project.
“I was able to overcome a lot of my own issues to complete this project,” said White in a Girl Scout press release. “I did a lot of work. I have proven to myself that I’m incredibly strong, brave, and capable. I can do hard things.”
