Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington to Bestow Highest Honor for 25 Gold Award Girl Scouts this Saturday, June 23, 2018

PORTLAND, Ore. – Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington (GSOSW) will recognize 25 recipients of the Girl Scout Gold Award in a special ceremony this Saturday, June 23, 2018, in Salem, Oregon in celebration of 102 years of the organization’s highest award.

Who: 25 Gold Award Girl Scouts, as well as Silver and Bronze Award Girl Scouts, their family and friends, plus staff, volunteers and media

What: Celebration of Girl Scouts changing the world and achieving Girl Scouting's highest honors with a keynote address from Girl Scout alumna and Gold Award recipient Elizabeth Dinh, evening news anchor for Fox 12 Oregon

When: June 23, 2018, at 1 p.m.

Where:  Willamette Heritage Center, 1313 Mill St SE, Salem, Oregon 97301

R.S.V.P.:  The event is by invitation only—interested media must R.S.V.P. by email to: mkenney@girlscoutsosw.org

On-site interviews: GSOSW’s Director of Communications, Sarah Shipe, and Director of Program, Sarah Brown, as well as Gold Award, Silver Award and Bronze Award Girl Scouts, will be available on-site during the day of the event for media interviews.

The Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn, acknowledges each recipient’s dedication to empowering and bettering herself while working to make the world a better place. Just 6% of Girl Scouts earn this prestigious award annually—it has been the pinnacle of the Girl Scout experience since 1916.

“We know that when girls have leadership opportunities when they are young, they are more likely to go on to become leaders in their communities and in their professional lives,” says Sarah Brown, Director of Program for GSOSW. “Through Girl Scouting, GSOSW’s Gold Award Girl Scouts have come to know that they have the ability to make a positive impact. The nature and quality of their Gold Award projects show us that these girls are the leaders of tomorrow, because they are leading today.”

Some of the Gold Award projects completed this year include:

Backpacks for Refugees—backpacks filled with school supplies for refugee students

Bilingual Lending Library— building a bilingual lending library at a local food pantry and collecting books to fill the shelves

Birthday Party Kits for Low-Income Youth— birthday party kits for low-income families, distributed to local shelters and service agencies

Girls Expo—free event to connecting young women to organizations and activities that align with their passions

Me Too—to increase awareness of teen sexual assault

Each Gold Award Girl Scout contributes a minimum of 80 hours to the community through her project, carrying out a plan that has sustainable and measurable, ongoing impact.

“As a Girl Scout alumna, I’m so happy to welcome this next group of talented and smart young women who now join me as a fellow Gold Award recipient,” says Elizabeth Dinh, evening news anchor for FOX 12 Oregon. “It took a lot of hard work and dedication to earn this prestigious award, and I know these Gold Award Girl Scouts will continue to overcome obstacles, pursue their dreams and change the world.”

Girl Scouts celebrates 102 years of Girl Scout Gold Award excellence, innovation, and visionary leadership and continues empowering future generations of girls to follow their dreams, discover their passions and make a global impact.

About Girl Scouts’ Highest Honors

To learn more about Girl Scouts’ highest honors, please visit: http://www.girlscoutsosw.org/en/about-girl-scouts/our-program/girl-awards/highest-awards.html.

About Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington

Our council serves 13,955 girls in 37 counties with the help of over 10,000 volunteers. The Girl Scout mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. Every opportunity in Girl Scouting develops these essential skills in an all-girl, inclusive, safe environment. For more information, please visit girlscoutsosw.org.

WASHINGTON— The Bureau of Land Management announced today that it is seeking proposals for new public off-range pastures that provide a free-roaming environment for wild horses removed from Western public lands while also allowing for regular public visitation.

Today’s announcement is part of the BLM’s effort to address the growing overpopulation of wild horses and burros on public rangelands. As of March 1, 2018, the wild horse and burro population on public lands was estimated at 81,951 animals, which is more than triple the number of animals the land can support in conjunction with other legally mandated land uses. This chronic overpopulation increases the risk of damage to rangeland resources and raises the chances of starvation and thirst for animals in overpopulated herds.

New public off-range pastures are a more cost-effective and efficient approach to managing costs for animals in holding while providing the public with opportunities to view wild horses in a natural setting. The pastures will also provide opportunities for the public to adopt animals into private care in order to help reduce the number of animals in holding.

One or more public off-range pasture contracts will be awarded and each pasture must accommodate at least 100 to 500 wild horses. Selected participants will be contracted by the BLM to provide humane care for up to 10 years.

Proposals will be accepted through July 10, 2018, from the following states: Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Oklahoma and Wyoming.

 All applicants are required to possess a Dun and Bradstreet number authorizing them to conduct business with the Federal Government.  These can be obtained at www.dnb.com.  Applicants are then asked to access the System for Award Management, at www.sam.gov. There is no fee involved.

To obtain the bid solicitation: (1) go to www.fedconnect.net; (2) click on “Search Public Opportunities”; (3) under Search Criteria, select “Reference Number”; (4) enter the solicitation number “L15PS00182”; and (5) click Search” and the solicitation information will appear. The solicitation form describes what applicants should submit and where to send application information. 

For assistance, please contact Kemi Ismael at (202) 912-7098 or kismael@blm.gov. Ms. Ismael can assist with general questions and/or coordinate a meeting between applicants and a local BLM contracting officer and small business specialist. A list of frequently asked questions with additional information is available at:  www.blm.gov/whb.

To learn more about adopting a wild horse or burro online, visit the new Online Corral at https://wildhorsesonline.blm.gov/.

-BLM–

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The agency’s mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Diverse activities authorized on these lands generated $75 billion in sales of goods and services throughout the American economy in fiscal year 2016—more than any other agency in the Department of the Interior. These activities supported more than 372,000 jobs.

RICHLAND, WA – Members of the Southeast Washington Association of School Administrators (SEWASA) celebrated the end of the 2017-2018 school year yesterday evening at the annual SEWASA Honorary Awards Banquet.  On the evening of June 14, superintendents, community educational advocates, and school administrators representing the twenty-three school districts across southeast Washington gathered at the Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland to recognize outstanding contributions to education.

The annual SEWASA Awards ceremony is hosted each year by Educational Service District (ESD) 123 in partnership with the Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA). During the June 14 ceremony, the following recognitions were presented:

• Award of Merit – Dr. Ray Tolcacher, former superintendent of Prosser School District.  This award was presented to Dr. Tolcacher for his demonstrated effective leadership at a regional level and for significant contributions to WASA through his work in the field of education in Washington.
• Community Leadership Awards:
  • Dan Martin, Burbank Grange (Columbia School District)
  • Judi Pilcher, Community Member (Dayton School District)
  • Ed Townsend, Community Member (Dixie School District)
  • Kristi Haynes, Prevention Education Consultant (ESD 123)
  • John Doran, Finley Athletic Director (Finley School District)
  • Paul Schneidmiller, World Wide Travel (Walla Walla Public Schools)
  • Kathy Valdez, Becky McGuin, and Katherine Bingham, Franklin County Graphic (North Franklin School District)
  • Dr. Rebekah Woods, Columbia Basin College (Pasco School District)
  • Julie Funfar, Mary Guay, Pam Kindle, Denise Homer, and Mary Gies, Richland Education Foundation (Richland School District)
  • Joe Green, Charlotte King, Doris Brower, Eleanor Ferreira, Dorothy Larimore, and Myrlen McKinnon, Brookdale Canyon Lakes (Kennewick School District)
  • David McIlroy, Community Member (Starbuck School District)
  • Chris Wallace, Community Member (Touchet School District)
  • Russ Knopp, School Board Member (Waitsburg School District)

The Community Leadership Award is presented to community members or groups in recognition of their outstanding contributions toward education. Recipients are non-WASA members. Specific criteria includes: benefit to students, leadership, motivation, success, cooperation/coordination with local district, recognition by others, and history of service.

• Retirement Award:
  • Dr. Ray Tolcacher, Prosser School District
  • Dr. Lou Gates, Columbia School District
  • Gregg Taylor, North Franklin School District

The Retirement Award honors service to the profession. This award is presented in honor of service to the profession to a recipient who is retiring from his/her administrative responsibilities and no longer eligible for active WASA membership.

ESD 123 Superintendent Mr. Darcy Weisner states, “The winners of these awards have made a lasting impact on the students and schools across our entire region. Their work is the kind that unfortunately doesn’t always receive the recognition it deserves, but does more for student success than people can imagine.”  Superintendent Weisner went on to say, “Our mission statement at ESD 123 is ‘One Team…Helping all students realize their dreams and aspirations.’ We are proud to have these people on our team.”

ESD 123 wishes to congratulate all of the award recipients recognized at the 2018 awards banquet. To view all photographs from the evening’s celebration, visit the ESD 123 Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ESD123. For more information, contact Molly Curtiss at 509.544.5787 or tiss@esd123.org">mcurtiss@esd123.org.

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About ESD 123:  Educational Service District 123, based in Pasco, WA, is one of nine ESDs in Washington. Dedicated to delivering collaborative solutions that promote learning, ESD 123 serves 23 school districts in seven counties of Southeastern Washington. Under Superintendent Darcy Weisner and its board of directors, this legislatively mandated, not-for-profit educational organization provides efficiency of educational systems and equity of learning opportunities for over 70,000 Washington students. For more information about ESD 123, please call 509-544-5700 or 888-547-8441 or visit www.esd123.org.