April 8, 2025 – Claire Tozer of Girl Scout Troop 3274 has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting, for beautifying her community through art. Tozer organized a group of volunteers to paint a welcoming mural and build little free libraries at St. Paul’s Early Learning Center in Decatur.
A 2024 graduate of Lutheran School Association, Claire discovered that the lockdowns and isolation of COVID-19 have left a lasting impact on the anxiety levels of children, per the Center for Disease Control (CDC). To combat this, she wanted to create a warm and welcoming environment at her local early learning center to help children feel at ease in a place that may initially be unfamiliar to them.
Leading a group of volunteers, Claire designed and painted a mural in the hallway of St. Paul’s Early Learning Center. Entitled ‘Walking with the Animals,’ the mural depicts animals walking into Noah’s ark, with each animal labeled to encourage observational skills, word association and language development. Claire also repurposed old materials to assemble little free libraries with flower boxes, with the hope to promote reading development and allow free access to books.
“The change in the children’s demeanor was almost instant when I started to paint the mural,” said Claire. “Lots of parents and guardians also said they appreciate what I am doing with the little libraries and that their child is very excited to come back to look and learn about the animals on the walls.”
The prestigious Gold Award is the highest achievement a Girl Scout can receive, earned by girls in grades 9-12 who demonstrate extraordinary leadership and create a significant and sustainable positive change in a community. Gold Award Girl Scouts address the root cause of a problem, plan and implement innovative solutions to drive lasting change, and lead a team of people to success – all while learning essential skills that prepare them for all aspects of life.
“I learned that I could become a very effective leader when the time calls,” said Claire. “I am usually too nervous to step up and take the reins on any project, but I learned that as long as I can muster up the courage to do it, leading is almost natural to me.”
Claire is one of six 2025 Gold Award Girl Scouts in central Illinois. The Gold Award Girl Scouts will be honored for their remarkable achievements at Girl Scouts of Central Illinois’ Awards Ceremony on April 12 at Heartland Community College in Bloomington.
