
Girl Scouts of the Missouri Heartland is thrilled to announce that Mary Parker is the Gold Award Girl Scout from Carl Junction for her extraordinary action in addressing the need for accessible arts education, cultural connections, and understanding in her community.
The root cause of Mary’s reasoning for her project is to address the misplaced fear or misunderstanding of people with different cultural backgrounds. She noted that in Southeast Missouri there is not much diversity, and for the few minorities that do live within these communities, it can be hard to access the arts due to lack of money and resources. Mary sought to change this narrative by creating an enriching opportunity for people to come together. She developed a “Play in a Day” activity where students were invited to an all-day workshop and encouraged to work together to put on a play written by Mary. To ensure she reached as many people in her community, Mary offered the workshop in both English and Spanish, additionally, she marketed the event with flyers and advertisements in both languages to reach a wider audience. Mary said, “I believe that if children and their parents see one another through the beauty of the arts, they may enjoy one another and appreciate one another's talents.” “The Play in a Day” was successfully held on May 1, 2023, and the children that took part said they would love to participate again. It is Girl Scouts like Mary that prove the arts can have a lasting impact in funding change in any community