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TODAYSHELLY KEHRLE-SULSER
Executive Editor
Two young Battle Creek women
have earned the highest award in
Girl Scouting by completing the
requirements to receive the Gold
Award, recognition that will be pre-
sented to them in the
Spring of 2025.
Rachel Osterhard and Katie
Behnke, both 2024 Harper Creek
High School graduates, completed
separate, two-year projects to soften
the experiences for youths enter-
ing the S.A.F.E. Place Domestic
Violence shelter in Battle Creek -
Osterhart for the youngest children
accompanying a parent to the shelter
and Behnke for the teens at S.A.F.E.
Place.
They are the first Girl Scouts from
Battle Creek with the Girl Scouts
Heart of Michigan (GSHOM) coun-
cil to earn Girl Scouting’s highest
honor in recent history.
As members of Troop 80268
since the first grade at Wattles Park
Elementary, Osterhart and Behnke
have been led by Troop Leader
Denise Demarest all 12 years.
In fact, Osterhart and Behnke have
know each other since they began
attending the same day care at the
age of three months, they said.
While the troop once had as many
as 18 girls involved, Osterhart and
Behnke are the last two members.Two young Battle Creek women
earn Girl Scouting’s highest honor
Katie Behnke, left, and Rachel Osterhart, right, will receive the highest award
in Girl Scouting, the Gold Award, next Spring after completing their nearly two-
year-old projects to help the children and teens of the S.A.F.E. Place Domestic
Violence Shelter in Battle Creek. They’ve been scouts for 12 years under the
leadership of Denise Demarest, center. (Shopper News photo by Shelly Kehrle-Sulser)
Earning the Gold Award as a Girl
Scout demands a significant level
of determination and dedication,
according to the GHSOM, and is
described as an award that comes
with a high level of honor and
esteem.
Girls who are the recipients of the
Girl Scout Gold Award must com-
mit a significant amount of time and
expertise to developing a project that
will positively impact their commu-
nities.
“These girls must also demonstrate
their plans for sustainability of the
work they’ve begun without their
ongoing involvement,” the GHSOM
explained. “The ability of our Gold
Award Girl Scouts to make a posi-
tive and lasting impact on their com-
munities and become part of an illus-
trious group of Girl Scout Alumnae,
is a tribute to the leadership skills
they have developed during their Girl
Scouting years. These skills position
them well to seek out and secure col-
lege scholarships at world-renowned
schools (such as the University of
Michigan, Purdue University and
Western Michigan University),
and to get a leg up on their future
careers.”
Osterhart is the daughter of TracieSee GIRL SCOUTS on 12