G.O.L.D, also known as girls only leadership development, is one of the most famous events that North Allegheny hosts each year. The event is structured to teach eighth grade girls leadership skills and get them familiar with their upcoming transition into high school. COVID-19 questioned whether or not the event would take place at all for this year. he pandemic did cause the number of girls that signed up to decrease, but the night was still able to conduct with around a hundred eighth grade girls.G.O.L.D ended up being held virtually, and the night was still memorable.микрозайм на карту срочно без отказа

The team t-shirts made by the facilitators for the girls were all creative and an annual part of the event. The girls were able to get goodie bags filled with sweet treats and snacks made by their facilitators. The craft supplies and passwords to the virtual event were supplied to each eighth grade girl prior to the event. The night of gold was set up to be a success, and it turned out to be an overall successful event as well.

The night did have to make cuts on non-socially distant activities due to the nature of the pandemic. The famous dance party was taken out of the schedule because we were virtual and could not do it safely if in person. A large sum of facilitators felt bad because the event was held virtually instead of in person. An anonymous facilitator said, “It just wasn’t the same.” The event was still well rated by the eighth grade girls according to a follow up survey, which proves the night was overall a success.

The night of G.O.L.D was still able to keep many of its key events, such as guest speakers and more. The keynote speaker was a woman named Jazzkia Jones who spoke on female empowerment, confidence, the power of hard work, career, and more topics of that nature. Another guest speaker at the event was a returning guest speaker Michelle Schwartzmier. She spoke about substance abuse and the dangers and pain that surround it. The speakers both delivered powerful messages about important topics for the eighth grade girls to learn about.

The other annual events of the night were still able to be done, but they were held virtually. A key part of G.O.L.D is to get eighth grade girls familiar with their future high school building. If there were no pandemic, facilitators would give the girls a walking tour around NAI. Instead, there was a slideshow with common areas of the school shared with the girls along with summaries. The facilitators also answered questions of the eighth graders to help them better understand the new building they will be entering next year.

The craft done by the girls each year was completed by the materials being delivered to them and completed virtually. The craft made by the girls was a mask, fitting to the current world around us. The masks were made creatively with what the girls had around their homes. The crafts are not the only part of G.O.L.D that were still able to occur virtually.

 The cheers were able to be done as well with the eighth grade girls. The cheers are essentially a team building activity that is completed in the groups that the girls were sorted into. The cheer can be about a variety of topics including female empowerment, pride for your group, the night of G.O.L.D, etc. The groups were able to come up with good cheers and get to know each other better in the process. 

The night of gold, in conclusion, was a well structured and enjoyable night for all. It would have been nice to hold the event in person, but we are lucky the event was able to happen at all. The cheers, craft, getting to know NAI, questions and answers, speakers, team building, icebreakers, and more were still able to happen to give eighth grade girls the best G.O.L.D night given the pandemic circumstances.