Westlake Girl Scout Earns Gold Award

Westlake High School graduate Aubrey Winczewski is in the process of completing her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouts.

She has always been passionate about the environment and decided to install an air quality sensor outside the high school and link it to the EPA website so data can be viewed by all.

Aubrey reached out to PurpleAir® to ask if they would be willing to donate the sensor. They were happy to do so ($300+ value!).

She coordinated the project with the high school administration and her Girl Scout council to get this project completed, and also taught the AP Environmental Science teacher, Ms. Barth, how to work the sensor. This will also become an environmental education resource for the students of Westlake High School.

Aubrey’s Gold Award will be fully earned by performing one final piece, and that is in educating the community. She plans to present her project to a younger Girl Scout troop this summer.

A little about the project:

The PurpleAir® sensor is an air quality sensor. “It tracks particulate matter, which is like smoke, pollen and other things in the air and it provides a reading of the air quality. This data is accessible to public at two different websites: map.purpleair.com and fire.airnow.gov

A 2024 grad of Westlake High, Aubrey has been accepted into the John Martinson Honors College at Purdue University beginning this fall. She will major in Mechanical Engineering.

As a Scout since 4th grade, her Air Quality Gold Project has been a natural for Aubrey.

“I’ve always been interested in environmental sustainability,” she said. Last summer’s influx of smoky Canadian air made her want to do more locally.

“I want people to just gain a greater awareness of air quality, that it is a big part of a healthy environment and there are a lot of things you can do to help air quality,” she said.

You may not be able to do much about Canadian wildfires. “Maybe ride your bike to school or take mass transportation or carpool instead of driving your car,” she said. “Simple things like that can help the air quality.”

Aubrey is especially grateful to Ms. Melissa Barth, her project advisor and Westlake High Environmental Science teacher, and to PurpleAir® for their generosity in donating the sensor to Westlake High. PurpleAir® makes sensors that empower Community Scientists who collect hyper-local air quality data and share it with the public.

Aubrey’s final step in completing her Gold Award project is working on an educational piece to lead a local middle school troop in earning an environmental badge. If you are a parent or troop leader of a Girl Scout Junior or Cadette interested in earning an environmental badge, please reach out to Girl Scouts of Northeast Ohio to connect with Aubrey.