In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt established National Aviation Day by presidential proclamation designating the anniversary of Orville Wright’s birthday for the observance. Orville and Wilbur successfully flew the first powered airplane, which they invented after four years of research and development, in 1903.

120 years later, aviation has changed quite a bit. According to the latest estimates, there are approximately 100,000 flights per day in the U.S.. An estimated 617,000 citizens hold active pilot certificates, Gulfcoast Girl Scout Autumn Pepper Rhodes being one of them.

Rhodes has been advocating for girls and women to experience more opportunities in the field of aviation.

“As a student pilot, I noticed the discrepancy in women mentors for young people interested in aviation,” she said. “I wanted to introduce aviation to young women in my community, create a community of mentors for them to look up to, and to advocate for an aviation career badge and the modification of regulations concerning flight in private aircraft within the Girl Scout program.”

She hosted three workshops in her community for young women to learn about engineering and aviation and invited successful women pilots as speakers to inspire interest in aviation among girls. Autumn’s workshops gave girls the opportunity to learn about careers in engineering and aviation and take part in a discovery flight experience. She also created a website filled with videos, education resources, and scholarship information for girls interested in aviation.

Autumn started an online petition urging GSUSA to lift the safety restrictions and allow discovery flights as a girl scout activity. To date, Autumn has collected over 1000 signatures to convince GSUSA to change their safety regulations to allow girls to fly airplanes as part of Girl Scout programming.

Autumn earned her Gold Award in March 2023, but she continues her advocacy to this day.

“This experience has inspired me and proved that I am able to make a difference in my community. I plan to continue advocating for aviation in Girl Scouting and press the Board of Directors to implement an aviation career badge to inspire young women around the country. I will undoubtedly continue to advocate for more women in S.T.E.M., and it has confirmed my desire to work as a Certified Flight Instructor and mentor for other young aviatrix.”

Autumn said that her favorite Girl Scouting memories include participating as a C.I.T. at Camp Honi Honta during the summer, and serving on the National Media Team for the 2017 G.I.R.L. National Convention.

She will be attending Rice University in the fall as a Mechanical Engineering and Astrophysics double major. She dreams of becoming a commercial airline pilot, and maybe even an astronaut one day!

The Girl Scout Gold Award acknowledges the power behind each Gold Award Girl Scout’s dedication to not only empowering and bettering herself, but also to making the world a better place for others. Through earning the Gold Award, Girl Scouts become innovative problem solvers, empathetic leaders, confident public speakers, and focused project managers. They learn resourcefulness, tenacity, and decision-making skills, giving them an edge personally and professionally.

“Gold Award Girl Scouts are the dreamers and doers who take ‘make the world a better place’ to the next level,” said GSGCF CEO Mary Anne Servian. “These girls tackled issues that are important to them and their communities, and we congratulate them on this momentous accomplishment.”

By earning their Gold Awards, these young women have distinguished themselves as true community leaders and change-makers who have made a meaningful and sustainable difference in the world. Their accomplishments reflect leadership and social responsibility that set them apart from their peers.

According to recent research, Gold Award Girl Scouts are more likely to fill leadership roles at work and in their personal lives and are more civically engaged than their non-Girl Scout peers. Eighty-five percent of Gold Award Girl Scouts say that earning their Gold Award gave them skills to succeed in their daily lives, and eighty-seven percent say it gave them skills to help them succeed professionally.

About 4,000 Girl Scouts earn their Gold Award every year, placing Autumn among a prestigious community of change-makers who have achieved this honor. Since 1916, over 160,000 Girl Scouts have earned the Gold Award or its equivalent.

As a bonus, the Gold Award opens doors to a variety of scholarships, preferred admission tracks for college, strong networking and amazing career opportunities, and much more. In July 2023, Girl Scouts of the USA announced that Autumn was the recipient of the 2023 Gold Award Scholarship. One Girl Scout per council in the U.S. is chosen each year for this prestigious award. This year, thanks to the generosity of the Girl Scouts of the USA’s donors, scholarship recipients received $10,000 each towards their high education pursuits.