Fountain Hills Ambassador Girl Scout Val Varanese is in the final phase of earning her Gold Award, Girl Scout’s highest achievement, by completing a “Take Action” project that identifies and addresses a community, state or world issue.

Varanese said she is concerned about the lack of interest in science by young people in America.

“The United States is losing its competitive edge in science while the rest of the world soars ahead,” she said.

She believes the root cause is that the emphasis on science curricula in kindergarten through fifth grades has declined in recent years, as well as the fact that the subject is being taught by a general educator instead of an educator with a specialty in science.

“Waiting until middle school to attend traditional science classes is too late; kids have already formed other interests by then,” Varanese said.

“I want to pique kids’ interest in science earlier and hopefully plant the seed for future science enthusiasts.”

To address this issue, Varanese is hosting a “Cool Crazy Science” night for children in second through fourth grades and their families.

The science night will be held at the Church of the Ascension in Fountain Hills on Thursday, Feb. 13, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. There will be approximately 15 hands-on science stations for visitors to explore; touching on three branches of science: biology, chemistry and physics.

Admission is free.

To learn more about Varanese’s Gold Award “Cool Crazy Science” project, visit her website at coolcrazyscience.weebly.com.

To reach the final phase of her Gold Award project, Varanese had to complete the Gold Award prerequisites consisting of: Earn the Girl Scout Silver Award, second highest award in Girl Scouting, and one Girl Scout journey or earn two Girl Scout journeys.

Each journey takes numerous steps and several months to complete with each ending with a Take Action project benefiting her community.

To ensure that national standards of excellence are maintained, a Girl Scout must present her project idea to a Gold Award Board for review and approval before proceeding forward with her project.

Once the project is completed, she must return for a final interview with the Gold Award Board and present photos, project work book and a detail report on her project.

After earning her Gold Award, Varanese can list this prestigious award on her school resume and is eligible to apply for higher education scholarships offered to Gold Award recipients.

Girl Scout Arizona Cactus Pine Council in Phoenix holds a formal Gold Award luncheon every year in the spring recognizing all the Girl Scouts in their jurisdiction who have earned their Gold Award. Since 1916, one million girls have earned the Gold Award or equivalent.