A local Pathfinder was honoured with the highest award that Girl Guides gives out for her group.
Mekayla Gray, 13, was given the Canada Cord after accumulating enough prerequisites for the award.
“It took me just over a year to earn this,” she said, adding that she worked on some of her badges over the summer.
She was given a certificate during a ceremony at West Vancouver United Church on Sunday and had already received her pin. The award can even earn secondary school credits, and it provides background for outdoor education classes in high school.
Gray has been involved with Guides since she was five years old. She started in Sparks before moving on to Brownies and Guides, then to Pathfinders, the level for girls ages 12 to 14.
Even early on, she showed signs of leadership. After finding her Sparks unit a bit too disorganized, she managed to get her mother, a former Guide, to step forward and help out as a leader.
It’s no surprise, then, that the leadership is one of the criteria for the award. To receive the Canada Cord, Gray had to meet a number of criteria.
“I had to do volunteer hours,” she said. “We have to go out and do something in the community as community service.”
This included helping out at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park.
“I’m also an air cadet,” she said.
Gray also helped organize some events for Guides and attended pre-camps to help plan.
Beyond this, she had to accumulate a number of badges for her level. “There’s like three pages of badges I had to earn,” she explained. “I’ve earned almost all the badges in the Pathfinder book.”
This included badges for skills like tying knots or using knives. She knows how to tie a particular knot to a tree, how to use a pocketknife safely and what to do in an emergency.
She says there are about 20 badges for each page of the Pathfinder book.
“There’s still more badges I could earn,” she said, adding she has most of the ones for Pathfinders.
For the Canada Cord award, there is emphasis on “bridging,” meaning helping act as a bridge between groups.
Taking part in camps is also a factor, as Pathfinders must take part in three camps to be eligible. Last year, she attended the SOAR camp in Enderby as well as the Colours of the World camp for the Vancouver area. Next month, she will be heading to Alberta for the Mosaic camp.
In short, the Canada Cord honour recognizes qualities such as leadership and citizenship, as well as the practical skills Guides learn.
Ultimately, Gray hopes to continue moving up the ranks. She could become a junior leader at age 16, then a full leader at age 19.
