“I believe I am the first girl in the state of Texas to receive both their Gold Award from Girl Scouts and Eagle Rank from Boy Scouts. They are the highest awards you can get in scouting.”
Miriam Barba is a senior at North East ISD’s International School of the Americas (ISA) at Legacy of Educational Excellence (LEE) High School.
She’s making a difference and making history by earning these two impressive titles.
Barba joined scouting 14 years ago as a tagalong, following her sister around at Girl Scouts.
Then in 2019, the Boy Scouts allowed girls to join, and Barba jumped at the opportunity.
“My dad’s an Eagle Scout. So, I wanted to try it, and I came to love it. And so with all the projects that we do, it was really nice to kind of be involved in a different sense.”
To earn a Gold Award, Girl Scouts must find an issue in the community, create a plan to tackle it, and then carry out the project. It requires at least 80 hours of work.
Barba identified a need in the senior citizen community.
“I noticed my grandma, who lived by herself, was getting slower and had more of an increased chance of getting hurt. When talking to her and her friends, I noticed that senior citizens had nothing to help first responders in a medical emergency. So I worked diligently with the city of San Antonio and EMTs.”
Barba created Precious Time Magnets.
The magnets are dry-erasable and contain valuable information like current medications, allergies and emergency contacts.
She made and delivered more than 10,000 magnets.
To become an Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts must be active for at least six months as a Life Scout and earn at least 21 merit badges.
Miriam spent time during the pandemic earning her badges, putting her in a position to make her Eagle Scout rank.
For her Eagle Scout project, Barba created two little portable libraries.
“Growing up, I loved reading. And so with that, I noticed that in the LEE cluster area that there weren’t enough libraries. School libraries are only open during the school year, making it harder for students and residents in the neighborhood to read.”
It’s essentially a filing cabinet full of donated books for kids and adults.
Since it’s small, the library is portable and can be placed at different locations throughout the area.
One currently sits outside LEE High School.
Barba hopes both of her projects make a difference for years to come.
She also hopes her journey serves as an inspiration to others.
“My brother is nine. He sees that his sister can do this. He sees that she is making her own path. And I think that is something nice not only for the boys, but it’s for the girls. They can see that I can be this person, I can do this. I did this to help my community. And so it’s nice to be able to show that people care about their community, and if they care, they’ll do something about it.”
Congratulations, Miriam, and thank you for making a difference #theNEISDway.
