Coronado Girl Scouts would like to publicly celebrate longtime Girl Scout volunteer, Pearl Szymanski, as April is volunteer appreciation month. Pearl was awarded the Fran Styles Lifetime Achievement Award by Girls Scouts of San Diego in November 2022.
Pearl is truly the backbone of the Coronado Service Unit and is much of the reason we have continued to thrive over the last 45 years.
Pearl has been a Girl Scout in Coronado since 1978 when her daughters joined. She was not a Girl Scout as a child, but she saw Girl Scouting offered her daughters a “wide array of opportunities and adventures” and joined to help support her daughters’, and later her granddaughters’, troops. She has led troops at all Girl Scout levels. She has currently been a leader of our Troop 1 (which is a perpetual Brownie troop) since 2019.
Pearl has been an invaluable member of the service unit team since before most of us were involved in Girl Scouts. Among a long list of projects, she has:
- organized and led at least three encampments
- helped recruit new Girl Scouts by organizing community scouting fairs at Spreckels Park
- served as a highest awards advisor for many Girl Scouts working on their Bronze, Silver, and Gold awards
- trained older Girl Scouts in canoeing and first aid
- organized celebrations for the 100 year anniversary of Girl Scouting in 2012 with a sunset celebration on the beach and a tree planting in Spreckels Park
- trained both girls and leaders alike in Girl Scout ceremonies.
Outside of Coronado, she has served as a National Delegate, and was the camp director for the Island Fun and Sun day camp at Silver Strand State Beach from 1980-2012. This camp brought outdoor experiences to approximately 100 girls per year with the help of 18-20 adult volunteers. She was a Girl Scout trainer for three years and coordinated the “older girl cluster” for south bay Girl Scouts. In this role, she held a cluster silver award ceremony. She was also involved in the Rainbow Players Again program for older Girl Scouts and the Smores Program for Brownies along with Jo Stanche and Diane Vogan.
Pearl has earned the Leader Award of Distinction, the Thanks Award and the Thanks 2 Award.
Although her resume is impressive, what really sets Pearl apart are the things that don’t have a designated award and are harder to put into words. It is her unwavering presence, her wisdom, her experience and her thoughtful guidance. Pearl is always available for a question, to contribute to a meeting, or to offer her guidance. She has a distinct ability to use her experience to guide and advise. She is the first to comment when planning starts to move away from our overall goals of championing girl initiatives. She brings us back time and time again to being “girl led.” Her vast experience provides clarity and stability. She has contributed so much to the very essence of what girl scouting in San Diego is today.
