Photo courtesy of Girls Scouts of Greater New York
Sarah Lin, 17, a senior at Bedford Park’s Bronx High School of Science, has been chosen as Girl Scouts of Greater New York’s (GSGNY) 2024 Future Woman of Distinction, and was honored for her exemplary leadership and advocacy according to the organization. GSGNY presented Lin with the prestigious award at its 32nd Annual Women of Distinction breakfast on October 30.
GSGNY officials said each year, the organization recognizes a future woman of distinction as part of a celebration of groundbreaking female leaders in New York City who exhibit core girl scout values.
From Troop 4413 in Queens, Sarah has been a girl scout for 13 years, participating in its Leadership Institute and Cookie Executive Committee. She has earned her Bronze, Silver, and Gold awards, the highest Girl Scouting honors and is a devoted advocate for inclusion in the deaf and hard of hearing community, making it her mission to provide joy through accessibility.
October is designated as National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
“We are incredibly proud to honor Sarah as the 2024 Future Woman of Distinction,” said Karen Lundgard, interim CEO of Girl Scouts of Greater New York. “She embodies the courage, confidence, and character we strive to instill in all our Girl Scouts. Sarah’s inspiring dedication to the deaf and hard of hearing community and her unwavering commitment to inclusion truly set her apart as a leader. Sarah exemplifies what it means to give back to her community in a meaningful way, and we are thrilled to celebrate her achievements.”
For her Gold Award project, Sarah founded Theaters Unsilenced, an initiative dedicated to advocating for open captioning in movie theaters and enhancing accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing communities. Through partnerships with theaters across Queens, Lin organized open-captioned screenings, worked closely with theater management to ensure the proper functionality of sound-amplifying devices, and provided staff training to better support movie-goers with hearing loss.
Lin also coordinated free open-caption movie theater screenings for the deaf and hard of hearing community at large, many of whom had their first-ever movie theater experience.
GSGNY is New York City’s oldest and largest girls’ leadership organization, reaching tens of thousands of girls ages 5 to 18 in every zip code of the five boroughs, according to its representatives. They said through Girl Scouts, girls explore STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering & Math], business and entrepreneurship, environmental leadership, and outdoor adventure, advocacy, and so much more. They added that girl scouting is ‘by girls, for girls,’ and today’s girl souts learn to lead with courage, confidence, and character, to make the world a better place.
Photo courtesy of Girls Scouts of Greater New York
In addition to her work with the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, Lin is co-president of the Pre-Medical Society, founder and president of the Hair Care Society, senior council video director, and a Bronx Science “big sib.” She has also interned at Columbia University’s Institute for Cancer Genetics.
Lin is looking forward to studying medicine in college and will continue her advocacy work with Theaters Unsilenced through her Deaf and Hard of Hearing Friendly platform.
Reacting to her win, Lin said, “It is an incredible honor to be named the Girl Scouts of Greater New York 2024 Future Woman of Distinction.” She added, “I cannot highlight enough the importance Girl Scouts had in influencing my Theaters Unsilenced project; providing me with resources, the skills, and the platform to make the world not only a better, but more inclusive, place, not only for me but for girls across the country.”
According to Wikipedia, the Academy Award-winning 2021 movie “CODA” is a coming-of-age comedy drama film written and directed by Sian Heder. An English-language remake of the 2014 French-Belgian film “La Famille-Bélier,” it stars Emilia Jones as Ruby Rossi, the child of deaf parents (CODA) and only hearing member of her family, who attempts to help her family’s struggling fishing business while pursuing her aspirations to become a singer.
Visit www.girlscoutsnyc.org to learn more about Girls Scouts.
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.
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