ST. LOUIS, MO – In honor of American Heart Month this February, local Girl Scout Nadia Snee is helping families take charge of their heart health. Nadia has earned the prestigious Girl Scout Silver Award for creating an educational website designed to raise awareness about heart disease and prevention for people of all ages.
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the United States for men, women, and people of most racial and ethnic groups. It is also the leading cause of death worldwide. Yet only 49% of Americans can correctly identify heart disease as the number one cause of death in the U.S. Nadia’s project aims to close that knowledge gap by making heart health information clear, accessible, and easy to understand.
Nadia chose her Silver Award topic because of someone very close to her heart. “I chose to focus on heart health for my Silver Award Project because of my Grandma,” Nadia said. “My Grandma has had two heart attacks, and when speaking to her about it, she told me she wished there was more information available that was easy to understand on heart health and heart attack symptoms.”
Nadia learned that her grandmother did not realize she had experienced her first heart attack until she was hospitalized for her second one. “She told me there is a lot of information out there, but it can be confusing, difficult to understand, and hard to piece resources together. She told me it would have been great to have all this information in one place and presented in a way that is easy to understand. She is the inspiration for the heart health website that I created.”
To make sure her website would resonate with a wide audience, Nadia gathered feedback from multiple generations throughout the development process, including her grandmother (65+), parents and aunts (40s–50s), friends (teens), and her preteen sister. She also consulted her aunt, Alicia Krumenacher, a nurse administrator at a major hospital in Austin, Texas, who has nearly 20 years of nursing experience.
Her website includes information about how the heart works, signs and symptoms of heart disease, prevention tips, lifestyle recommendations, and fun facts — all presented in an engaging, easy-to-read format.
“My favorite part of the Silver Award process was creating the actual website,” Nadia shared. “It was fun to think about creative ways to display information and seeing all the hard work into research turn into a resource that people could use. I also loved getting feedback from friends and relatives. I wanted to make sure what I had was fun and easy to understand. My Aunt is a nurse, and she was a big help with the feedback!”
Nadia believes education is the key to prevention. By giving people information in one accessible place, she hopes families will feel empowered to make healthier lifestyle choices. “No matter if you are young or old, it is never too late or too early to care about heart health,” she added.
In addition to promoting heart health, Nadia gained valuable personal insight through the Silver Award process. “A large project like a Silver Award can seem daunting at first,” she explained. “Instead of getting overwhelmed, I learned that the best way to tackle a large project is to break it into smaller chunks. That way, you can stay on track and not get paralyzed by the size of the project. Because of this strategy, I learned I could tackle a large task.”
The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest honor a Girl Scout Cadette, girls in 6th-8th grades can achieve. It requires girls to identify a need in their community and dedicate on average more than 50 hours towards addressing and solving the issue. When Girl Scout Cadettes focus on an issue, they care about, learn the facts and take action to make a difference while gaining the confidence and skills that catapult them to lifelong success.
To learn more about Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri’s Highest Awards, visit girlscoutsem.org/highestawards.
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