Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post #1512 of Encanto awarded Teia Shannon, Class of 2019, Scout of the Year for her 12 years of service and her Girl Scout Gold Award project, Consenteens—a workshop on consent education for high school students.

Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a nonprofit veterans organization comprised of state and local chapters who advocate on behalf of all veterans. Every year, the VFW awards a Scout of the Year to recognize the youth of America, including the Boy and Girl Scouts, who exemplify the qualities of citizenship and patriotism. Local chapters select their Scout of the Year who then advances to the state level of competition. After the state-level competition, chosen scouts move on to the national competition for the chance to be recognized as the national Scout of the Year and awarded a college scholarship of $5,000.

Teia enjoys her service as a Girl Scout and hopes her Gold Award project will help raise awareness around the topic of sexual assault and spark meaningful discussion within her community.