Virginia Beach, Va. – Simone Nied, an 18-year-old Eagle Scout from Virginia Beach, became the first person to earn the prestigious Gold Level of the Duke of Edinburgh International Award from Tidewater Council, Boy Scouts of America’s Award Center in October 2024.

Tidewater Council is the first Duke of Edinburgh International Award Center in Virginia. Simone was also the first in the region to earn the Bronze and Silver Level Awards. She earned the Eagle Scout rank in 2022 and is a senior at Kempsville High School in the Entrepreneurship and Business Academy.

The Duke of Edinburgh Award includes four components of personal development that participants choose and complete, including a skill, physical recreation, service, and an adventurous journey. Youth must write SMART goals and check in with advisors for each activity.

Over the course of earning her Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards, Simone honed skills such as baking and electric guitar playing; improved her tennis game and form; and raised money for and operated her own 501(c)(3) called the Resiliency Fund, which assembles and distributes emergency preparedness bags to underserved families in natural disaster-prone areas.

Simone found that Scouting prepared her to be successful in the Award program— the Adventurous Journey section in particular. “When I started the Bronze Award,” she said, “I knew I could accomplish it because the Adventurous Journey was just an overnighter. I had to spend only three months working with a charity, three months on my skill, and six months on my physical activity. At that time, the Gold seemed unreachable, requiring a 4-day, 3-night camping trip and committing an hour a week for an entire year to charity, skill, and physical activity. But after I finished the Bronze and the Silver, I knew I could do it.”

To obtain the Gold Award, Simone selected a personalized set of activities in physical recreation, skills, and voluntary service. She set goals to pursue in those activities using the structure of the Award framework, encouraging her to be more intentional and reflective regarding her growth and development. In addition to dedicating an hour weekly to each activity over 12 months, Simone planned and executed a four-day group bike-packing trip with a team of peers, covering 140 miles through the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historic Park.

The Gold Award also requires a capstone section called the Gold Project, where participants engage in a meaningful project in an unfamiliar environment over five days and four nights. Aimed at pushing participants outside their comfort zones, this might be a service project in a neighboring community or a leadership development experience.

Tidewater Council is proud to partner with the Duke of Edinburgh International Award USA for youth in Virginia and North Carolina. It began delivering the Award in 2020, led by volunteers from the International Council, Joel Nied and Laura Bussiere.

Award USA CEO Suzanne J. Currie saluted Simone for her incredible achievement and welcomes all local Scouts and those nationwide to register before year-end. “The Award and The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) have a long relationship. Scouting America was the first national partner engaged by Award USA when our office opened in 2016. The Award is a wonderful offering for Eagle Scouts and Order of the Arrow members seeking their next big challenge in Scouting, and aligns quite well with Venturing and Sea Scouts.”

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is a globally recognized credential for experiential learning outside the classroom. Since 1956, young people in 168 countries have started their Award journeys, with more than seven million Awards achieved. The Award USA national office opened in 2016 and has program partners in 17 states plus Washington, D.C. The Award is participant-led and habit-forming, focusing on giving young people the opportunity to develop as leaders, be of service in their communities, and get outside their comfort zones to discover their purpose, passion, and place in the world.

Registration for the Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award through the Tidewater Council is open. Contact Joel Nied at joelnied@gmail.com or go to usaward.org/get-started to learn more and get started today.