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Wichita Teen Named National Young Woman Of Distinction By Girl Scouts

Courtesy photo
Sylvia Acevedo, chief executive officer of Girl Scouts of the USA, sits with Wichita Girl Scout Reeny Botros during a National Young Women of Distinction interview on Sept. 5 at the corporate office of Facebook in New York City.

A Wichita teen is in Ohio this week to be honored by the Girl Scouts of the USA as a National Young Woman of Distinction.

Seventeen-year-old Maureen “Reeny” Botros is one of 10 Girl Scouts to receive the honor. The home-schooled senior earned her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest achievement in Girl Scouts, by inventing "Illumi-cize" fashion accessories.

Darcy Gray, with Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland, says Botros' accessories monitor heart rates and light up to encourage exercise.

"[She] wanted to attract more girls to STEM careers, so what she did over the past year was she hosted a series of 'Catwalk Coding Camps,' and it taught girls both electrical and coding skills so they could make their own light-up fashion accessories," Gray says.

Botros also presented her invention to President Barack Obama in 2015 at the White House Science Fair. She'll conduct a Catwalk Coding Camp for more than 100 girls in Mexico City next month.

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Carla Eckels is interim news director and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels.

 
To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

 

Carla Eckels is Director of Organizational Culture at KMUW. She produces and hosts the R&B and gospel show Soulsations and brings stories of race and culture to The Range with the monthly segment In the Mix. Carla was inducted into The Kansas African American Museum's Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 2020 for her work in broadcast/journalism.