Genoa resident Katie Ray Beckman was among 22 Girl Scouts in northern Illinois who earned the Girl Scout Gold Award in 2012. The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn.

For her Girl Scout Gold Award Project, “Read Me a Story,” Beckman collected more than 50 books and raised funds for four MP3 players donated to the Rockford School District. The MP3 players came complete with recordings of all the donated books.

“I chose this project because I always loved being read to as a child,” Beckman said in a news release. “I wanted to help other kids to find this love of stories. The goal of my project was to increase literacy and the desire to read in elementary students. My project will help develop a love of reading in children which they can pass on to future generations wherever they go.”