Teenage Maddie Schmuch, a martial arts student hosts self-defense workshops for teens to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can achieve and equivalent to the Eagle Scout in Boy Scouts. The workshops, entitled “Defend Yourself”.

The free, hour-and-a-half classes are open to all teens, girls or boys, and will cover a few basic techniques that just may save a life. The techniques focus on preventing an incident from escalating.

In deciding on her Gold Award project, which had to demonstrate leadership and commitment to a cause, Schmuch watched the news to see what was happening in the world because, she said, she wanted to do a project that was needed.

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