The Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore recently recognized 25 high school Girl Scouts from Monmouth and Ocean counties with the Girl Scout Gold Award.
“It’s my favorite day in Girl Scouting,” said Susan H. McClure, chief executive officer, Girl Scouts of the Jersey Shore. “What these young ladies have done is representative of the Girl Scout experience. Their projects show their creativity, vision and leadership. Those are skills many of them learned over their last 10 or more years in the Girl Scout organization.”
The Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouts, according to a press release. It recognizes sustainable and measurable service projects that focus on community issues.
To earn the award, each Gold Award recipient must volunteer at least 80 hours to complete a seven-step project that solves a community problem, not just in the short term, but for years into the future, according to the press release.
Fewer than 5 percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award every year.
Area residents who received the Gold Award, with a description of their project, are:
• Claudia Bellafiore, Howell, “Fun and Fit” – While I was in middle school, I volunteered as a peer mentor for children with special needs where I was able to assist the students during physical education class. I later found out these students were not offered physical education classes during their Extended School Year Program (ESY). I saw this as a great opportunity for me to create and offer “Fun and Fit” during ESY that would help develop their gross motor skills, flexibility and strength through fun activities. I was also able to help ESY staff and parents gain a better understanding of the importance of fitness as a lifestyle through my program.
• Sophia Cerri, Millstone Township, “Responsible Pet Owner Awareness Campaign” – My Gold Award project involved the planning and implementation of a responsible pet owner awareness campaign. I created an infomercial in which I interviewed a veterinarian, a pet behaviorist and a senior dog sanctuary owner. The infomercial was shown on my town’s TV station and on You Tube. I also presented the information at local events such as Millstone Day and in my local newspaper. The goal is to provide pet owners and potential pet owners with the knowledge and resources to manage their pets’ costly and/or burdensome health and behavioral issues and to decrease the incidence of pets being given up to shelters for these reasons.
• Amanda Conti, Morganville, “Music Speaks” – Combining my passion for music with my desire to work with children with special needs, my Gold Award project focused on raising awareness of the benefits of music therapy as a means to improve communication for individuals with special needs and integrate the community as a whole. My project enabled me to establish an after-school club in my high school, organize an annual event and perform music for children with special needs and the community. It was a rewarding experience for all.
• Krystle M. Henriques, Marlboro, “Special Artists” – My project was an art therapy program that allowed students to come in and express their feelings and release their tensions through art. It gave them a chance to work on social skills and provided them with a sense of pride in their work. More importantly, this program did not focus on perfecting art skills, but instead was a no-pressure environment that allowed kids to participate more freely and openly. As a result, students looked forward to class, produced beautiful artwork and created a mural that showcased their artistic abilities. The mural is displayed at the Marlboro Recreation Community Center. This program was so successful that it will continue in Marlboro and several other communities.
• Meghan Kryscnski, Morganville, “Bridging The Generational Gap Through Music: Creating New Memories and Restoring Links To The Past” – For my Gold Award project, I wanted to share my love of music and focus on those suffering with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia. I decided to take action with the organization Music and Memory. To establish a local intergenerational connection, I coordinated and performed in concerts at The Manor Health and Rehabilitation Center in Freehold Township for residents along with several teen vocalists and pianists. Additionally, I wrote a community newsletter article, held drives and various information sessions; collecting nine iPods along with the funds that were used to purchase a computer to benefit The Manor’s Music and Memory program.
• Nicole Rasmussen, Jackson, “Code It!” – Throughout the United States, few schools offer computer science. After learning this, Nicole decided to make computer programming the topic of her project. She taught children the basics of programming outside of the classroom through various age-appropriate activities. She encouraged outside programming by providing children with links to free online resources. Partnering with a high school robotics team allowed her to introduce students to square and underwater robots. To conclude her project, she showed “Code,” a documentary about minority and women coders. Nicole believes computer programming is a valuable way to express creativity. She is happy students continued coding.
• Nicole Ray, Freehold, “Never Forget – Honoring Our Veterans” – I decided to do my project on something I felt was very important to me and my uncle. For many years my uncle would place an American flag on the graves of all veterans just before Memorial Day. In the oldest part of the cemetery it was getting hard to read the names and to be able to see if the person buried there was a veteran, so I decided this would be a great project for me to achieve my Gold Award. I raised more than $5,000 to be able to purchase bronze veteran markers to place on the graves.