EDISON – A familiar face may pop on your next Girl Scout cookie purchase.
Jacqueline Trotman, 16, a sophomore at John P. Stevens High School and a member of Troop 81390, was one of 26 girls selected nationwide – one of seven in New Jersey – to have their photos placed on the cookie packages.
This is the first year the Girl Scouts has put area scouts on the cookie packages, said Nancy Gacsi, who co-leads Troop 81390 with Gina Alcaide. She said usually the Girl Scouts Council takes photos for just marketing information.
Jacqueline shared her experience at one of her troop’s cookie sale locations at the ShopRite on Route 1 in Edison on Jan. 26. She was joined with troop members Jade Shum, Zara Merchant and Erin Gacsci, all sophomores at J.P. Stevens.
She attended a photo shoot at Camp Rickabear, a Girl Scouts camp in Kinnelon, Morris County, last year.
“We had to submit our photo, describe our Girl Scout troop experience and awards we received,” Jacqueline said of the process. “We were told we had a chance they were going to use the photos [on the cookie packages].”
Jacqueline said she learned her photo was going to be used last spring; however, she was not told which cookie package.
“It brought a lot of excitement,” she said after she saw her photo on the s’mores cookie package.
Jacqueline has been a member of Troop 81390, which serves Metuchen, Edison and Highland Park, since she was in kindergarten.
The troop has 13 girls – all sophomores at J.P. Stevens and one sophomore at Metuchen High School.
Jacqueline said Girl Scouts allows her to learn new things she wouldn’t do on her own and share in fun experiences with 13 close friends.
“We did a night hike and got to see the New York City skyline at night,” she said. “We spent an overnight trip at the Philadelphia Zoo, we took a trip to Hershey Park, did a ropes course, and took a pottery class.”
Leslie Trotman said she is excited for her daughter. She said if not for the troop leaders, her daughter would not have the opportunity she has had.
“We as a troop are a family,” she said.
Girl Scouts is a non profit youth organization for girls kindergarten through high school. Everything a Girl Scout does centers around STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), the outdoors, development of life skills, and entrepreneurship, according to its website.