Girl Scouts Get Gold and Silver Awards For Service Projects

Fanwood-Scotch Plains Girl Scouts gathered May 28 to honor girls who had achieved the organization’s highest awards, the Gold and Silver Awards. The Gold Award recipients were also recognized by the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey council on June 9 at the Bridgewater Manor in a ceremony recognizing all 2013 Gold Award recipients across the council.

Nine girls from Fanwood-Scotch Plains earned the Gold Award this year. To earn the Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting, a girl must complete a series of prerequisites then design and carry out a Gold Award project to address a need in the community. The projects carried out by this year’s recipients reflect their varied interests.

Caitlin Carroll worked with Imagine: A Center for Coping with Loss which counsels people who have experienced the death of a family member. Caitlin helped children dealing with loss by building a bookshelf and stocking it with grief counseling books, and by holding an art supplies drive to stock a donated portable art cart. Her designs were posted on a national grief counseling website for other centers to use. Caitlin, a senior at Mount Saint Mary Academy, continues to visit and work with children at Imagine. In the fall she will attend Middlebury College to study molecular biology.

Sarah Hensley developed lesson plans about study skills for fourth-grade and seventh-grade students. She held workshops at schools and libraries throughout Union County where more than 60 students learned how to avoid procrastination, study for a math test, and critically read both fiction and nonfiction. The Fanwood Memorial Library will continue the program. Sarah is a senior at Union County Magnet High School, where she is valedictorian, and will attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the fall.

Jessica Howard worked with Imagine: A Center for Coping with Loss to create a “Volcano Room” to give kids who have lost loved ones a safe way to release emotions physically. Jessica held a bake sale to raise money for supplies such as mats and pillows. She also designed a banner that welcomes children into the room and met with some of the children to see their reactions to the new room. Jessica is a senior at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School and will attend Alvernia University to study occupational therapy. 

Kelsey Meisch partnered with YMCA School Age Child Care and Fanwood-Scotch Plains High School’s Students Concerned for the Needy to create a reading and art program for after-school care students at Brunner and Evergreen elementary schools, and to hold a book drive to benefit the Boys & Girls Clubs of Union County, Plainfield Club. The after care programs continue to use Kelsey’s projects, and SCN plans to hold annual book drives. Kelsey is a senior at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School and will attend Gettysburg College to study international relations and pre-law/political science.

Emily Miller worked with Students Concerned for the Needy to form a volunteer performance group called “STAR,” or Student Team for Arts and Recreation. About 25 STAR members visit local senior centers and hospices to brighten the days of residents by singing, playing music, dancing or acting. STAR will continue to hold performances about twice a month. Emily is a senior at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School and will attend Princeton University to study neuroscience and Italian studies.

Kristen Northrup’s “Write to Read” project focused on promoting literacy skills in children. She taught a “Future Authors” class at Coles Elementary School and created a reading center of 1,100 books for children at the Franklin House, a transitional housing center in Somerset. To create this center Kristen held book drives, collected stuffed animals, stitched floor pillows and assembled bookcases. Kristen is a senior at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School, and will attend the University of Miami to study psychology.

Angela Rashid facilitated an after-school book club for 11 third-grade girls at Stillman Elementary School in Plainfield. She solicited donations from local retailers for the program, which included homework help, snack time and arts & crafts. Stillman and SPFHS Students Concerned for the Needy will continue the club. Angela is a senior at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School and will attend Bloomfield College to study nursing.

Elise Ringel organized an Olympics-themed event that brought together children with autism and the St. Bartholomew Church Youth Group for physical activities, games and crafts. The event spread awareness about living with autism, and created a relationship between the special needs community and the church group, which will plan and run similar events in the future. Elise is a senior at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School and will attend Loyola University Maryland for speech pathology, elementary education and special education.

Kristen Schiavo established and led a flute ensemble at Terrill Middle School to enhance students' musical abilities. Students got individual instruction and also learned how to play in an ensemble. The students performed at a community venue and a school to showcase their achievements. Kristen is a senior at Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School and will attend Skidmore College to study French and play the flute.

The ceremony also recognized 10 girls who completed the Silver Award, the highest award in Cadette Girl Scouts, grades 6 to 8. In the final event of the evening, many of the 33 twelfth-grade Girl Scouts Fanwood-Scotch Plains were present to symbolically cross a bridge to adult Girl Scouting as they graduate from high school.

Fanwood-Scotch Plains is one of 138 communities in Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey, which serves over 25,000 girls and 11,000 adult members in the counties of Hudson, Essex, Union, Somerset, Hunterdon, southern Warren and parts of Middlesex. For more information, call (908) 518-4400 or go to http://www.GSHNJ.org.