A record number of 13 girls from four troops received the Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting at the West Windsor-Plainsboro Girl Scouts Court of Awards Ceremony on November 21. The Gold Award is earned by only 5 percent of Girl Scouts at the senior level and requires completion of badges, community service, leadership activities, and career exploration, as well as planning and performing a major project for the community.##M:[more]##
“It’s cool to be a Girl Scout,” says Marilyn Seidel, a long time West Windsor-Plainsboro leader and awards ceremony organizer who has helped many girls earn their awards over the years. Mary Connell, CEO of Girl Scouts of Central & Southern NJ, told the audience how a young girl told her that her sense of morality came from three places -”her mother, her father and Girl Scouts.”
Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh of West Windsor, who worked with several girls on projects for the township, pointed out that this was the biggest Gold Award ceremony he remembered attending. Noting that one of the projects involved a survey on the town’s controversial redevelopment project and another on a long awaited history, he wondered if West Windsor could learn from the scouts “how to get the job done.” Linda Geevers, representing the West Windsor Township Council, praised the girls for having accomplished significant projects at such a young age and told them, “I’d like all of you to come to our meetings.”
“I believe you will make this world a beautiful world,” said Dr. Nuran Nabi, Plainsboro Township Committee. Dr. Arthur Downs, principal of West Windsor-Plainsboro Community Middle School stated that about half of the girls, now seniors in high school, had been students there.
The following girls received the Gold Award at the ceremony:
Senior Troop 71098, leaders Edie Kelly and Smita Varia.
Vrinda Varia, for her project “Around the World in Thirty Days.” Varia, who worked with special needs children at Rock Brook School in Skillman, developed lesson plans with cultural themes of different countries in music, drama, and athletics.
Senior Troop 71184, leader Mary Ann McKiernan.
Hope Jin, for her project “Bringing Youth Voices to the Community.” Jin, who served more than a year as a youth representative for the Mayor of West Windsor, became involved with the Transit Village development process and collected high school student opinions as well as formulated a survey that gave the Mayor the results for use in developing the train station area.
Katie McKiernan, for her project “A Peek Back in Time: The History of West Windsor for Children.” McKiernan researched the history of West Windsor from the Lenni-Lenapes until the present and compiled the information into an illustrated historical fiction book for third grade children to be used by WW-P schools in history classes. (Co-authored with Girl Scout Sara Hoge).
Neha Rajan for her project “Yoga for a Stress-Free Lifestyle.” Rajan’s project included yoga classes for adults and scouts focusing on organic dinners, vegetarianism, healthy eating habits, relaxation, meditation, and yoga.
Komal Yadav for her project “How to Look and Be Your Best Sleepover.” Yadav presented younger grade school sleepover workshops featuring fashion tips from a professional in the fashion industry and participation in a fashion show. Attendees also learned techniques to increase self-esteem and earned two badges.
Senior Troop 71518, leader Pat Hoge.
Elissa D’Abusco for her project “Joining Generations.” D’Abusco, who held activities with senior citizen residents at Acorn Glen Assisted Living in Princeton, brought younger and older generations to interact through tea parties, discussion groups, and music.
Sara Hoge for her project “A Peek Back in Time: The History of West Windsor for Children.” Hoge researched the history of West Windsor from the Lenni-Lenapes until the present and compiled and illustrated the information into an illustrated historical fiction book for third grade children to be used by WW-P schools in history classes. (Co-authored with Girl Scout Katie McKeirnan).
Pooja Kulkarni for her project “Ways to Achieve a Healthy Lifestyle for a Healthy Heart.” Kulkarni raised awareness of heart disease through presentations led by the American Heart Association and a cardiologist who explained various steps to a healthy lifestyle
Aditi Latey for her project “Tick It Off.” Latey helped educate younger scouts about ticks and Lyme disease at troop meetings and a group campout through a fashion show, safety quiz, making tick-related edible treats, and visit with a Lyme disease survivor.
Renu Nadkarni for her project “It’s No Longer a Secret: Helping the Community Understand HPV.” Nadkarni, who presented three community meetings about Human Papillomavirus, a leading cause of cervical cancer, and available preventive measures, served as a teenage panelist for a conference on HPV from the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Jessica Schoenholtz for her project “Getting the In On Outside.” Schoenholtz, who taught younger scouts about environmental issues, how to improve them, and ways to protect yourself while outdoors, helped the scouts to earn two related badges.
Senior Troop 71659, leaders Carol Murphy and Marie Nesci.
Nicolette Kelley for her project “Leaping towards Literacy: Implementing Leveled Reading in My Community.” Kelley assisted the fourth grade classes at Village School and sixth grade classes at Grover Middle School. She researched more than 1,”600 books to assign reading levels, labeled the books, and re-arranged the libraries by reading levels. She also conducted a neighborhood book drive and received almost 400 books that were donated to nursery school programs held at Nottingham High School, High School South, and Cherry Tree Club (based in Prince of Peace Church).
Katie Murphy for her project “Raves for Reading: Supporting Reading in My Community.” Murphy worked with teachers at Village School to help create a leveled reading library for their classrooms. Five libraries were done according to reading skills with about 2,”500 books. She also participated in the Read across America Day and donated books to the Plainsboro Library.
The West Windsor-Plainsboro Service Unit is part of Girl Scouts of Central and Southern NJ, Inc. For information, call Louisa Ho at 609-371-2119 or send an E-mail to girlscoutswwp@verizon.net.
