Elena Rossano earned her Girl Scout Gold Award by working with the preschoolers of the Cherry Tree Club, a preschool that helps homeless and at-risk children in Mercer County. She led a summer art program to teach the importance of art and ways to use it. A senior at High School North, she has been a Girl Scout for 10 years in Troop 71490. Her leader is Diane Hasling, and her project adviser was Becky Grant.
“I had always been interested in expressing my emotions through art or writing, and when I went to the Cherry Tree Club for the first time, I thought it would be a great place to do my Gold Award,” says Rossano. “I did lots of research, met with the supervisor a few times, and we decided that I could incorporate art therapy into their summer art program.”
She presented the art program twice a week for six weeks. “I taught them the basics of art in a fun, easy way — from using Picasso’s abstract art to letting the kids put on a puppet show,” she says. “The improvement in the children’s artwork as the days went on was incredible.” She worked with Shaneica Kutisha, the head teacher at the Cherry Tree Club.
At North Rossano is in the school’s Concert Choir, the a capella group Out Of The Blue, and the Radio Club. Outside of school, she helps out with the Children’s Liturgy at Saint David the King and is a co-teacher of a first grade Bible Study prep class.
“On my last day, I gave each child a sling-back backpack with some tools, such as a sketch pad and crayons, to keep them interested in art ,” says Rossano, who also donated a two-station outdoor art easel. She also created detailed lesson plans to sustain the project for future use at the Cherry Tree Club.
Her sister, Julianna Rossano, a Girl Scout from troop 70627, will receive her Silver Award for her project, “It’s Easy Being Green.” A Girl Scout for eight years, her troop leader is Jackie Houck. Rossano has been working on making her community greener through example and education. She has been teaching about environmental issues such as recycling, clean water, compost, and non-toxic household cleaners at West Windsor Farmers Market and at West Windsor Night Out.
Throughout the project Rossano has collaborated with Diane Webber, co-leader of Troop 70627 and her project advisor; Heidi Wachtin, a science teacher at Millstone River School; and Chris Circus, head of West Windsor Farmers Market. Her project is being continued by Penni Bowen, head of the environmental club at Community Middle School. She is a freshman at High School North.
“I learned that I was not alone in my passion for saving the environment,” she says. “Throughout the project I met others like myself that were interested in making the world a cleaner place to live in.”
For information about Girl Scouts in West Windsor or Plainsboro contact Louisa Ho at 609-371-2119 or E-mail louisa.ho@verizon.net
