Families, friends, troop leaders, and dignitaries were present as many West Windsor and Plainsboro Girl Scouts received their Girl Scout Awards at a recent ceremony held at Thomas Grover Middle School. The awards recognized the girls for their leadership, dedication, and perseverance in completing a noteworthy community service project.
Each girl earned a Gold (Senior or Ambassador, age 14-17), Silver (Cadette, age 11-14) or Bronze (Junior, age 9-11) award for completing a significant community service project. “Their projects vary greatly, ranging from improving on a facility, to helping at SAVE Animal Shelter, to running a summer camp for younger kids,” says Caroline Chan, a senior at High School South. “However, since the girls are leading this project, it can seem like a huge undertaking. And you can see the sense of accomplishment in the smiles on the girls’ faces when they receive their awards.”
At the ceremony, four WW-P high school seniors also were awarded the Distinguished Girl Scout Service Award for their dedication to Girl Scouting. Sanjana Saksena, Sreeja Kondeti, Smriti Ganjoo, and David Van Dyke were honored with this award for providing more than 40 hours of service to Girl Scouting while in high school. Saksena and Kondeti have both helped run Girl Scout troops for younger girls. Ganjoo volunteers as a member of the Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey board of directors. Van Dyke coached two junior First Lego League teams for Girl Scout troops and ran summer Lego robotics programs for Girl Scouts.
The dignitaries present included Daniel Benson, New Jersey State Assemblyman; Shing Fu Hsueh, mayor of West Windsor; Nuran Nabi, Plainsboro committeeperson; and Donna Evans, chief development officer of GSCSNJ. Also in attendance were Anthony Fleres, president of WW-P Board of Education; and Lisa Grippo, the new assistant principal at Thomas Grover Middle School.
“All of the girls here today have challenged themselves, pushed themselves, to create new programs and opportunities,” said Louisa Ho at the ceremony. “While they may have feared failure, they didn’t let that stop them — and that’s what we do in Girl Scouts. We help girls broaden their horizons, and discover themselves and what they can do.”
Three girls received their Gold awards, 30 Cadette Girl Scouts earned their Silver awards, and 31 Junior Girl Scouts were presented with their Bronze Awards.
#b#Gold Awards#/b#
This is the highest award a Girl Scout can earn and is always an individual project. “All the skills that a girl has learned throughout her Girl Scouting journey is put to work in this Gold Award project,” says Chan. “This project demonstrates how Girl Scouting changes girls into strong, prepared, and independent young women.”
Gold award recipients are all from Troop 71607. Harshitha Gadangi helped at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen by building benches and a picnic table for people to eat at. Sarmishta Govindhan ran multiple programs at the Trinity Episcopal Church for inner city schoolchildren. She taught them a variety of material and introduced a set of indoor physical activities. Keerthana Santhakumar worked with Angel’s Wings by creating a puppet theater for children in foster care.
#b#Silver Awards#/b#
A project usually done in small groups, the Silver Award is the highest award a Cadette can earn. “Although requiring less time than a Gold Award project, this project shows the girls how to execute a project from start to finish,” says Chan. “Along the way, girls learn things like organization, dedication, and time management. This is the project where a lot of girls start to use the skills that they learned through Girl Scouts in the real world.”
Silver Award recipients include:
Troop 7016 with leader Sharon Rajarao. Victoria Francois for “Herbal Inspiration: Growing and Sharing Community;” Simrun Laroia, Hannah Rajarao, and Harshini Raman for “We Care;” Shambhavi Mishra for “Lego Robotics for Special Needs Children;” Varnita Prakash for “Blue Jays, Robins, Northern Cardinals, House Sparrows, and All You Need to Know About Them.”
Troop 70680 with leaders Lori Musmanno and Nicole Kenney. Nicole Didenko for “Craft-Cart” and Scarlett Hanks for “West Windsor Arts Council Rock Garden.”
Troop 71604 with leader Jane Campbell. Riya Kohli and Sanjana Thaper for “Mental Health Awareness,” Neha Aluwalia, Ruchi Aluwalia, Rithika Ganesh, and Sanjna Ravichandar for “Plants in Plainsboro,” Simran Mahant for “Donations for Independence,” and Elina Agrawal and Carolyn Campbell for “Plainsboro Safety Town.”
Troop 71729 with leaders Shari Rexroad and Dina Laresch. Elena Boal for “Community Education about Alcohol and Drug Abuse,” Oishi Goswami and Rachel Yaffe-Bellany for “Recreational Resources for the Disabled at Project Freedom,” Christine Marie Rexroad for “Bluebird Buddies,” and Carolyn Vaca for “Health and Wellness for Project Freedom.”
Troop 71731 with leaders Poornima Katakam and Preeti Bajaj. Adithi Mishra and Pooja Neerumalla for “Education for the Less Fortunate,” and Sruthi Katakam and Elizabeth Johnson of Troop 70695 for “Active Minds, Active Future.”
Troop 72808 with leaders Elaine A. Drager, Mari-Celeste Massaro, and Pamela Singer. Olivia Rose Jurcisin, Natasha C. Singer, Corinne Delaney Smith, and Shannon Cassidy Smith for “Strings for Seniors.”
#b#Bronze Awards#/b#
“This is the highest award a Junior can get,” says Chan. “Almost always a troop project, the projects instill values like teamwork, community, giving ,and responsibility. This project is a significant step in the Girl Scouting world, because it usually is the catalyst to start the girls on achieving the silver and gold awards.”
Bronze Award recipients include:
Troop 70070 with leaders: Khushboo Otwani and Sangamitra Kancharia. Suseela Kothapalli, Jill Mehta, Ishelly Otwani, and Mahika Surve for “SAVE Animal Care Project.”
Troop 70104 with leaders Kristin Epstein and Kim Borek. Alexis Borek, Isabella Epstein, Anika Kapoor, Rishima Kasi, Disha Lad, Mackenzie Leung, Stella Li, Arya Sasne, and Rachel Seasonwein for “Working with the Community for SAVE Animal Rescue.”
Troop 70965 with leaders Medina Arthur and Shamin Koya. Hannah Kader for “Birthday Cakes for TASK.”
Troop 71992 with leaders Michelle Marie and Sunanda Banerjee. Tanya Banerjee, Stephanie Fuzes, Saadhika Mamidi, Supriya Mamidi, Shaina Shah, and Satvika Vuppala for “Family Fun Nights in Plainsboro Township.”
Troop 72801 with leaders Rachel George and Helga Selke-Dunn. Sedona Dunn and Miriam George for “SAVE-Animal Shelter in Princeton.”
Troop 72802 with leaders Mano Smith and Sharmila Joshi. Cristina Diaz Iragorri, Shreya Joshi, Aria D Patel, Anjali Smith, and Sharvari Tatachar for “The Affection Effect of Helpless Paws.”
Juliettes with advisor Cyndy Hesterberg. Gabrielle Bailey, Emma Gartenberg, Kate Hesterberg, and Lindsay Kartoz for “SAVE Animal Shelter Project.”
If you are interested in joining Girl Scouts (as a girl or adult volunteer) in West Windsor and Plainsboro, send an E-mail to girlscoutswwp@verizon.net or call Louisa Ho at 609-371-2119
