The Girl Scouts of West Windsor Plainsboro Service Unit celebrated girls and troops who have earned the Girl Scout Gold, Silver, Bronze, or Distinguished Girl Scout Award. The prestigious award ceremony was held in December at Grover Middle School in West Windsor. Linda Greenstein, NJ State Senator; Daniel Benson, NJ State Assemblyman; Neil J. Lewis, Plainsboro Deputy Mayor; and Anthony Fleres, president of the WW-P School Board were in attendance.
“The Girl Scouts’ mission is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place,” says Carolyn Rutsky, president of the Girl Scouts of Central and Southern New Jersey.
The following 11 girls were honored for their Gold Award at the ceremony:
Kara Elise Benerofe (Troop 70206) for her project “National Kids to Parks Day.” The purpose of Kara’s project was to implement the national program Kids to Parks Day in Plainsboro. This program encourages children and adults to become active and make use of local parks. The event took place on May 16, 2015, at the Morris Davison Park in Plainsboro. A Fun Run was part of this one-day annual event. A storybook trail was also created that will be used by the Plainsboro Recreation Department and Plainsboro Preserve. Benerofe’s advisor was Evelyn Turney; her mentor was Tara Miller.
Saachi Bedi (Troop 70216) for her project “Team Building Through Activity.” Bedi’s project aimed to benefit the children at the Martin House CYO camp in Trenton by teaching them how to respect each other’s abilities and opinions. During the summer, over an eight-week period, she exposed the students to a variety of sports and activities to teach them about team building. She also provided the CYO with equipment and a storage unit that will allow them to give this opportunity to future students. Bedi’s advisor was Kate Henkel; her mentor was Linda Oliaro.
Allie Dignan (Troop 70216) for her project “Healthy Living.” Her project addressed the lack of nutrition among low income families due to limited resources and education. Dignan educated the preschool students from Trenton who attend the Cherry Tree Club in West Windsor about ways to eat healthily without spending large sums of money. She spent six weeks during the summer bringing nutritious recipes and food to the school that the children prepared for themselves. Dignan’s advisor was Kate Henkel; her mentor was Wendy Schutzer.
Lisa D’souza (Troop 70216) for her project “The Garden of Eden in Lawrenceville.” Her project addressed the issue of the growing gap between teenagers and religion. By redesigning a plot of land outside the Center for Faith Justice in Lawrenceville, she created a peaceful space for teenagers to pray. She planted vegetables as well as flowers and shrubs. Lisa hopes that teenagers will continue to use the space on retreats at the center to reflect on their life and their religion. Her advisor was Kate Henkel; her mentor was Karen Forintini.
Anna Henkel (Troop 70216) for her project “Sewing for Charity.” Her project focused on teaching the special needs students at Rock Brook School how to become charitable while learning a new skill. She brought sewing machines, fabrics, and materials to the school to help the students create two different projects. They created ornaments that were donated to an area nursing home and pillows that were donated to a children’s hospital. She purchased a sewing machine that was left behind for the school to continue the sewing classes in the future. Her advisor was Minal Patel; her mentor was Mary Caterson.
Ria Mittal (Troop 70217) for her project “Eat Healthy, Live Healthy, Be Healthy.” Her project involved educating children in elementary school about staying healthy by making good nutritional choices and exercising daily. Over the summer, she coordinated different activities and made nutritious snacks and smoothies on various days of the week at the West Windsor Library. Professionals also came in to expose the kids to exercises such as Zumba, yoga, and kickboxing. Her advisor was Tracey Walters; her mentor was Preeti Nautiyal.
Nikita Nangia (Troop 70217) for her project “Empowerment of Women in STEM.” Her project consisted of two parts — recruiting girls for a new robotics team and running a Women in STEM fair. This year the WW-P school district created a new FTC robotics team called the MidKnight Magic. Nangia recruited girls for the team and then worked with all of the members in three workshops, teaching them different aspects of robotics such as wiring and outreach. In March she held a career fair at the local high school where 10 different women in STEM talked to girls between 6th and 12th grade about their STEM careers. Between these two events she exposed more girls to STEM in an attempt to reduce social stigmas. Her advisor was Jan Cardinale; her mentor was Dr. Kathy Rogers.
Smiti Srinivasan (Troop 70217) for her project “Bike Racks in West Windsor.” The goal of her project was to encourage community residents to walk, run, hike, and bike more and explore the outdoors. Seven bike racks were installed in Conover Park and Zaitz Farm Park in areas where there is a steady stream of people utilizing the parks. The bike racks are there to encourage people to ride bikes more often for physical and environmental health. The availability of these bike racks will be spread through social media and other public resources. Her advisor was Puja Mittal; her mentor was Dan Dobromilsky.
Sarah Wu (Troop 70217) for “Project Fresh and Healthy Living.” This project consisted of creating a patio garden at Monroe Village’s assisted living facility. Using the harvest from the plants, she made healthy, fast, low-sodium recipes with the seniors that were very simple to make. Also, to keep the seniors mentally and physically healthy, she played Wii Sports with them and encouraged them to move. Her advisor was Tracey Walters; her mentor was Pamela Senatore.
Katherine P. Giminaro (Troop 70871) for her project “Be a Friend: Kindness Counts!” She designed and implemented an interactive program to teach grade school students about the importance of kindness, compassion and friendship. During May and June of 2015, she presented her program to the second and third grade students at Wicoff Elementary and Town Center Elementary schools in Plainsboro. Through the use of a power point presentation, skits, colorful posters and handouts, she taught these students why being a caring and compassionate person is key in developing positive friendships. It is her hope that by learning and modeling this behavior at a young age, students will be able to carry these ideals forward as they move up through school. Giminato’s advisor was Tephanie Meiers; her mentor was Ellen Incollingo.
Alexandra Burke (Troop 71847) for her project “Reaching for Reading Readiness.” Her project addressed the word gap between underprivileged kids and those in more affluent communities. The word gap is used to describe the fact that children that grow up in poorer communities learn fewer words, and as a result have more trouble reading than those in more affluent communities. She worked with kids at the HomeFront Shelter in Ewing one-on-one afterschool and helped them with their homework and read to them. She also helped plan two reading parties for the families in the shelter, where she handed out free books and did crafts with the children. Finally, she fundraised and purchased a collection of books for the HomeFront library so that current and future residents could continue to benefit by having access to reading materials. Burke’s advisor was Latha Chintalapati; her mentor was Liza Peck.
Anusha Chintalapati (Troop 71847) for her project “Junior First Lego League Expo.” She created and ran a Junior First Lego League (JrFLL) Expo in West Windsor, which was attended by more than 50 children. She helped students in K-3 learn STEM concepts in a fun, hands-on way in an engaging environment. Jr. FLL is part of FIRST Robotics which allows kids to explore STEM while engaging in a collaborative environment with other students on their team. She also held a series of Robotics workshops for Homefront to teach the kids about simple machines, sensors, and how to build basic models. Her advisor was Louisa Ho; her mentor was Jan Cardinale.
Silver Awards were presented to 28. It is the highest award that cadette Girl Scouts can receive.
Troop 70038: Leaders Michele Daitz and Amberine Saldanha. Esha Raman and Nisha Srinivas for their project “Around the World in Seven Weeks,” and Katelyn Saldanha for her project “Speak Up!”
Troop 70050: Leaders Trupti Gandhi, Neetu Pal, and Jyothi Muppavarapu. Jabili Gadde and Suchita Kanala for their project “Environmental Interactive Learning Wheel,” Tanvi Gandhi and Supraja Sowmiyanarayanan for their project “Green Up Crew,” Sony Patel for her project “Book Nook,” Shivangi Sood and Aditi Pal for their project “Safety and Wellness Awareness Camp,” Jasmin Trenfield for her project “The Giving Basket.”
Troop 71289: Leaders Ajitha Gadangi and Diane Chan. Sanjana Behare for her project “Go Green, Go Exercise,” Aneesha Gopal for her project “Creating an Efficient Mail Sorting System for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen,” and Natasha Kanitkar, Isha Patlola and Neha Tailigeri for their project “Raising Awareness for Up-Cycling,” and Alyssa Leung for her project “Origami to Stimulate the Mind and Body.”
Troop 71514: Leaders Rosanna Pangasnan, Priya Jayavel, and Sunitha Batchu. Ankitha Jegan for her project “Terracyle,” Saradha Miriyala for her project “Reduce, Reuse, Origami,” Mia Pangasnan for her project “Super Storytime,” Kavitha Rau for her project “Krafty Kids,” Namitha Sethuraman for her project “Music Mania,” and Himaja Vendidandi for her project “Fun with Science.”
Troop 71806: Leaders Lynn Mahmood, Latha Chintalapati, and Ellen Clancey. Ashika Chintalapati for her project “Fun Fitness for Seniors,” and Mullika Sahrawat for her project “Healthy Eating for Preschoolers.”
Troop 72805: Leader Micki Kermani. Mallika Chandorkar and Ritika Rao for their project “Color Me: A Happy World.”
Juliette Scout Sahiti Tholeti for her project “Fun with Science: Summer Camp at YWCA Trenton.”
The Bronze Award, the highest award the Junior Girl Scouts can receive, was presented to 37 girls.
Troop 70037 with leaders Hema Shankar and Elena Zaklis, “Handmade Graduation Gift for Homeless Preschool Children.” Ananya Balaji, Tanya Bhakhri, Shreya Gavarapattu, Nihiduni Haldolaarachchige, Michelle Huang, Nidhi Mylavarapu, Natasha Nangia, Riya Patmidi, Akshita Prakash, Kanika Raman, Neha Ravisankar, Anushya Shankar, and Rebecca Zaklis.
Troop 71855 with leaders Sujata Sridhar Ramakrishna and Akila Sekhar, “Juniors at the Pavilions: An Assisted Living Facility.” Anoushka Ramakrishna, Malaika Sekhar,Dhruti Raghuraman, Ananya Dondapati, Parthavi Nerurkar, Reshika Elavarasan, Manusree More, Sandhya Thuppil, Megha Rastogi, Aditi Katiyar, Skyler Frankel, and Sandhya Ganesh.
Troop 72806 with leaders Anna Sechser Perl and Andrea Salgian, “Bringing Smiles to the Children at St. Peter’s Hospital.” Amira Adarkwah, Karina Bandaru, Manya Chopra, Rhea Dutta, Abigail Rachel Johnson, Sanjita Karthikeyan, Ruth Elizabeth Perl, Avani Prakash, Nethra Raju, Sanjana Salem, Sophie Salgian, and Seher Talukdar.
Anusha Chintalapati, Lisa D’souza, Radhika Gupta, and Anna Henkel also received the Distinguished Girl Scout Service award for their service to Girl Scouts:
For information on how to join Girl Scouts in West Windsor-Plainsboro as a girl or adult volunteer, E-mail girlscoutswwp@verizon.net.
