Nikita Gupta, a junior at High School South, earned her Girl Scout Gold Award. A Girl Scout since first grade, she is a member of Troop 70677. Her gold award project focused on renovating the library in El Centro, a program run by families in Trenton to support Hispanic families in Mercer County.
Gupta earned her bronze award in 2006 for spending time with a foster family and earned her silver award in 2008 for co-organizing backyard campouts for Girl Scout brownie troops.
“Initially the library was very unorganized with a dirty carpet, broken shelves, and ripped books,” she says. “I gathered many books such as reference books, educational magazines, picture books, easy read chapter books, and novels for advanced young readers.”
Gupta also replaced the old carpet with a new one, painted the room, and installed shelves. “By the end of my project there were close to a thousand books in the library,” she says. “The children will be able to utilize books that will assist them in their literacy skills and educational development.”
Her project advisor, Roberto Hernandez, is a staff member of El Centro. Her parents are Anupam and Vaishali Gupta. The project was financed through troop funds and family contributions.
An Indian classical and Bollywood dancer for nine years, Gupta is a member of the school’s South Asian club (SAASA). A flute player since fifth grade, she is a member of the school’s wind ensemble. Gupta has a passion for cooking and maintains www.nikitaskitchen.com, a website featuring videos and recipes for easy, home cooking.
“Whenever I visit El Centro now, the children always tell me how they are performing better in their academics and that their homework assignments have become easier,” Gupta says. “Some children have told me that reading books has allowed them to go on adventures and gain so much knowledge. This has truly given me satisfaction as I have realized that I can make a difference in someone’s life.”
Tarang Jain, also a junior at High School South, has earned the Gold Award for her project “Arts from Nature.” She conducted a four-day art class for children and adults at the West Windsor library to focus on people and nature.
“I hoped to raise awareness of how simple and cheap materials can be turned into beautiful pieces of art that are eco-friendly,” says Jain. “People of all ages in the community benefited because there is no age limit to understanding art.”
Her mentor, Liz Adams, an artist from Plainsboro, guided Jain with the four kinds of art techniques and supplied many of the materials for the classes.
The first day was sand art, in which the students learned to make bottle art and portraits with different colored sand. Jain got bags of sand from the beach and dyed them different colors herself. Fiber art was the second day, in which students learned to create webs and such with string, yarn, and thread. The third day was mandalas focusing on creative art using circles. On the final day, students learned to make many different animals and figures using origami.
“Overall, the feedback was very positive for the classes and students would always stay extra time to learn more and ask questions,” says Jain. Visit https://artsfromnature.blogspot.com to view some of the art.
