Shilvi Shah, a junior at High School South and a Girl Scout with Troop 70677 for nine years, earned her Gold Award.
Her leader, Louisa Ho, introduced Shah to El Centro, a program run by Catholic Charities of Trenton to support the needs of Latino families in Mercer County. “The program lacked variety in its activities and had only the most simple and basic games for the children,” Shah said. “Meeting the children is what inspired me to renovate the room. They were bright, sweet, and had great creative minds.”
Shah emptied the room completely and replaced the old carpeting with foam flooring. “It is more comfortable and cleaner for the children,” she says. “From this foundation I began building my ideal afterschool room. My hope was to create an environment where the children would enjoy spending time after school.” Her advisor was Roberto Hernandez, a staff member at El Centro.
She created activity kits and a book of cooperative games that could be played without any materials. “The reason for the book of cooperative games was to get the kids to work with each other to solve problems,” says Shah.
“The renovation was quite challenging because prior to this, I had never been in charge of such a large-scale project,” says Shah. The goal was to complete the project during the summer while the kids were away.
“The renovation was a special surprise for the kids when they returned from spending most of their summer on a farm,” she says. She has since visited the school to see the children and get feedback about the renovation. “The renovation has created a more clean, friendly, and educational after school program for these children,” says Hernandez.
Shah has also volunteered as a dance instructor for elementary school kids. She is a member of South’s varsity volleyball team and volunteers every summer at the WW-P Pirate Volleyball Camp.
Shah’s sister, Vashvi Shah, a seventh grade student at Grover Middle School and a Girl Scout, suggested educational activities and made activity kits for El Centro staff to create special activity days. Their parents are Minesh and Shefali Shah. The family has lived in West Windsor for 15 years.
