Seven Senior Chappaqua Girl Scouts earn highest honor in Girl Scouting
_thumb.jpg)
May 23, 2008
by Kristy Rudel
Girl Scouts is an organization rich in treasured traditions. As the community director of Chappaqua Girl Scouts, one of my favorite traditions has been our annual Gold Award ceremony.
At this year’s June 1 ceremony we will be presenting Gold Awards to seven Senior Girl Scouts, who also happen to be graduating Greeley seniors: Sarah Dutton, Samantha Ethridge, Colleen Maher, Laura Mantell, Susannah Rudel, Alana Tung and Joanna Venditto.
The goal of Girl Scouts is to build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who will make the world a better place. Many people do not realize that teenagers can still be Girl Scouts. If you ask most people to describe a Girl Scout, you are likely to hear about a third grade Brownie or a fourth grade Junior doing crafts, selling cookies or making s’mores. I’m a firm believer that Girl Scouting is extremely worthwhile for girls of all ages, but the real opportunities for courage, confidence and character-building start happening as the girls become Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts in grades 6 through 12, and the pursuit of a Gold Award is one such opportunity.
Stiff requirements for Girl Scouting’s Gold Award
The Gold Award is the highest, and most challenging, award a girl can achieve in Girl Scouting. To earn the Award, a Senior Girl Scout must successfully complete a long list of prerequisites followed by a Gold Award project. The prerequisites, which include research and experience in the areas of leadership, community service, career planning and personal development, are designed to take from one to two years to complete and allow the girl time to identify a significant community need that she would like to address as her 65+ hour Gold Award project. The regional Girl Scout Council must not only pre-approve all projects, but also review each girl’s completed work before deciding whether she deserves to be granted the award. Not surprisingly, a very small percentage, nationwide fewer than 5%, of Senior Girl Scouts earn a Gold Award each year.
Pursuit of Gold Award teaches valuable life lessons
Chappaqua has produced 24 of these accomplished young women during the last eight years. I have been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to watch each of these girls experience the ups-and-downs of trying to accomplish something important not only to them, but to our community. Although each project has been different, the life lessons the girls have learned and the skills they have honed are remarkably similar:
• How to convince someone to donate their time and/or their money to support a cause;
• How to adapt when you realize that someone you were counting on is not going to do what was promised;
• How to speak with confidence in front of a group of total strangers;
• How to change your approach when someone won’t return your phone calls;
• How to gain control over a group of unruly children; and
• How to start all over again when your original plan reaches a dead end.
A diversity of winning projects
This year’s Gold Award projects reflect the diverse interests of the girls who produced them.
Sarah Dutton planned, raised funds for, organized the planting of and arranged for the on-going maintenance of an educational garden for children next to the town hall playground. She will be attending Vassar College in the fall.
Samantha Ethridge worked to stop the improper disposal of prescription drugs by contacting local pharmacies, lobbying public officials, writing articles, speaking with school children, and organizing information booths to increase public awareness of the dangers presented to our environment by the improper disposal of prescription and over the counter drugs and the importance of establishing safe methods for their disposal. She will be attending the University of Vermont in the fall.
Colleen Maher worked with the New Castle Historical Society to research the history of Girl Scouts in New Castle. She produced an exhibit that is now on display at town hall and shared what she discovered with local Girl Scout troops. She will be attending Bowdoin College in the fall.
Laura Mantell created curriculum kits for her “You Are Special” project designed to teach underprivileged victims of Hurricane Katrina about self esteem and career opportunities. She will be attending Dartmouth College in the fall.
Susannah Rudel established an ongoing summer food drive program called “Summer Swimmers Fighting Hunger” sponsored by the swim teams of the Northern Westchester Swim Conference. She will be attending Amherst College in the fall.
Alana Tung turned a drab space into a comfortable and welcoming visiting room for the Bedford Women’s Correctional Facility, where inmates can meet with their children on weekends. She will be attending Wellesley College in the fall.
Joanna Venditto researched, created and distributed “The Young People’s Guide to Volunteering in Westchester,” which details volunteer opportunities for teens. She will be attending Fordham University at Lincoln Center in the fall.
These young women set a fine example for the many girls who are still Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts, who will hopefully remain Girl Scouts so that they too may have the chance to learn the lessons and develop the skills that will help them become the leaders of tomorrow. The Chappaqua Girl Scout community is proud of each of this year’s Gold Award recipients, and we are proud to be a part of an organization that exists solely to provide opportunities for girls to learn the skills and develop the qualities that will serve them, and the communities in which they live, for all their lives.
Kristy Rudel is the community director of the Chappaqua Girl Scouts.
_thumb.jpg)
Click here for a printable view of this article.
Click here to read more People articles.Click here to read more Volunteer Opportunities articles.
Click here to send a copy of this article via email.
We're interested in your opinion. Click here to submit a comment on this article, or any other.
