Over the summer, Girl Scout Troop 20170 members and Livingston High School freshmen Brooke Kalva, Shelby Walvick, and Magdelene Meyer earned their Silver Awards.
The SilverAwardis the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn.
In order to earn the prestigious award, the Scouts must research an issue they care about, address the issue, and take action in their communities to create a difference. They also need to contribute at least 50 hours to their project, which is to be led by a girl or group of girls.
Brooke Kalva created her proj ect, the YES (Youth Environmental Society) Club in Heritage Middle School, in order to create a paper recycling program at the school.
“The environment has always been an issue that is near and dear to her, so when she realized there wasn’t a paper recycling program at the middle school, she wanted to do something about it,” said Troop leader Denise Dunton, “She problem-solved how to create a successfulpaperrecycling program, educated staff and students on the importance of recycling, and implemented it.”
Kalva’s club created recycling bins for each of the classrooms, and during their weekly meetings, club members would collect paper from classrooms, and dispose of them in the recycling dumpster. Her club has also received a grant to expand their initiatives into composting.
Although Kalva is not a student at Heritage Middle School anymore, she still attendsYES meetings to help increase the club’s impact.
Shelby Walvick and Magdelene Meyer partnered to create their project around books. Creating grade level-specific libraries at Aquinas Academy, they procured bookshelves and held multiple book drives during their time as eighth graders. The bookshelves were installed this past summer.
“Literacy for all was an important issue for these Girl Scouts, so when they realized that this small, private school was lacking books due to a lack of funding and space, they wanted to do something about it,” said Dunton, “They solved this issue by collecting book and game donations for Aquinas Academy students to enjoy. Then, they sorted these books into three different reading levels: primary, intermediate, and junior high.”
The girls also took four donated bookshelves and painted them with fun designs to hold the books. The shelves were distributed around the school: three bookshelves hold books and the last shelf holds games and puzzles for indoor recess and aftercare.
The Builder’s Club at Aquinas Academy will be trained to sort and label new books that will be attained through book drives.
All members of Troop 20170 have now earned their Silver Awards.
