Girl Scout Gold Awards 2017
2017 Gold Award
OLIVIA RONDEPIERRE
TROOP 944
Play for Patients
Play for Patients focused on the social needs of the children hospitalized at St. Barnabas in Livingston, NJ. The game room needed much updating and I have realized that many kids cannot use, or do not want to use the games based on being around other sick patients. My project focused on the individual by making themed game bags that the kids can take back to their room and use with parents or alone. I made 12 bags including card games, travel games and I-Spy games and they all remain in the hospital game room with tags listing the games and laminated instructions.
2017 Gold Award
MADELINE SCHROEDER
TROOP 1967
This Girl Fights Back
My gold award project aimed to address confidence, self-esteem, and personal safety issues affecting girls in my community. I wanted to empower girls and give them the tools to live life as leaders who consistently make healthy choices, so I hosted a one-day girl empowerment event. For my event, titled “This Girl Fights Back”, three dynamic experts volunteered their time to educate, empower, and inspire each girl by raising their self-awareness, improving their communication skills, encouraging self-respect, and teaching them practical life skills to help stay safe. The experts included a trained adolescent therapist, a nationally known self-defense and personal safety expert and a retired police officer who is now the CHS security guard. Following this event, I presented a proposal to the Chatham Board of Education, encouraging them to include a personal safety unit in the new CHS health curriculum. I was thrilled to learn that the board approved this proposal because I believe everyone should have the skills and confidence to avoid dangerous situations and the ability to defend themselves when danger is unavoidable.
2017 Gold Award
NISHITA SINHA
TROOP 1240
Safe Sanitation Solutions – It Takes a Village!
2.4 Billion people worldwide lack access to safe in-home toilets, which results in the spread of harmful diseases and unfortunate situations such as stunted growth. In my Gold Project, I attempted to create a two-pronged solution to improve upon these dismal sanitation conditions. The first part of this solution was grounded in scientific research: after reaching out to sanitation experts and learning about existing toilet technology, I designed an improved toilet design for use in the developing world. This toilet design was tested in the Rutgers Environmental Sciences Microbiology Lab. The second aspect was community outreach: I launched efforts in my community and in villages in India to raise awareness about the sanitation crisis and increased the feasibility of solution implementation. After more than three years of work, this project has led to the creation of a more practical and sustainable toilet design and has facilitated the installation of over 150 of these toilets in villages in Northern India. Many more toilet installations are on their way.
2017 Gold Award
ADDISON WALKER
TROOP 1967
Walk Chatham
Addison’s goal was to help share the Chatham Historical Society’s wealth of information with the people of Chatham. Her project first involved volunteering and working with the Chatham Historical Society. By gathering photos and information, she was then able to create an audiovisual tour of Main Street. The bulk of her project consisted of making a mobile application to be able to share the content with everyone in the town. Now the app is available on GooglePlay and the Apple App store.
2017 Gold Award
ELLIE WALKER
TROOP 944
Green Steps
Ellie, a senior at Chatham High School, completed a project that combined a series of actions designed to inform her community on the importance of recycling. The target audience included both children and adults, who were educated on the importance of recycling, and why proper recycling is so critical for the community and the planet. Ellie and a representative from the Morris County Municipal Utilities Authority took an evaluative tour around the high school and proposed improvements to the school’s current recycling program. Ellie provided recycling-themed “goodie bags” to Girl Scout Daisies following a “junk-to-art” class she organized for the troop. In addition, Ellie reached out to both her school and neighborhood collecting non-recyclable plastic bottle caps. The caps were provided to the company Terracycle, which “up-cycles” them into new products such as park benches and plastic storage bins. After meeting with a local senior resident, Ellie gained insight into Chatham’s recycling history, which she included in her website www.gogreenchatham.weebly.com. The website also included all events for this project and more information for the community about local recycling requirements. The “Green Steps” project encouraged responsible recycling habits in Ellie’s community – both children and adults!