Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas Service Unit 408 recently recognized several of its troops with Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards for their service to the public.
Skin Cancer Awareness & Sun Safety Education, a Bronze Award Project
To earn their Bronze Award, Troop 8869, under the leadership of Margo Brooks and Theresa Silvey and comprised of Meghan Bailey, Kelleigh Brooks, Sydney Gardner, Addison McCaffree, Lauren Parworth, Jasmine Silvey, Kaitlynn Soo and Alisa Portillo, did extensive research projects on Skin Cancer Awareness and Sun Safety Education. Their projects were displayed in Old Settlers Elementary School in Flower Mound for one week raising skin cancer and sun safety awareness of 680 of their peers. The girls also shared daily tips on this subject during their school-wide televised announcements, and, along with some local Brownies, made UV Bead bracelets and necklaces in order to raise UV awareness. The girls learned much about skin cancer, sunburns, protecting and preserving skin, and the value of teaching others.
In addition to completing the Bronze Award Project, each Girl Scout earning the Girl Scout Bronze Award must be in 4th or 5th grade (or equivalent), be a registered Girl Scout Junior, and must have completed a Girl Scout Junior Journey.
The middle school-aged girls of Troop 853, under the leadership of Sandy Lancaster, Tracy Pederson and Tricia Garcia, received their Silver Awards.
Blankets for Cancer Patients, a Silver Award Project
In order to make blankets for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy treatments, Shelby Lancaster, Shreya Angana and MacKenzie Martin collected money through cookie sales, a bake sale and donations. Shelby’s Aunt, Betty Harris, inspired the project in her battle with cancer. Shelby, Shreya and MacKenzie hosted a blanket making party with help of friends and family and were able to donate 44 blankets to Texas Oncology for use by cancer patients during infusions. The three girls learned much about cancer, budgeting, project management, teamwork, and the value of helping others. (see photo above)
Helping Hospitalized Kids, a Silver Award Project
Bria Garcia and Gabby Todd from Troop 853 focused on helping kids that are in the hospital receiving long-term care. Bria and Gabby collected donations of items that could help make a child’s hospital stay a little better. Items donated or purchased with donations included toys, games, art supplies and stuffed toys. The girls hosted a booth outside Walmart to collect money and donated items for the project. They used the monies collected to purchase items which were donated to Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.
In addition to completing the Silver Award Project, each Girl Scout earning the Girl Scout Silver Award must be in 6th, 7th or 8th grade (or equivalent), be a registered Girl Scout Cadette, and must have completed a Girl Scout Cadette Journey.
Drama Roundup, a Gold Award Project
When mulling over ideas for her Gold Award project, Senior Girl Scout Katie Decker, a sophomore at Flower Mound High School, knew she had a winner in the drama category. Katie has been involved in theater for five years – with roles in Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz and more. Her love of the theater gave her the motivation to share it with others. Katie chose to organize “Drama Roundup” working with Central Elementary School in Lewisville. Katie chose Central “because I had heard many other students did their projects with Central and I really liked the program they have there. It’s an amazing school and I really wanted to help them out.”
Hours and hours were spent getting Katie’s project together. She went to booster club meetings, created a Facebook page, and advertised in her theater class at school. In addition to getting the word out, Katie created the entire curriculum for the Drama Roundup event, procured the supplies, made fliers (in both English AND Spanish), and designed posters, among other things.
With the help of many wonderful volunteers, Katie’s Drama Roundup was a huge success. She said, “I feel like we made a difference to the kids who came.” She’s right – nearly 50 Central Elementary students spent their Saturday morning learning how to pantomime, create puppets, apply stage makeup and more. To wrap up their morning, they jumped up on stage and performed a musical number for their families! Congratulations, Katie!
Katie is a member of Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas’ Service Unit 408, Troop 177, under the leadership of Rhonda Curl and Sue Decker.
In addition to completing the Gold Award Project, each Girl Scout earning the Girl Scout Gold Award must be in 9th, 10th, 11th or 12th grade (or equivalent), be a registered Girl Scout Senior or Ambassador, and must have either completed two Girl Scout Senior or Ambassador Journeys, or received the Girl Scout Silver Award and completed one Girl Scout Senior or Ambassador Journey.
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