Girl Scouts Win Awards

Girl Scout Cadettes Isabella Wagner, Victoria Dunlap, Anna Marie Rineer and Ava Marie Martin received the Silver Award on Oct. 25 at Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church. The Silver Award is the highest award Girl Scout Cadettes, or girls between sixth and eighth grades, can achieve.

The Scouts finished their applications for the award as eighth-graders and are now freshmen at Solanco High School; the awards were first given by Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania (GSHPA) via a virtual ceremony prior to the event in October at Chestnut Level. As a prerequisite for the Silver Award, each Scout needed to complete a journey award by selecting a community topic that is important to her. The Scouts needed to plan and coordinate their projects, and each spent 50 hours total on the planning and execution of her individual endeavor.

When first deciding on their projects, the Scouts submitted their ideas to their troop leaders, who then provided feedback and assistance with developing the plans. After reviewing their projects with troop leaders, the Scouts then submitted a form to GSHPA to be considered for the award.

For her project, Wagner decided to collect backpacks and fill them with personal items to be gifted to children in foster care. Each backpack was filled with items the children would need if they moved to another home.

Rineer orchestrated Christmas in July at Chestnut Level Presbyterian for her project, bringing Christmas events to the church and children in the parish. Rineer and the children made Christmas ornaments, which were used to decorate the tree inside the fellowship hall.

Martin helped to teach young softball players about the importance of warming up and practicing sports safety while playing. As an avid softball player herself, Martin used her project as an opportunity to help young players prevent injuries early in their careers.

Dunlap coached a group of younger soccer players in Solanco for her project, helping them hone their skills and leading them through warmups and a variety of activities.

Every Tuesday night, over 80 kids from kindergarten to 12th grade meet at Chestnut Level Presbyterian, and each of the four recently honored Girl Scouts have been involved with the program since kindergarten. "It's exciting to see the younger kids come in and learn from the older kids as they go up through the ranks," said Amy Rineer, one of the leaders of Troop 71266. Once the girls reach 10th grade, they will have an opportunity to earn the Gold Award, the highest achievement available to Girl Scouts in high school and the equivalent of an Eagle Scout Award.