This summer, Solanco High School senior Abigail Mosteller will receive a Gold Award, the highest award that can be earned by a Girl Scout. In June, Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania (GSHPA) will present the award to Mosteller and other Scouts from across the state who have met various requirements, including completing a community service project. Mosteller is a member of Troop 71152, which will also hold a local award ceremony for her friends and family at Chestnut Level Presbyterian Church.

Mosteller started her project last fall with a six-week program at Bart-Colerain Elementary School to help students learn Spanish. During the program, Mosteller took students outside and helped them practice their vocabulary and learn the Spanish words for things on the playground.

Mosteller brought the program to Clermont Elementary at the beginning of the spring semester. Each week, students focused on a specific topic that is relevant to their age group. The winter weather prevented Mosteller from taking her group of students outside, so she printed pictures of things that students would find on the playground and placed them around the school library. Mosteller gave the students a word in Spanish and asked them to locate the corresponding image for in the library.

Each week of the program covered a specific topic that related to the students' school day. Mosteller also incorporated educational games, booklets and activities with her program to get the kids motivated to learn. "I loved seeing how exciting the kids were to learn a new language," Mosteller said. "We received a lot of positive feedback from both parents and teachers about the program."

Mosteller is a member of the Spanish National Honor Society and was first inspired to create her program while helping Spanish-speaking students with their homework. She noticed that many of the students had difficulty relating to their peers and decided to use her service project as an opportunity to bridge the gap between English- and Spanish-speaking students. "It clicked for me that I could do a project to help younger kids learn a new language and connect with each other," Mosteller said.

To earn a Gold Award for the project, Mosteller needed to make her program sustainable. She created a lesson plan, templates and resources so that after she graduates, someone else can continue the program.

Mosteller has been a member of Girl Scouts for 13 years and she knew early on that she wanted to achieve the Gold Award. "It feels good to reach this goal, but I'm sad that it's ending," Mosteller said. "I've really enjoyed getting to know everyone, and I'm proud of all that I've accomplished through the program."