Girl Scout Earns Gold Award

Kyra Kabulis, a junior at Brookfield High School, recently completed her Girl Scout Gold Project. This project, which requires a minimum of 80 hours to complete, is a way for girls to leave a lasting positive impact on their community. It is the highest honor that Girl Scouts presents, equivalent to the Boy Scout Eagle Award. For her project, Kyra worked with the residents of The Village at Brookfield Common, a Benchmark Senior Living community, to encourage health and well-being, primarily by offering a walking program. Her goal was to improve the residents’ physical fitness, which ultimately contributes to mental fitness as well. Additionally, Kyra endeavored to connect more people her age to the residents by incorporating her peers in the walking program, as well as the performance that she produced on February 28, 2016 for the residents. The performance featured show tunes that were familiar to the residents because playing recognizable music to the elderly has been cited by numerous studies as an effective measure to prevent and slow the detrimental effects of dementia. It featured Kyra (pictured right) and Michelle Randall (left) dancing with musical accompaniment from the Brookfield High School Flute Choir, which was led by Sarah Katz. Essentially, the project was a success because it was extremely well received not only by the elderly, but also by the young people involved who enjoyed hearing stories from the residents about Candlewood Lake’s construction, and Route 7 as a dirt road for horse and buggies. To sum up her overall experience, Kyra said, “I wanted to end each walking session by giving the resident a hug, but I never imagined that it would be the residents giving me a hug.”