Washington Township Girl Scouts earn their Gold Awards

The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest recognition in Girl Scouting. The leadership skills, organizational skills, sense of community and commitment that come from "going for the Gold" cement the foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship. It’s a tough challenge and only 6 per cent of all Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award.

In an impressive effort, Washington Township Troop 80518 produced six Gold Award Scouts in 2019 and four of them received their awards at a ceremony on January 5th.

Kaitlyn Hennelly, Rosemary Lauezzari, Hayley McIsaac and Sasha Valentino were presented their Gold Pins by Betty Garger, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey at a ceremony attended by parents and honored guests including Senator Anthony Bucco and Assemblywoman Aura Dunn from New Jersey's 25th Legislative District, Washington Township's Mayor Matthew Murello and Police Chief Jeffrey Almer, Washington Township Girl Scouts Service Unit Manager Cindy Huson, Casper J. Meijer representing the Chester Lions and Ken Seebeck, League Director of the New Jersey Interscholastic Cycling League. Scouts Julianne Cantwell and Lilah Sniderman also earned their Gold Awards but were unable to attend the ceremony.

The new Gold Award Scouts received a variety of proclamations and certificates of recognition. Senator Bucco and Assemblywoman Dunn presented the Scouts with a State of New Jersey Joint Legislative Resolution and Mayor Murello presented Proclamations from his office. The Scouts also received letters of recognition from Police Chief Almer on behalf of the Police Department and the PBA. Casper J. Meijer representing the Chester Lions Club presented Certificates of Achievement. In addition, the Hackettstown Elks Lodge #2331 sent recognitions of achievement and American flags. Washington Township Girl Scouts and the Long Valley Zion Lutheran Church sent letters of recognition. The Scouts will also receive Proclamations from Governor Murphy’s office.

The speakers commented on the quality and depth of content of each of the Scouts' Gold Award projects. They recognized the Scout's service to the community through a wide variety of projects including the development of a program of group arts classes for children with special needs, initiatives for education and advocacy for equestrian sports safety, student workshops to eliminate stress through effective study techniques and the creation of a program for teaching communication as a life skill. The speakers also paid tribute to the Girl Scout organization and its local leaders for their commitment to excellence and their work in developing girls with strong characters who will continue to improve their communities as they move forward.

Jennifer McIsaac, Troop 80518's Leader for 13 years, was there to see the culmination of her Scout's efforts under her guidance and mentorship. She noted, “These young women worked very hard to earn this award through their individual Gold Award programs. They have made strong contributions to the communities they worked with". She also noted, "this effort is the culmination of a program that starts with Bronze Awards and moves through the Silver Award program. They dedicated themselves throughout many years in Scouting to achieve this honor.”

The ceremonies were followed by a small reception where the Scouts presented Troop Leader McIsaac with a token of their thanks for all of her dedication and support. One the Scout's parents summed up a sentiment voiced by everyone during the event when they noted, "most of our girls have been in this troop since they were in Kindergarten. As they head off to college, Jen McIsaac can be very proud of the role she has played as their long term mentor in the development of these wonderful young women".