Rockville Centre Girl Scouts Awarded Highest Honor

Rockville Centre, NY (July 9, 2018)—Girl Scouts of Nassau County recently hosted its annual Gold Award ceremony at Adelphi University. During the event, more than 70 local Girl Scouts earned their Gold Awards, including Alexandria Casella, Alexandra Eastzer, Caitlin McDonald, Gina Pepe, Anna Rodriguez, Angela Sourial, and Jourdin Thomas of Rockville Centre. The Gold Award program recognizes the power and dedication shared by an elite group of young women who earn the highest honor a Girl Scout can achieve. Each girl spent more than 80 hours over the past year planning, executing and presenting the results of their project, which aimed to make the world a better place for others as well as herself.

“These young women are among an exclusive group of leaders who have earned the highest honor a Girl Scout can earn. I commend each and every one of them for the countless hours they have spent dedicated to their project—not only to empower and better themselves, but to make the world a better place,” said Rande Bynum, Chief Executive Officer, Girl Scouts of Nassau County. “Gold Award projects have positively impacted girls’ lives, their communities and the world for over one hundred years.”

The Gold Award Girl Scouts each tackled a project that held a deep significance to them. Their projects are described below.

Alexandria Casella wanted to educate children in her community about the importance of recycling through her project, “Recycling Can Be Fun.” Knowing that pollution is a major environmental issue, she worked with preschoolers and elementary school Girl Scout troops to educate them about the different ways they can help keep the environment cleaner and safer. Alexandria held several recyclable craft classes in which recyclable craft books were created and donated to schools in her community. Students can utilize these books to educate themselves and others about the importance of recycling.

A rising senior at Oceanside High School, Alexandria is president of the National Art Honor Society and an active member of the badminton team. Her fondest Girl Scout memory is going to a senior center with her troop to deliver holiday cheer to the residents.

For her project “Best Buddies Mural,” Alexandra Eastzer helped her school create a space to showcase a mural made by the special education students. As an artist herself, Alexandra wanted to give her peers the chance to create and display artwork of their own. Alexandra helped to educate her peers by showcasing the unique talents and qualities the special needs students have. Through her project, Alexandra was able to bring the two groups together to create a mural that is now home to a hallway in her school. Alexandra also suggested other places the special education department could showcase the students’ work and trained younger students to continue her project in years to come.

Alexandra is a rising sophomore at Northeastern University where she is a nursing student. She recently spent her fall semester in Dublin, Ireland participating in service learning and community service. Her fondest Girl Scout memory is going camping with her friends at Camp Blue Bay.

Caitlin created her project, “Little Maestros,” to incorporate the joy of music into the lives of children in her community. Wanting to educate her community on the impact music can have on brain stimulation and growth in children, Caitlin hosted several educational sessions for parents and their children at her local library. She was able to teach parents how music can help enhance a child’s ability to learn. The program has been adopted by the Baldwin Library, and Little Maestros music bags are available at checkout.

As a recent graduate of South Side High School, Caitlin was member of the Music, Spanish, Science and National Honor Societies. Caitlin also played the trumpet for her school’s band and orchestra. She will be attending Loyola University this fall. Her fondest Girl Scout memory was seeing a child from her community using the adaptive swing she had installed in a local park as part of her Silver Award project.

Gina brought awareness to the lack of dance classes for special needs students through her project, “Together We Inspire.” Wanting to give children in special needs communities the chance to learn how to dance, Gina partnered with local dance studios to hold classes for children with special needs and disabilities. She also created an educational video, which can be found on YouTube, about why dance studios should give children with special needs and disabilities the chance to dance. Gina hopes her program and video will motivate and inspire others to be more inclusive of all dancers and their different abilities.

A rising senior at Oceanside High School, Gina is a member of the Key Club and theatre productions at her school. Gina is also a competitive dancer. Her fondest Girl Scout memory is going camping with her troop where they hiked through the woods and shared stories by the campfire.

Anna wanted to help young girls in her community become more confident when it comes to talking about STEM fields, so she created her project “S.T.E.A.M for Early Childhood Centers.” She added the element of art to the mix, as a way to help young girls understand that they can do anything they choose. Anna created a hands on workshop to help attendees become more familiar with the fields of science, math, technology, and art. Anna’s materials are being used in early childhood centers to encourage them to follow their dreams and shy away from the stereotypes that seek to bring them down.

A recent graduate of South Side High School, Anna was a member of the National Math, Spanish, Science, and Music Honor Societies. She was also a varsity track team member for winter and spring track. Anna will be attending Cornell University in the fall. Her fondest memories of Girl Scouting include camping trips to Camp Blue Bay with her friends.

Angela educated her community about the decreasing honeybee population through her project “BEE-Coming Aware.” She created informational presentations and hands on activities which she presented to several elementary schools in the area. Angela also created an informational YouTube video, so that anybody wanting to know more information about the importance of honeybees can access it.

A recent graduate of South Side High School, Angela was president of the Tri-M Music Honor Society, and is an All-State musician. Angela also helped pioneer the first Relay for Life fundraiser at her school. She will attend UCLA in the fall. Angela’s fondest Girl Scout memory is participating in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade with her troop and the banner they made together for the parade.

Jourdin addressed the use of harmful and derogatory language in today’s society through her project, “The N-Word.” Using her grandmother’s experience of growing up in 1940’s Alabama, Jourdin looked at the effects using derogatory language usage had on others. She drafted a questionnaire for individuals ages 14 to 81, which featured questions about how the individuals feel and react when they hear harmful language being used. Through her surveys and group discussions Jourdin found everyone had a story about their connection to the N-word, regardless of their race or background. Using that information, Jourdin created a PSA to stimulate a discussion and inform people about the word and its use in American history.

Jourdin is a rising sophomore at Dartmouth College where she is studying Neuroscience. She is also a member of the Rugby team. Her fondest Girl Scout memory is taking trips to the movies with her troop and friends.

Approximately 1 million Girl Scout alumnae have developed Gold Award projects that addressed local or global issues. After identifying an area of interest, a successful Gold Award recipient performs hours of research and prepares a project proposal to be submitted for feedback and approval to the Girl Scout Council before embarking on her project. The Girl Scout presents her final conclusions as the last step of the journey.

Lifelong value comes with having earned a Gold Award. According to the Girl Scout Research Institute, Gold Award Girl Scouts display more positive life outcomes pertaining to sense of self, life, satisfaction, leadership, life success, community service and civic engagement. Recipients of the award who enlist in the U.S. Armed Forces may receive advanced rank for their achievements and can receive scholarships or other recognition from most colleges or universities.

We’re the Girl Scouts of Nassau County: We’re 23,000 strong – 17,900 girls and 5,000 adults who believe in the power of every G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader)™ from Nassau County to change the world. Our extraordinary journey began more than 100 years ago with the original G.I.R.L., Juliette Gordon “Daisy” Low. On March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Georgia, she organized the very first Girl Scout Troop, and every year since we’ve honored her vision and legacy, building girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. We’re the preeminent leadership development organization for girls. And with programs in Nassau County, across Long Island and throughout the United States and across the globe, Girl Scouts offers every girl a chance to practice a lifetime of leadership, adventure, and success.

We’re the Girl Scouts. To volunteer, reconnect, donate or join, visit www.gsnc.org or contact Donna Rivera-Downey at 516 741-2550.