Community Corner

Seven Girls Scouts from New Hyde Park Reach Gold Award

Marisa Pugliese, Evangeline Giannopoulos, Faith Fishkin, Jenna Ferrante, Allegra Chuchul, Lauren Chin and Mary Andreopoulos achieve Girl Scouts' highest honor.

While some high schools now require a few hours of community service for graduation, none go as far as the Girl Scouts who earn the Gold Award.

This year Marisa Pugliese, Evangeline Giannopoulos, Faith Fishkin, Jenna Ferrante, Allegra Chuchul, Lauren Chin and Mary Andreopoulos join the number of Girl Scouts in Nassau County that have woven a minimum of 80 hours of community service into their busy schedules. These young women developed Gold Award community action projectsthat address social issues in their community or promote acts of kindness and goodwill throughout Nassau County. Their efforts earned these girls the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor that a young woman can achieve in Girl Scouting.

The Gold Award project helps high school-aged Girl Scouts develop leadership skills and explore various career paths. The Gold Awards require up to a 3-year commitment from each Girl Scout. It affords the teen the opportunity to learn about arts and humanities, cultural and global relations, personal well-being, technology and science, environmental concerns and many of the innumerable issues facing young women and the world today.

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A New Hyde park Memorial senior, Pugliese’s Girl Scout Gold Award Take Action Project, Let’s Include Instead of Exclude, focused on children dealing with food al­lergies and other dietary restrictions. In her project, she spent time working with families currently dealing with food issues together with other al­lergy groups that work on similar conditions. Through seminars and a jamboree, she introduced new products and showed her audience that they are not alone.

A junior at Great Neck South High School, Giannopoulos’s Girl Scout Gold Award Take Action Project, E=MC2, conducted a workshop to combat the stereotype that girls are not scientists. She set out to instill a passion for science in young girls and to raise awareness of the fact that women are often undermined in the world of science. The girls who attended the workshop felt inspired and Evangeline was happy to learn how much it meant for her to educate others about her favorite subject.

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A senior at Martin Luther High School, Fishkin’s Girl Scout Gold Award Take Action Project, Anti-Bullying Project, was created to help people realize that bullying has become an epidemic. Faith set up a website where visitors can view anti-bullying videos, educate themselves about the long-term effects of bullying and get information on how to help.

A senior at Great Neck South High School, Ferrante’s Girl Scout Gold Award Take Action Project, Operation Equipment, promoted sports safety. She showed soccer players ages 8 – 16 the techniques and stretches that would keep them on the field rather than sidelined with an injury. Jenna showed the girls that safety is very important when playing any sport while reminding them to have fun.

A Herricks High School senior, Chuchul’s Girl Scout Gold Award Take Action Project, Pocket Pals and Inspirational Bowl, was designed to help patients and families to cope with the stress of being hospitalized. She wished to bring a sense of hope and control to the families and patients while bringing a little joy to their day. Chuchul states she felt empowered by making a difference in the lives of the people with whom she interacted.

A senior at Great Neck South High School, Chin’s Girl Scout Gold Award Take Action Project, CCC: Computer Crash Course, taught senior citizens how to use a computer and familiarize themselves with basic and useful computer functions. These skills will benefit her students by allowing them to access information online, better communicate with loved ones and learn how to use programs such as Microsoft Word and Excel.

A junior at New Hyde Park Memorial, Andreopoulos’s Girl Scout Gold Award Take Action Project, Fun at the NICU, used playful tactics to teach siblings of infants being treated in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit how to properly behave in the care center. Her experience has inspired Mary to pursue a career in pediatric medicine.

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