(above) Girl Scout Gold Award recipients holding their certificates from Congresswoman Sherrill.
Chatham Girl Scouts Gold Award Ceremony
Submitted by Dian Lamb
Chatham Girls Scouts were pleased to honor the High School Senior’s that have received their Gold Award during a ceremony held on Facebook Live on June 5th, 2020. Over 50 families tuned in to watch the ceremony. Gold Award recipient, Emily Lamb coordinated and MC’d event.
These Girl Scouts have truly distinguished themselves as visionary leaders. They have made an incredible impact on their community.
Gold Award Girl Scouts are girls who take “make the world a better place” to the next level. The Girl Scout Gold Award is the mark of the truly remarkable.
Girls who earn the Gold Award tackle issues that are dear to them and drive lasting change in their communities and beyond.
To earn the award, each girl must spend a minimum of 80 hours to complete the steps to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award.
The ceremony began with the support of our younger Chatham Girl Scout troops. The troops met via Zoom and provided video: Cadette Troop 95667 provided the Flag Ceremony. Daisy Troop 97952, from Southern Boulevard provided the ‘Girl Scout Promise.’ Brownie troop 96754 from Washington Avenue provided the ‘Girl Scout Law’ and the flower presentation.
Many community leaders sent their congratulations and best wishes to the Gold Award recipients including: Dr. Michael LaSusa – Superintendent of the School District of the Chathams; Jill Webber – President of the Chatham Board of Education; Virginia Gryta – Chatham Girl Scout Service Unit Manager; Len Resto- Chatham Borough Council member; Carolyn Dempsey – Chatham Borough Council member; Irene Treloar – Chatham Borough Council member; Tracy Ness – Deputy Mayor Chatham Township; Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill – U.S. Representative for New Jersey’s 11th congressional district.
The award was presented live to the girls by Betty Garger, CEO of Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey. Each Gold Award recipient spoke live about her project. The recipients were Hailey Coates, Jane DesMarais, Emily Lamb, Naila Ismail, Caroline Kiernan, Grace McCombs, Mikayla Meyler, Melina Panagakos, and Julia Raskin.
The ceremony also included a tribute to our Chatham High School seniors that have been Girl Scouts since Kindergarten including: Sofia Dorrego, Tessa Mason, Evie Mason, Livvy Macchia, Margot Hearne, Emily Brown, Katelyn Weaving, and Zoe Horowitz.
The ceremony ended with closing remarks from Girl Scout leader Amy Mason followed by a slideshow featuring photos of the girls throughout their 13 years of Girl Scouting.
(above) Melina Panagakos
Project title: You Can Save Lives: How to respond and handle traumatic bleeding situations. Melina addressed the issue of the lack of emergency preparedness in situations where bleeding control is needed. Her project was designed to teach, empower and provide tools for an emergency situation. With the use of tourniquets, gauze, bandages, and direct pressure, bleeding is able to be lessened, if not stopped, to better the chances of survival.
(above) Hailey Coates
Project title: Time to Time
Hailey worked to increase face to face intergenerational interactions between the senior and student generations within my community. She created a monthly Buddy Program in which Chatham High School Key Club Members volunteered at the Senior Center of the Chathams. Meetings consisted of group discussions, crafts, and bonding between generations.
(above) Caroline Kiernan
Project title: Music with a Message
Caroline focused on making theatrical performances and educational opportunities more accessible for individuals with special needs. She created a website featuring information on accessible/sensory-friendly theatres in New Jersey. She also created curriculum binders for the ECLC and Pillar Schools, providing resources for a strong foundational knowledge of theatre and music. Prior to the pandemic, she had planned on hosting a workshop with ECLC students that would culminate in a performance, but adapted the workshop to be virtual.
(above) Emily Lamb
Project title: Encouraging Youth Voices in Political Activism
Emily’s goal was to improve the connection between high school students and the government. She established a youth advisory position with the Board of Education and encouraged youth voter participation by distributing voter education packets to each student at Chatham High School as they turn eighteen.
(above) Grace McCombs
Project title: Creative Movement for Everyone
Grace’s project incorporated two of her biggest passions: dance and working with kids with special needs. She researched the use of dance and movement to benefit the autistic population and created a segment to be included in a week long summer camp for kids on the spectrum. She did this because of her belief that participating in the arts is beneficial to anyone of any age and any ability.
(above) Jane DesMarais
Project title: Sunny Smiles
Jane created the Sunny Smiles program at ECLC. The current club, Teens Connecting with Teens, at the high school focuses on special needs students inclusion at ECLA during the school year, while Sunny Smiles helps to bridge the gap of engagement throughout the summer. The program consisted of three events which gave the students from both schools an opportunity to play and have fun together over the summer.
(above) Julia Raskin
Project title: August Back
Julia developed a program in Chatham to aid elementary student musicians keep up with their instruments over the summer. As Julia recognized a declining music population over the years, she decided to create a fun, social event where younger music students got back to their instruments before school started, and the older high school mentors gave back to their community by aiding them.
(above) Naila Ismail
Project title: Ban the Bag
Naila tacked the harmful effects of single use plastic on the environment. Through the Bags to Benches program, she was able to partake in a plastic bag recycling challenge to earn a bench made from recycled materials. She collected over 1000 pounds of plastic film and secured two benches for the community! She also advocated for the single-use plastic bag ban at both Chatham Borough and Township council meetings.
(above) Mikayla Meyler
Project title: Hear to Heart
Mikayla created an online database and corresponding map of all of the known Automated External Defibrillator (AED) locations in Chatham, NJ. While trained medical professionals and CPR certified individuals understand the importance of an AED in the event of a cardiac arrest, she felt that many citizens do not understand or are intimidated by the machines. Through this project, Mikayla spoke with community leaders, and met with officials to create a map open to the public to show citizens the locations of these devices. This helped the Chatham Emergency Squad and the John Taylor Babbitt foundation because it exposed gaps where AEDs should be. Additionally, AED locations were found that otherwise would not have known about.
