GC Residents Achieve Highest Honor In Girl Scouting

Catherine H. Appell With their busy schedules and the added pressures of being a teenager, High School students often do not find any spare time for extra service activities. However, this year 74 Girl Scouts in Nassau County have chosen to fit a minimum of 65 hours of community service into their schedules. These young women developed Gold Award community action projects, promoting acts of kindness and goodwill, which ultimately make the world a better place. Their efforts earn these girls the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor that a young woman can achieve in Girl Scouting.

Several Garden City girls were among

the award winners:

Victoria Chimento and Alyssa Zinga of Garden City wanted to make their community more aware of the plight of war veterans and to communicate the importance of showing support for the men and women who have fought for America. For their Gold Award project, "Operation: Support War Veterans," they teamed up to organize a donation drive to benefit veterans with collection sites around Garden City and the surrounding area. Ms. Chimento and Ms. Zinga also arranged for a veteran to speak to their high school so students could better understand the importance of supporting veterans. Ms. Chimento is a junior a Garden City High School, where she is President of Key Club and Vice President of the Miracle Club. Ms. Zinga is also a junior at Garden City High School where she is a member of Key Club, Miracle Club and Varsity Track.

Amelia Malito Catherine H. Appell of Garden City earned her Gold Award for her project titled, "A Song for the Wise." Her project paired her love of music with her love for the elderly. She recruited local musicians including, students and the Garden City Chamber Orchestra, to perform for residents of The Arbors Assisted Living Communities. Ms. Appell is a senior at Garden City High School. Her extra-curricular activities include Wind Ensemble, Italian Club, and Amnesty International. Ms. Appell plans to attend The University of Scranton, PA in the fall.

Ryann McAndrews Andrea Boccia of Garden City earned her Gold Award for her project titled, "Kids' Day on Broadway." She wrote and planned a skit, which was performed for patients in the Children's Cancer Ward at Winthrop Hospital. She also created pamphlets, which educated her designated Girl Scout actors on cancer. After the performance, Ms. Boccia held a question and answer segment that encouraged patients in the audience to interact with the actors. Her project helped patients to enjoy their imaginations and escape their worries. Ms. Boccia is a senior at Garden City High School. She is involved with Students Helping Students, Drama Club and serves as the president of the International Thespian Honor Society.

Angela Cascione of Garden City took the opportunity to spread her love of music to the children of St. Mary's Hospital for Children in her Gold Award project titled, "Making Music Memories." She taught the children about the sounds musical instruments make and how they combine into a song. Ms. Cascione wrote songs for various instruments and recruited musicians to play them with her at the hospital. She then helped the children create a banner to celebrate the event. Ms. Cascione is a senior at Garden City High School and is active in marching band, wind ensemble and Tri-M Music Honor Society.

Victoria Chimento Amelia Malito of Garden City wanted to make the public more aware of the Garden City High School Bird Sanctuary and to educate people about its contents, history and upkeep. For her Gold Award project titled, "For the Birds!" she created a guide book for the sanctuary. The booklet informed the community about the different bird species, and the time taken to create a bird sanctuary. The booklet also included pictures and maps. Ms. Malito is a senior at Garden City High School where she is a member of marching band and student staff.

Kelly Tranfaglia of Garden City earned her Gold Award for her project titled, "Home Sweet Home." For her project, she created a donation drive aimed at helping at-risk residents turn their houses into "homes." Ms. Tranfaglia worked with Mercy Haven Inc., an organization that provides housing for the elderly, limited income families as well as persons with special needs. She collected decorative items such as picture frames, curtains, and paintings to help personalize the living environments for the clients of Mercy Haven. Ms. Tranfaglia is a senior at Garden City High School where she is a member of the yearbook staff. She plans to attend Marist College in the fall.

Angela Cascione Samantha Sweeney of Garden City organized, promoted and ran a blood drive for her Gold Award project. Her project was aimed at reducing the blood shortage and helping those in need of a transfusion. Ms. Sweeney publicized the event throughout her community and met with various community groups to educate them about the need for blood and to recruit them to donate at her event. She raised a collection of thirty pints of blood, which is enough to save one hundred and fifty lives. Ms. Sweeney is a senior at Garden City High School where she participates in Varsity Badminton and Volleyball. She plans to attend Stonehill College in Massachusetts in the fall.

Kelly Tranfaglia Ryann McAndrews of Garden City chose to focus her Fold Award project titled, "Bins for the INN," on raising awareness of poverty on Long Island while directly providing help to those in need. For her project, she organized a donation drive and publicized it in her local community to collect necessary items for the Mary Brennan INN and go to the INN on Thursdays to make sandwiches. Ms. McAndrews also spoke to health classes at her school to inform students on what they could do to make a difference. Ms. McAndrews is a senior at Garden City High School where she is active in Key Club and French Club. She plans to attend the University of Notre Dame in the fall.

Julie Marissael of Garden City and Andrea Scavelli of Old Westbury teamed up to develop their Gold Award project titled, "Interactive Pet Newsletter for the Children's Learning Center (CLC)." Through their project, they promoted and encouraged literacy among the developmentally disabled children at the CLC, a program of United Cerebral Palsy. In order to encourage the children to read the newsletter, Ms. Marissael and Ms. Scavelli focused on animals, a subject that interests most kids. They printed each issue at two different reading levels to help the children, one designed for easy comprehension by new readers and an intermediate level for students more comfortable with the fundamentals of reading. Ms. Marissael is a senior at the Waldorf School. She will be attending New York University in the fall. Ms. Scavelli is a senior at The Wheatley School where she is President of Student Government, and Editor of her school newspaper.

Julie Marissael "We are very pleased with all of our Girl Scout Gold Award recipients. They are leaders today and will build on their strengths to lead us in the future. We could not be more proud to have fostered their growth," said Donna Ceravolo, Executive Director of the Girl Scouts of Nassau County. "Only five percent of eligible Girl Scouts choose to take this rigorous path towards earning the Gold Award. These girls have changed the lives of others and improved their communities in significant ways."

Alyssa Zinga On June 14, 2009, the Girl Scouts of Nassau County honored Senior Girl Scouts between the ages of 15 and 18 at a special ceremony held at Adelphi University. In addition to the Girl Scout ceremony, on June 1, 2009, Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi presented the girls, along with their Eagle Scout Award counterparts from Boy Scouts, with certificates for their achievements at the Cradle of Aviation. Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray also recognized Girl Scout Gold Award recipients, along with this year's Eagle Scouts on May 30, 2009 at the Norman J. Levy Park and Preserve.

"Girl Scouts who achieve the Gold Award demonstrate personality and determination as well as great time management and organizational skills. They have now joined an elite group of American women who are a part of the Girl Scouts of the USA's Gold Award Alliance," said Ms. Ceravolo.

Andrea Boccia The Gold Award project helps Senior high school-aged Girl Scouts develop leadership skills and explore various career paths. Overall, the Gold Awards require up to a three-year commitment from each young woman. 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.

Samantha Sweeney Andrea Scavelli