Not pictured: Olivia Coffey.
(Photo by Elizabeth Bailey)
Four Girl Scouts received their Gold Awards for projects related to the Garden City Bird Sanctuary at the Girl Scouts of Nassau County 2016 Gold Award Ceremony, which recently took place at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point. It was a special ceremony as 2016 is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Gold Award.
Elena Fernandez increased community awareness of human impact on the environment through her project, “Return of a Giving Tree—the American Chestnut Tree.” She planted 13 seedlings and saplings, conducted workshops and presentations and prepared educational materials which are posted on the Garden City Bird Sanctuary website. Fernandez graduated from Dominican Academy and will attend Cornell University in the fall.
Maia Fernandez’s project was “Butterfly Garden.” She created a butterfly garden at the bird sanctuary and a coloring book which contains drawings of plants and flowers from her garden as well as environmental tips. The coloring book will be given out to visitors at the bird sanctuary. Fernandez also gave tours of the bird sanctuary. She graduated from H. Frank Carey High School and will attend SUNY Purchase in the fall.
Olivia Coffey’s project was entitled “Protect the Hempstead Plains.” She conducted community education sessions to increase awareness of the value of the Hempstead Plains, which is home to a number of rare plant and animal species. She created a brochure which will be distributed at the bird sanctuary and displayed in the learning center at Nassau Community College. She graduated from Garden City High School and will attend the University of Richmond in the fall.
Kelly Anne Noberto’s project was entitled “Project Arboretum.” Norberto researched what was required for the bird sanctuary to be accredited as a Level 1 arboretum.
She documented the location of 30 designated trees using GPS technology, prepared the necessary documentation for the bird sanctuary to become an official Level 1 arboretum and submitted an application to ArbNet, the certifying organization. She graduated from Garden City High School and will attend Marist College in the fall.
The keynote speaker, Captain Cynthia Smith Robson, was very entertaining. She is professor of nautical science at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and has been teaching navigation and ship safety there for the last 20 years. Robson described how being a member of the Girl Scouts had influenced her life. She is the recipient of a Gold Award. She has had an interesting maritime career; for example, she was the first woman captain to take a ship through the Panama Canal.
The Garden City Bird Sanctuary Board of Directors would like to thank the four Gold Award recipients for their contributions to the bird sanctuary.
— Submitted by the Garden City Bird Sanctuary
