The 15 Girl Scout Juniors of Troop 1127 recently celebrated earning their Bronze Award, the highest honor a Junior Scout (4th/5th graders) can achieve.
Last year, the Scouts began work on their Bronze Award requirements and chose to promote literacy as the theme of their project. They made bookmarks, flyers and posters to promote their message about the importance of reading. They hosted a Q-and-A panel with teachers and staff (Christina DeCastro, Anne Marie Bopp, Nicole Termini, Karen Moculeski, Hope Kranidis, Kathleen Parks and Karen Reigel) at their school and then also sacrificed several of their recess periods to read to the kindergarten students at their school.
The Scouts partnered with Astoria Bank on Covert Avenue in Floral Park to host a community book drive. Dozens of books were collected at the drive and then transported to the Book Fairies in Freeport, where some of the Scouts spent a morning service session inspecting donated books and separating usable books for redistribution back to high-need schools, hospitals, shelters and families. In a separate book drive, hosted earlier in the year, the Scouts partnered with Jeff and Maggie Chen, owners of Stewart Manor location Carvel, to host a book drive, where the collected books were then donated to Nassau County Social Services on Charles Lindbergh Boulevard in Uniondale.
Nassau County Legislator Vincent Muscarella and Town of Hempstead Councilman Ed Ambrosino attended the Scouts’ Bronze Award Ceremony in the gymnasium of Stewart Manor Elementary School, presenting each Scout with a special citation. Senator Jack Martins and Assemblyman Ed Ra also sent certificates of recognition in honor of their achievement.
The Troop has been led by Christy Orquera, Jennifer Kightlinger and Lauren Scicutella since it formed in 2010. Half of the Juniors earned the next level in Scouting and are now Cadettes. They are beginning to form ideas for their next project to ultimately earn their Silver Award two years from now.
