East Meadow Girl Scouts earn high honors

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East Meadow Girl Scouts were recognized with the most prestigious awards earned in the organization after completing projects to impact positive change in their community.

During an award ceremony on June 6 at W.T. Clarke High School, scouts were honored with the 2019 Gold Award, which is the highest honor a scout could earn, the 2019 Silver Award, which is the second-highest honor, and the 2019 Bronze Award, which is the highest honor and Junior Girl Scout can earn.

The Gold Award is earned by roughly six percent of the roughly 2.5 million Girl Scouts registered nationwide. The recipients at the June 6 award ceremony included Ariana Adames, whose project “Coding a Future For Girls” was designed to bolster female representation in the computer science and “STEM” fields. She hosted a number of educational workshops in the East Meadow School District and created the website www.codingafutureforgirls.weebly.com, which includes downloadable coding software, lessons and projects.

Sofie Ramirez focused her project, “T.E.A.M. H.O.P.E.” or “Tolerance, Equality, Acceptance, Mindfulness, Humanity, Optimism, Positivity, Education” on combating anti-Semitism and intolerance. She hosted her own seminars, met with the Anti-Hate Division of the Nassau County Police Department and interviewed Holocaust survivors. To ensure her projects longevity, she incorporated it into East Meadow’s B’nai B’rith Youth Organization chapter.

The Silver Award recognizes girls who have completed their Cadette Journey, which paves the way for their Take Action Project. Some of this year’s Take Action projects included “Don’t Furr-get to Save a Pet,” created by Megan Hand, Corinne Rufolo, Emily Verdon and Kate Verdon, of Troop 1050. Pets cannot always be revived with the use of oxygen masks, and not all fire departments are equipped with specialized masks designed to fit their faces or snouts. The girls raised funds and purchased pet oxygen masks for the Albertson and Williston Park fire departments.

Another includes the “Squirrel Nesting Boxes and Education Program,” created by Nicole Mandracchia and Rachel Strada, of Troop 1486. They built four nesting boxes for squirrels at the Bailey Arboretum in Locust Valley, where they created an educational program for children on Eastern Gray Squirrels.

The Bronze Award also goes to girls who have completed a Take Action Project in order to better their community. For her project, “Go Green Games,” Gabriela Klein, of Troop 1727, created games and activities out of recyclable material and hosted a game night with her troop. Another Bronze Award went to girls of Troop 1046, who installed a “Buddy Bench” at McVey Elementary School to combat bullying and foster inclusion by inviting students to sit on the bench when they feel alone and need a buddy.

Girl Scouts of Nassau County recently East Meadow residents who contribute to the growth of Girl Scouts, recognizing Jennifer Morris, Jeanette Rotolo, Teresa Soto, Carmel Mendoza, Colleen Stark, and Linda Melaccio at its 27th Annual Adult Recognition Awards Ceremony at LIU Post in Old Brookville.

Morris was awarded with an Appreciation Pin, the GSNC Spirit Award went to Rotolo and Stark, the Thanks Badge went to Soto and Mendoza and the 30 Year Service Pin and 35 Year Tenure Pin was awarded to Melaccio.

The recipients of the East Meadow Association of Girl Scouts 2019 Gold Award are as follows:

Troop 1073: Ariana Adames (2018), Dana Kleiner (2018), Sofie Ramirez and Mary Zaradich

Troop 3674: Sabera Hossain, Rebecca Kleiner, Emily McGovern and Gillian Ramirez

The recipients of the East Meadow Association of Girl Scouts 2019 Silver Award are as follows:

Troop 1050: Megan Hand, Corinne Rufolo, Emily Verdon, Kate Verdon, Madison Gerstein, Jenna Festa, Alexandra Occhiuto, Shannon Leahy, Belinda Lee and Giselle Mustafich

Troop 1486: Nicole Mandracchia and Rachel Stradia

The recipients of the East Meadow Association of Girl Scouts 2019 Bronze Award are as follows:

Troop 1046: Juliana Algna, Jamie Carbonari, Casey Henry, Keyleigh Mahaffy, Amanda Morris, Samantha Morrison, Sabryna Robinson, Erin Schwartz and Kaitlyn Slobodin

Troop 1287: Gabriela Klein

Troop 1563: Riley Carlson, Bella Cianci, Madison DeLeon, Kayla Gismondi, Emily Hauser, Isabella Hirsch, Eva Reyes, Ava Ruperto, Ellie Santacreu, Elianna Stincone and Supriya Sukhu

Troop 3175: Althea Borleo, Teresa Bottari, Petrina Correia, Serena Desai, Melinda Godhi, Ava Iadevaia, Melina Pagiatis, Jillian Rodriguez, Arianna Rincon and Sofia Zito