Seven achieve gold status

Seven East Meadow teens were honored on June 3 for reaching the Girl Scouts’ highest achievement – the Gold Award. Each recently completed a community project.

Melissa Kester’s undertaking, “A Different Mind,” was a workshop denouncing bullying and ignorance of special needs children. Group activities put attending teens in the place of a special needs child. Melissa will study Special Education at Cortland University this fall.

Animal lover Kelly Chappell aspires to become a veterinarian and developed a program teaching young children the importance of care and respect for pets. She also worked with the Hempstead Animal Shelter. Kelly will attend Hofstra University this year.

Sara Lapine’s empathy for the homeless prompted her “Cakes for Kids” project. Using corporate donations, she created birthday boxes of goodies for children forced to spend their birthday in a homeless shelter. A thank-you letter told of a six-year-old boy who had his first ever birthday party as a result of her endeavors. Sara is finalizing her college plans.

Her desire to become an orthodontist motivated Elizabeth LiPuma’s “Save Your Smile” program. Her seminar included demonstrations of proper brushing and distributions of toothbrushes and floss. She is headed for the University of Delaware.

Elizabeth’s younger sister, Victoria LiPuma, titled her project “Protect the Ocean.” She demonstrated to youngsters the difficulty in removing oil from feathers in her workshop and taught the need to conserve water, clean beaches and protect the shoreline. She will enter her senior year at E.M. High School.

It was all about the environment in Shweta Shah’s “Going Green” project. Her seminar highlighted recycling ideas, such as using plastic bottles as planters. She will attend the University of Buffalo in September.

Remembering the Holocaust is important to Danielle Syers. For her project she worked closely with local teachers to expand course instruction on this significant part of history. Danielle will be attending SUNY Oswego.

Several of the awardees have been Girl Scouts since kindergarten. Sara Lapine attends Clarke High School. The rest are East Meadow HS students who completed their projects under the guidance of resident Lisa Chappell. Chappell has been an East Meadow Troop Leader for 13 years. “I’m proud of these amazing, confident and caring girls, so deserving of this award. You did it!” she declared.

Town of Hempstead Supervisor Kate Murray was among those who acknowledged the girls at the East Meadow High School ceremony. She cited their “depth of commitment,” calling them “the next generation of leaders.”

East Meadow is home to 683 Girl Scouts. There are 21,000 members in Nassau County. Fewer than three percent reach Gold Award status.