Helping students with special needs earns Grace Pantelis a Gold Award
Grace Pantelis, a recent graduate of Wellington C. Mepham High School in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, is not just your typical teenage girl — she wants to change the world.
She juggles two jobs, Girl Scouts, cheerleading, an internship, and a social life and likes to make the time to help others. Pantelis chose to help students in her high school district for her Girl Scouts Gold Award project.
As a member of Girl Scout Troop 953 since kindergarten, Pantelis was required to do a project for her Gold Award, the highest in scouting for girls. She decided she wanted to make a difference in her community by working with special education students at Sanford H. Calhoun High School.
“The Gold Award is like a community service project,” Pantelis said. “You can do it involving anything. So, I chose to work with the Calhoun students and make an impact on their lives.”
Pantelis said that Theresa Catalina, a chairperson of Special Education for Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, visited her leadership class and inspired her to work with children with special needs for her project. Once Pantelis received permission to work with the students of Calhoun High, there was no stopping her.
“I went to their afterschool clubs…and I taught them about nutrition and making good decisions — healthy decisions. I did a few lesson plans. I had to do very interactive work with them … so I did a lot of crafts,” Pantelis said.
She worked with the students during an afterschool program called the Breakfast Club. Each time she went, she made sure to produce a different topic to teach. The Bellmore native said that special education teacher Joshua Drescher helped her come up with ideas for these lessons and often collaborated with her on this project.
“We would bounce off of each other’s ideas, basically,” Pantelis said. “We did a lesson about Sun Day and being protected in the sun and how important it is to get outside and get your vitamin D. We did another lesson on Earth Day and the importance of reusing and recycling. We did one about mindfulness and focused on different breathing techniques that can help them.”
“I feel like Grace is a natural-born leader,” said Lisa Pantelis, Grace’s mother. “She’s very determined, she’s responsible.”
Lisa added that she feels that Grace has gained most of her positive qualities and leadership skills from being a Girl Scout most of her life.
“I just think growing up in that environment and plus … being an athlete all her life and having teammates, made her a well-rounded individual,” Lisa said. “I know that she’s a natural leader because it’s always just … whatever she does, she’s always one of the top.”
Pantelis has plans to continue acts of community service soon as the 18-year-old will attend the University of Mississippi, this fall to study marketing and business.
“The next biggest thing that is kind of going on is I’m rushing a sorority and that’s one of the reasons that I’m kind of doing this — to get closer to the Oxford community, that’s where Ole Miss is located, and they do a lot of charity,” Pantelis said. “They all have philanthropies. They give back to certain organizations. So, I’m looking forward to giving back.”
