There have been a total of 1,498 girls who have received the Girl Scout Gold Award from the Girl Scouts of Central Maryland. This year, there are 78 new recipients that will join that honored rank, and 9 of those Girl Scouts are from Harford County!

KELSEY ALMS

Patterson Mill High School, Troop 234, Yrs. in GS: 13

“Mental Disability Awareness Program”

Kelsey partnered with the Abington branch of the Harford County Public Library to develop an Autism Awareness program for elementary school-age children. Kelsey led extensive fundraising efforts in order to purchase Boardmaker software for the library’s Sensory Story Time program. She then created a program for the library to continue using that was specific to children who have sensory integration challenges. Kelsey created a blog and presented all of the information about her project and mental disability awareness to students at her high school.

***

ALEXANDRA BOWEN

North Harford High School, Troop 1391, Yrs. in GS: 8

“Cancer-Clip-A-Thon”

Alexandra donated supplies and raised awareness about the “Look Good, Feel Better” program for patients undergoing chemotherapy at Upper Chesapeake medical Center in Harford County. The program focuses on providing chemotherapy patients with wigs and other cosmetology products. Alexandra held a “clip-a-thon” at a local salon in order to gain supplies for the program and engage the public in her cause. Her local salon will host her event again next year and Alexandra created informational brochures, which she distributed to other salons so that they could hold their own clip-a-thons.

***

NATASHA CHARITONUK

Fallston High School, Troop 1775, Yrs. in GS: 13

“Outdoor Education Center”

Natasha created an outdoor education area at Fallston High School, complete with problem-solving activities, in order to offer the school’s students new learning experiences. Natasha first surveyed the school’s teachers in order to better understand their needs and wants before starting her project. She then led a team of volunteers to clean up the area and install large, outdoors Scrabble, Chess/Checker, and Jenga game boards. The Junior Honor Society and Green Club at Fallston Middle School have agreed to maintain the area as a yearly service project.

***

KAYLA GIBSON

The Catholic School of Baltimore, Troop 2607, Yrs. in GS: 12

“All Dogs Go to the Gym”

Kayla built dog agility equipment for Baltimore County’s 4-H program so that the children in the program could have the opportunity to learn how to care for animals, develop new skills, and gain confidence. After leading a team of volunteers to build the equipment and professionally train the children how to handle dogs, Kayla demonstrated her program, in front of a large audience, at the Baltimore County 4-H fair. The Dog Superintendent of the 4-H program will continue to use Kayla’s equipment and her dog agility program.

***

EMILY HECKMAN

C. Milton Wright High School, Troop 590,Yrs. in GS: 11

“A New Chapter for Sarah’s Hope”

Emily chose to improve the lives of women living at Sarah’s Hope, a homeless shelter in Baltimore, by sharing her passion of reading with them and promoting the long-term benefits of literacy. Emily led a team to reorganize the shelter’s library in accordance with Baltimore’s “100 Book Challenge” and held a reading event there for the women and their children. Emily also trained shelter volunteers on how to maintain the library. Her actions have inspired other Girl Scout troops to keep holding reading events there.

***

MARISSA IWANOWSKI

Patterson Mill High School, Troop 234, Yrs. In GS: 13

“Shared Space”

Marissa created a designated, comfortable, and safe place for Harford County’s youth group, Young Life, to attend meetings and hold events. Young Life is a faith-based organization that focuses on promoting positive lifestyle choices amongst teens. Marissa led a team of volunteers to raise funds for building materials and then construct the space, which includes benches, a brick fire pit, and a retaining wall. The Young Life group is excited to finally have a space to meet and will host annual cleanup events in order to maintain it.

***

EMILY LaHATTE

Fallston High School, Troop 2520, Yrs. in GS: 12

“Youth Group Revamp”

Emily reinvigorated participation in the youth group at St. Mark Roman Catholic Church in Harford County. Emily first led a team of volunteers to revamp the physical structure of the group’s meeting space in order to make it more inviting. To promote attendance at the group’s meetings, Emily created a video commercial advertising the youth group and shared it with the congregation. Finally, Emily implemented an organizational model for the future members of the youth group to follow so that the cohesion she instilled with the group can be maintained, long-term.

***

KELLY MELLARKEY

Aberdeen High School, Juliette, Yrs. in GS: 12

“Baltimore Checkerspot Habitat Restoration”

Kelly became aware of the dwindling population of the Baltimore Checkerspot butterfly, so she organized a team of volunteers to restore the butterfly enclosure at the Anita C. Light Estuary Center in Harford County. Kelly’s restoration provides Checkerspots with suitable habitats for reproduction and installed an informational sign for visitors of the Estuary Center. Kelly also educated a younger Girl Scout troop about the importance of the Checkerspot and taught them how to maintain the enclosure for the future.

***

MEGAN PONIATOWSKI

Edgewood High School, Troop 484, Yrs. in GS: 13

“Girls Get Healthy”

Megan created, planned, and executed an event in order to educate girls in her Harford County community about the importance of living an active lifestyle. She coordinated with fitness and nutrition experts to have her event consist of four stations: Zumba, relay races, gym games, and healthy snacks. The first three stations emphasized ways to get active and the fourth station focused on health eating education and the importance of hydration. Participants rotated around to each station and reported back that they both had fun and learned something.