Local unit makes impact at Girls Scout Awards banquet

From staff reports
Published: May 1, 2008

On April 21, Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Council hosted its third annual Girl Scout Awards and Recognitions Banquet in Salem. The banquet honored the council’s Gold Award recipients and recognized volunteers who have served Girl Scouting in an exceptional capacity. The evening’s special guests included keynote speaker Kathy Cloninger, CEO of Girl Scouts of the USA, and master of ceremonies Nicky Bowyer, radio announcer for Clear Channel Communications.
Some 43 girls in the council’s 36-county service area achieved the Gold Award during the 2007-08 year. The Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout can achieve. The seven steps required for girls to earn the Gold Award require years of effort. Girls must earn several awards along with logging 30 hours of leadership hours and 40 hours of career exploration. All this must be completed before even beginning the Gold Award project, which requires at least 65 additional hours of planning, work and evaluation. The Girl Scout Gold Award project must benefit the community in which the girl lives, as well as prove to be sustainable or make a lasting impact for years to come.  Eleven of the awardees were able to attend the awards banquet this year, including six Scouts hailing from the local area.
Emily Hays, a member of Girl Scout Troop 262 of South River Service Unit in Stuarts Draft, built a playground at her church, Waynesboro Mennonite. The church had been attempting to put up a playground for nearly 20 years. Through fundraisers and the support of her church, the playground was constructed. Emily has been a Girl Scout for 12 years. She is the daughter of Virginia and Herb Hays. Her advisor was Debbie Koiner.
Whitney McCormick, a member of Girl Scout Troop 567 of South River Service Unit in Waynesboro, conducted a blood drive in her community. The goal of Whitney’s project was to increase awareness of a blood shortage and to collect blood for the local blood bank. The project recruited 31 donors; 25 pints of blood were collected, which could potentially save 75 lives. Whitney has been a Girl Scout for 12 years. She is the daughter of Celia and Daniel McCormick. Her advisor was Barbara Powell.
Kimberly Huckstep, of Crozet, and Michelle Fortune, of Afton, members of Girl Scout Troop 547 in Western Albemarle Service Unit, conducted a project titled “Fit for the Future” that encompassed a series of sessions with children to teach them about staying healthy. The children learned about weight and height, brushing their teeth, washing their hands, hearing their heartbeat, taking their vital signs, and other activities. Kimberly has been a Girl Scout for 10 years and is the daughter of Paula and James Huckstep. Michelle has been a Girl Scout for 12 years and is the daughter of Joyce and Allan Fortune. Their advisor was Linda Reaser.
Nina Pike, a member of Girl Scout Troop 333 of Spotswood Service Unit in Harrisonburg, conducted a project titled, “Trailblazers: Clear and Maintain Trails in Our Woodland Environment.” With the assistance of recruited help, she cleared trees, sticks, and obstacles on the trail, and collected trash at the Todd Lake Recreation Area in the George Washington National Forest. In addition, Nina created a DVD on trail etiquette to teach the community about respecting the environment. It was shown on the Internet on “Teacher Tube” and “You Tube,” where teachers and students can view educational and musical videos. Nina has been a Girl Scout for seven years.
Masha Pike, also a member of Girl Scout Troop 333 of Spotswood Service Unit in Harrisonburg, conducted a project titled “The Fun Has Begun at Sunnyside; Sharing Art Talents with Memory Impaired Sunnyside Retirement Community Residents.” Masha used art to bring joy and fun to the retirement-community residents and allow them to experience something new. The project provided a variety of classes from plate decorating to abstract painting. To celebrate all the activities in the project, the residents participated in an art show and enjoyed watching a video that Masha made showing all the fun they had had together during the project. Masha has been a Girl Scout for seven years.
Nina and Masha are the daughters of Lynne and Tom Pike. Their advisor was Ann Dunkin.
Courtney Thompson, a member of Girl Scout Troop 3061 of Rockbridge Service Unit in Glasgow, conducted a beautification project for the Rockbridge SPCA. With help from fellow Girl Scouts, the project included cleaning up flowerbeds, pulling weeds, trimming overgrown hedges, and adding new mulch. The girls also put in a retaining wall, planted various plants, and painted furniture.  Courtney has been a Girl Scout for 11 years. She is the daughter of Robin Thompson, who also served as her advisor.
Girl Scouts of Virginia Skyline Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring girls to build courage, confidence, and character through programs that develop life skills in business, entrepreneurship, science and technology; provide adventures and challenges in sports, the environment and the great outdoors; and encourage girls to give back to their communities through service projects conducted locally, across the United States and internationally.