Kutztown Junior Girl Scout Troop #153 earned their Bronze Award this year by taking care of an area outside of their meeting place.
They planned, planted and decorated throughout the year for the different holidays and seasons. The Bronze Award is the highest award that can be earned as a Junior Girl Scout. The troop consists of eight 5th grade girls: Emilee Berk, Jayna Berk, Kylie Bishop, Marnie Derr, Abigail Ide, Korrin Kelly, Brittany Noecker, and Anya Tackack. They meet every other week for 2 hours at Greenwich Elementary School.
The decision was to take care of the flower bed outside of the school and make it look more inviting. When a special occasion, holiday or season was coming up, the girls would meet and do all the planning of how they wanted the area to look and what supplies were needed. At their next meeting, the girls would go outside and complete everything they planned. It did not matter to them if it was raining, snowing or if the sun was shining. They went out and did what needed to be done.
For the October/November months, they worked outside and picked weeds and planted mums. A “Scarecrow” was made to place in the area to greet all staff, students and visitors. Dressed in a Kutztown Cougars T-shirt, blue jeans, straw hat, and a great big smile, he could be seen by anyone who visited or even drove by the school.
The winter months were a challenge for the girls, since it was so cold, snowy or rainy each time they planned to go outside to do something. They were very dedicated and no matter what the weather was like outside, they went out and did what needed to be done. They hung big ornament balls in the tree for Christmas and placed some winter themed yard stakes. For Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day, the girls made red hearts and green shamrocks to hang in the tree. At Easter time, the girls hung plastic Easter eggs.
The girls wanted to leave something behind to remember them. They began to plan their “Spring Finale”. With supplies donated by Berk Excavating and Hauling, LLC and mulch donated by Highland Estates, the girls began their finale by making a flower box out of old pallets. On the box, the words Welcome to Greenwich were attached along with the troop number. The box was placed in front of the tree and flowers were planted in it. The box is located at the entrance of the school parking lot, welcoming anyone who visits. Once the flower box was in place, the remaining flowers were planted throughout the flower bed. When the planting was finished, the girls spread the mulch around. As a finishing touch, the girls added a few solar lights shaped like hummingbirds, dragonflies and butterflies.
Not only did the girls earn the Bronze Award they also earned a few badges along the way, Gardening and Flowers. They also completed the aMUSE Journey, a requirement of the Bronze Award.
The girls worked extremely hard on all of their projects and badges and definitely made the world a better place. We are very proud of all the hard work and dedication they put into their project every time they met. Great job girls!