By the Troop Leaders of Girl Scout Troop #2299

On Sunday, November 18, all nine members of Troop #2299 Briarcliff Manor received their Silver Award, the second highest award in Girl Scouts. Each girl was pinned at a special ceremony held by the Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson Council at the Monroe Woodbury High School in Central Valley, NY. Troop #2299 was also honored as color guards for the opening flag ceremony before an audience of more than a thousand. Surrounded by family, project advisors, and Girl Scout mentors, it was a day for reflection and celebration as each girl was honored for contributions to her community.

The Silver Award is earned when a Girl Scout Cadet completes a take action project to meet a neighborhood need. It represents at least 50 hours of community service and teaches lessons of project management, team-building, time management, budgeting, and more. As eighth graders, members of Troop #2299 completed four projects in small groups. One group authored 4 original books for young children, had them bound, and distributed them to local libraries and schools. Another group built bluebird houses, posted them in community fields, and taught middle and high school students how to use them to preserve this threatened species. Two Cadets painted a mural to brighten a children’s classroom in All Saint’s Episcopal Church in Briarcliff Manor. Two other girls created The Dream Closet to recycle and repurpose party dresses for girls in Westchester and Kenya.

Together since kindergarten at Todd School, Troop #2299 members are now taking on new projects. As Briarcliff high school freshmen, they are building a Girl Scout website, helping to plant a community vegetable garden, and mentoring younger girls to achieve their Gold Award, the highest honor for Girl Scouts, in coming years.

Picture: (listed in order from left to right)
Standing: Kaho Maeda, Lauren Friedman, Kelly Monaghan, Erynn Altabef, Dana Sladkus
Kneeling: Allie Herskovitz, Lexi Grasso, Alena Galan