Dexter Girl Scouts Earn Gold Awards

Five girls from Dexter received the Girl Scout Gold Award at a ceremony held this month at the Eastern Michigan University Convocation Center in Ypsilanti.  The girls were honored by Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan for their leadership and dedication to community service.

The Girl Scout Gold Award is earned by only 3 percent of Girl Scouts, ages 14 through 18, across the country.  The highest achievement in Girl Scouting, it calls upon each girl to develop a service learning project. The Girl Scout Gold Award is the equivalent of the Eagle Scout Award in Boy Scouts.

Elizabeth Aubuchon, of Troop 40612, designed and painted a wall mural for the Dexter food pantry, Faith in Action, with help from friends and family.  Tony Beaser, a painter and family friend, assisted Elizabeth with painting techniques and donated supplies for the project.  also donated paint for the project.Her parents are Donna and Keith Aubuchon.

Carly Glahn, of Troop 40609, created two games for the Ele’s Place carnival.  Ele’s Place is a grief support organization for children ages 3 to 18 who have lost a loved one.  Carly made a bean bag toss and a lollipop tree with a question on the back of each lollipop.  In addition, Carly created four puppets and a puppet stand used for therapy and play.  She also hosted a puppet-making workshop for the community, teaching 30 children at Generations Together. Her parents are Cindy and Jim Glahn.

Chantal Singer, of Troop 40609, decorated 14 classrooms in St. Joseph’s Church Religious Education Building in Dexter for her “Religious Education through Scripture” project.  Working with community volunteers, family and friends, she chose inspirational verses from Christian scripture, painting the words and illustrations in bright colors to accompany the verses. She is the daughter of Dianne and Raymond Singer.

Savannah Surfus, of Troop 40220, made an environmentally focused website for children.  At www.wix.com/craftthegreenlife/green-life, kids learn about recycling and reusing and try craft activities using recycled household items. Savannah tested her “Living A Green Life” project with teachers, parents and children to ensure it would be user friendly and age-appropriate.  She set up a separate e-mail account for users of the site to send her pictures of their projects. Her parents are Stephanie and Jeff Surfus.

Louisa Woolcott, of Troop 40220, wrote a booklet of activities to do in Washtenaw County.  She organized them by season, highlighting free or low-cost events happening throughout the year.  The activities include county fairs, Dexter Daze, Saline Fair, bowling alleys, local parks and lakes. She also devised an “Ann Arbor Road Trip” which takes participants around many of Ann Arbor’s local attractions including Le Dog, the Baird Carillon and the Rosenthal Cube. The booklet was made available at local coffee shops and youth groups.  Lousie is the daughter of Noreen Wolcott. 

This press release was submitted by the Girl Scouts Heart of Michigan.