Girl Scouts earn Silver Award with TeeN HoPP

PINE PLAINS — Pine Plains Girl Scout Troop 514 was recently presented with a Silver Award from the Girl Scouts of America.The troop had been working toward the project for two years following strict guidelines for completion.“We started with six girls and were down to four who finished the project. When they were juniors they worked toward the Bronze Award. This was a big step up as far as what was expected of them,” said Troop Leader Patricia Hollick.The four girls, Katie Hanlon, Nicole Lindquist, Audrey Hollick and Megan Craig, had to choose a Journey, which is a book that guided the girls through their project.“The girls chose ‘Twists and Turns of Getting Along,’ which they chose back in seventh grade. They then tackled two social problems within their school. They chose to work on helping someone who is being bullied and how to get help if you yourself are being bullied,” Hollick said.The girls reached out to the Pine Plains Central School District and learned the appropriate routes for dealing with these issues, including recognizing key staff members and learning of all available resources.“They were inspired by a person they say is being bullied. They actually helped that person and became friends with them in the process,” said Hollick.The girls then worked with the Heart of Pine Plains (HoPP) community center to come up with a program to benefit their community.“They wanted to do a program for teens to spend time together that was outside of sports or clubs. They knew several kids who didn’t participate in sports but still needed a social outlet,” said Hollick.So the girls went before the HoPP board to present their program idea, which was ultimately accepted.“They called it the TeeN HoPP. They had to work hard to get it going. They needed to work with the school to advertise and have the event put in the morning announcements. They also had to go shopping for snacks. There were many different facets that taught them a lot,” she said.The program ran through June, at which point the Girl Scouts of America required a lengthy amount of paperwork from the girls.“They had a lot to fill out explaining the project, how it worked and what purpose it served. They had to write essays and even obtain a letter from the HoPP board,” said Hollick.Hollick commended the girls for doing all the work by themselves with only minimal help from herself and Leader Nicole Craig.“They really did come up with it all by themselves. It was such a great idea. We’re both very impressed with them,” said Hollick.Upon winning their award, the girls celebrated with a party.“It was so nice to see them complete this project. It was so long, but they were very passionate about it. They couldn’t have done it without the help of the HoPP and HoPP board members. We really do appreciate all they’ve done to help the girls with their achievement,” said Hollick.The girls are looking forward to beginning work on their Gold Award projects.“The next step is more involved and they have to work individually. It’s harder because they work well as a group, but now each girl gets to really show her own strengths,” she said.