Five West Orange Girl Scouts earn prestigious Silver Award

WEST ORANGE, NJ — Five Girl Scouts from West Orange Troop 20030 have earned the prestigious Silver Award, the second-highest award a Girl Scout can receive and the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette can earn.

The award-winners are all ninth-graders and have been friends and Girl Scouts since they were all students at Redwood Elementary School; they are Laura Roth, Nicole Ng, Shruti Parekh, Sabrina Lewis and Jaime Dolegwoski.

The Silver Award earned by Girl Scouts “gives you the chance to show that you are a leader who is organized, determined and dedicated to improving your community. Earning the award puts you among an exceptional group of girls who have used their knowledge and leadership skills to make a difference in the world.” To earn a Silver Award, a Scout must identify an issue they care about, develop a community service project either on their own or with a team of their choosing, implement their plan, and finally reflect on the project and share their story.

Roth, Lewis and Dolegwoski worked together on their project to improve the West Orange softball field where the girls all play softball. During an away game, Dolegwoski noticed that many towns had very nice fields for the girls to play on. Lewis has a younger brother who plays on the PAL field in West Orange and she noticed how nice his field was but that fields at Degnan and Kelly, where a majority of the West Orange softball games are played, were not nearly as nice. After learning that different groups run different fields in the town, they met first with Superintendent Scott Cascone and spoke at a Board of Education meeting prior to the pandemic shutdown. The girls were nervous about speaking at the meeting but it was important to them to see improvements made. Following the meeting, the girls met with Cascone and several township officials, helping the girls to learn about bureaucracy. The township received a grant that was chosen to upgrade the softball field during the shutdown, which now features a turf field and scoreboard.

Ng’s project was “Asian Racism: The Hate and the Hurt.” She researched her topic and found numerous examples of anti-Asian racism, which has been especially prevalent during the pandemic. She also sent out a survey to many of her friends to get their feedback on anti-Asian racism. Ng learned that oftentimes it’s not that people are trying to be offensive, but instead they are afraid and/or aren’t educated about the matter.

Parekh’s project was “Boost Your Immune System.” She conceived her project during the pandemic, as she was personally impacted when her grandfather contracted COVID-19. After her grandfather’s hospitalization, Parekh was inspired to help her family, friends and community by using natural ingredients to stay active and healthy. According to Parekh, through her project she learned how to take better care of herself and to meditate.

  Girl Scouts, West Orange High School