Pelham Girl Scouts Earn Silver Award
Twelve Silver Award Girl Scouts from Pelham Service Unit were celebrated by the Village of Pelham Manor at the Village Meeting that took place on Monday, Oct. 28, 2024.
Read about their projects:
Girl Scouts unleashes the G.I.R.L. (Go-getter, Innovator, Risk-taker, Leader) in every girl, preparing her for a lifetime of leadership. The Girl Scout Leadership Experience is a one-of-a-kind leadership development program for girls, with proven results. It is based on time-tested methods and research backed
programming that help girls take the lead—in their own lives and in the world. Girl Scouts is a place where she’ll practice different skills, explore her potential, take on leadership positions—and even feel allowed to fail, dust herself off, get up, and try again! Girls learn not only how to acknowledge her own individual accomplishments, but those of the other women around her.
What is the Silver Award and why is it so impressive? The Girl Scout Silver Award is the second-highest award offered by Girl Scouts of the USA, and the highest award a Girl Scout Cadette (grades 6th-8th) can earn. It gives girls the chance to show that they are leaders who are organized, determined, and dedicated to improving their communities. Each Girl Scout completes a 50-hour project, either as part of a small team of Cadettes or on her own, that addresses a community issue and helps provide lasting, sustainable solutions to real-world problems.
The Silver Award project must meet one of three goals: create a permanent solution that can be used after the project is complete, educate and inspire others in the community or within Girl Scouts to be part of the change or advocate to change a rule, regulation, or law and encourage others to join.
During their project, Girl Scouts learn invaluable skills like leadership, community impact, teamwork, networking, and sustainability. Earning the Silver Award puts achieving Girl Scouts among an exceptional group of girls who have used their knowledge and leadership skills to make a difference in their communities and the world. Roughly 10% of Girl Scouts nationwide earn the Silver Award, a
wonderful achievement especially amongst the many demands of Middle School life.
Pelham Service Unit 2024 Silver Award Recipients were acknowledged by Pelham Manor Mayor Jennifer Monochino Lapey, Deputy Mayor and Police Commissioner Bridget (Breda) Bennett, Trustee and Public Works Commissioner Maurice Owen-Michaane, Trustee and Fire Commissioner Timothy Case, Trustee and Finance and Planning Commissioner Daniel McLaughlin and Village Manager Lindsey Luft at Village of Pelham Manor Town Meeting Monday October 28th, 2024.
9th Grade Senior Girl Scout, Emili Sokili, Troop 2834 who attends Pelham High
School, earned her Silver Award for Silver Award Project titled “Reducing
Individual Environmental Footprint”. Emili’s project addressed the issue of
land and water pollution and educating younger Girl Scouts to take part in
community clean-ups to be an active part of helping their environment. During
her project Emili created an Our Future on Earth Pledge in hopes to make Girl
Scouts and all individuals aware of how they personally contribute to the care of
their environment.
7th Grade Cadette Girl Scouts Evangelina Bellettieri, Jillian Caufield, Abigail
Hambright and Laila Sakhrani, Troop 2617 who attend Pelham Middle School,
earned their Silver Award for their Silver Award project titled “Girl Scouts
Plant Pelham Native.” This project addressed restoring native plants habitats
and ecosystems in their Pelham, NY community to help fight the climate crisis.
During their project Silver Award Project Team Girl Scouts Plant Pelham Native
(GSPPN) worked closely with mentor Tai Montanarella of local non-profit
Environmental Coalition of the Pelhams (EcoPel) and advocated to and
collaborated with town administration to consider the community benefits of
native habitats. Throughout their project Evangelina, Jillian, Abigail and Laila planted habitats in four separate locations throughout Pelham Manor. In total GSPPN eliminated roughly 5,000 square feet of lawn for native plant habitats.
9th Grade Senior Girl Scouts Julie Sakhrani, Mia Sakran and Julia
Anderson, Troop 2834 who attend Pelham High School, earned their
Silver Award for their project titled “Awesome ASL for Beginners”. This
project addressed spreading American Sign Language Awareness and
encouraging empathy and understanding in our community. Girl
Scouts connected with a younger Girl Scout Troop from the New York
School for the Deaf in White Plains and taught younger scouts and
community members basic ASL as well as the Girl Scout Promise in
ASL.
9th Grade Senior Girl Scout Ada Weishaupl, Troop 2834 who attends Pelham High School, earned her Silver Award for her project titled “Bringing Camp to the
Community”. This project addressed introducing the benefits of the camp experience to younger scouts and community members who may not be aware. Ada educated younger Girl Scouts and parents on the mental health and social benefits of camp as well as organized various experiences like s’more making, crafts, introduction to tent and equipment, and tie-dye.
9th Grade Senior Girl Scout Paz Marrero, Troop 2834 awho ttends Pelham High
School, earned her Silver Award for her project “Let's Be Active”. This project
addressed bringing awareness of the benefits of keeping yourself active and
your body moving. Paz created a workshop and patch program to teach children
how to make fitness part of their daily lives and organized a fitness obstacle
course challenge for younger Girl Scouts.
Pelham High School 9th Grade Senior Girl Scout Gianna Otero and Pelham Middle School 8th Grade Cadette Girl Scout Isabella Colon of Troop 1561 earned their Silver Award for their project titled “G&B Talk ADHD”. This project addressed awareness, promotion and empowerment of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). To support their project, Gianna and Bella created a portable patch program accessible to other Girl Scouts and community members, engaged the local community organization Pelham Supporting Families with Exceptional Children (SEPTA) and hosted author Peter Shankman to talk about his children’s book, The Boy with The Faster Brain.”
Here at Pelham Girl Scouts Service Unit 731 we are very proud of the twelve Cadette and Senior Girl Scouts from Troops 1561, 2617, 2834 who will be acknowledged for earning their Silver Awards formally by our council Girl Scouts Heart of the Hudson at the Annual Silver Award Ceremony June 7, 2025.
Please join us in congratulating the 2024 Pelham Girl Scout Silver Award recipients for their achievements: Gianna Otero (9th Grade) and Isabella Colon (8th Grade) Troop 1561 “G&B Talk ADHD”, Paz Marrero (9th Grade) Troop 2834 “Let's Be Active”, Ada Weishaupl (9th Grade) Troop 2834 “Bringing Camp to the
Community”, Julie Sakhrani (9th Grade), Mia Sakran (9th Grade) and Julia Anderson (9th Grade) Troop 2834 “Awesome ASL for Beginners”, Emili Sokoli (9th Grade) Troop 2834 “Reducing Individual Environmental Footprint”, Evangelina Bellettieri (7th Grade), Jillian Caufield (7th Grade), Abigail
Hambright (7th Grade) and Laila Sakhrani (7th Grade) Troop 2617 “Girl Scouts Plant Pelham Native”.
