RADFORD- Girl Scouts from Radford Troop 877 recently earned the Bronze Award, the third highest award in Girl Scouts of the USA and the highest honor fourth and fifth grade Girl Scout Juniors can achieve.
The Bronze Award requires a minimum of 20 hours per Girl Scout and collectively the girls devoted 128 hours to the award. After earning the Agent of Change Journey award and exploring project ideas, the girls decided to partner with the Radford Public Library to create their “Discovery Packs” Bronze Award project. The girls each selected an individual theme and developed a tote full of interactive items based around that theme.
The Radford Public Library offers a huge “Thanks!” to Girl Scout Troop #877 for the addition of these new themed Discovery Totes that will be available to patrons for checkout soon. The Girl Scouts researched topic areas of interest, then assembled and donated six new totes full of themed activities, such as Bugs and Butterflies, Dragons, Birds, Cooking, Horses, Astronomy, and Rocks. The library is also grateful for the Girl Scouts’ donation of new supplies and activities for the library’s “I Love Virginia State Parks” themed backpacks that are available for checkout through a partnership with the Virginia State Parks.
Catherine Fae, Radford Public Library Youth Services Librarian, worked with Troop #877 to identify an area of community need and to help structure the project.
“It’s been wonderful to see the girls work so hard on their project and I love imagining the smiles of Radford children as they enjoy the library’s amazing Discovery Totes,” said Fae. “Working with Troop #877 has been a great experience for Radford Public Library and I’m so proud of the contributions from our young citizens.”
To assure project sustainability, the troop plans to periodically inventory the totes and replenish or replace items as needed. On the experience of earning the Bronze Award, the girls said that it “teaches you how to be responsible and how to sustain a long-term goal,” and that it “helps our community to be a better place and helps others when they need it.”
Throughout the project, the Girl Scouts learned key leadership skills and gained a sense of pride knowing they have contributed to furthering other kids’ knowledge about a variety of topics.
Submitted by Melanie Fox
