Girls reflect on Scout project that honored boy

North High School students Francesca Melisi and Gia Cerulli, both 14 and from Malverne, took on a tough subject for the project that would earn them the Girl Scouts’ Silver Award, the second-highest rank in the organization.

The girls, both members of Troop 2337, decided to establish a memorial site to honor Zachary Ranftle, the Memorial Junior High School seventh-grader who was killed when he was hit by an SUV as he walked to school last Dec. 11.

“We could not believe a fellow Scout had been taken at only 12 years old,” the girls wrote in their proposal. “We wanted to show what that means to us, so we decided what better way to achieve our Silver Award than to honor Zachary’s memory.”

Ranftle was a member of Boy Scout Troop 109 in Valley Stream.

The girls met with Principal Anthony Mignella at Memorial and got permission to plant a tree with a plaque on school grounds, and to hold a special ceremony there. A young tree was donated by Mauro Landscaping, of Oceanside, and the girls visited businesses along Hempstead Avenue in Malverne to solicit donations for the plaque, which cost $500. Mignella provided leftover money from the school’s fundraisers to help with the cost.

The girls also interviewed Ranftle’s friends, who shared memories of a boy who was considered smart, friendly and well liked by his peers and teachers.

“I felt emotional at the meeting,” Melisi said. “These little things they noticed about him, like how he made them laugh, and now they don’t have that person anymore.”

When they were ready to plant at the site, behind Ranftle’s school’s baseball field, the school’s janitor dug the hole for the tree and the girls planted flowers around its base.

At the ceremony on July 11, the girls recited a poem and read a speech about the memories Ranftle left his friends with.

Melisi said the experience made her reflect on life’s fragility, and the potential consequences of not being mindful. “It just made me realize that life is short, and you can’t take anything for granted,” she said. “We wanted people to remember little things, like not paying attention, can take someone’s life.”