Two Merokeans earn Girl Scouts’ highest honor

Merrick residents Connie Reilly and Heather Schmidt recently achieved Girl Scouts’ highest honor, the Gold Award.

To earn the honor, they each performed 65 hours of volunteer community service, developing action projects and promoting acts of kindness and goodwill.

Reilly, a Calhoun High School graduate, said she wanted to share her love of history with the children in her community and established a program called “Education Through the Years” for her Gold Award project. Working with a local historian, Reilly designed a children’s picture book of Merrick history. Reilly is now a student at SUNY Potsdam.

Schmidt, a Calhoun junior, centered her project around physical fitness. Attempting to make exercise more entertaining, she created a program called “Exercise in Action,” comprising a five-step exercise walk, and set up different stations at Washington Street Elementary School in Franklin Square. The walk is now part of recess at the school.

“We are proud of all the young women who earned their Girl Scout Gold Award this year,” said Donna Ceravolo, executive director of the Girl Scouts of Nassau County. “Only 5 percent of eligible Girl Scouts choose to take this rigorous path towards earning their Gold Award. We couldn’t be happier for those who achieved this award and really changed the lives of others and improved their communities in significant ways.”

The Gold Award project helps high school-aged Girl Scouts develop leadership skills and explore various career paths. The award requires up to a three-year commitment from recipients, giving them the opportunity to learn about arts and humanities, cultural and global relations, personal well-being, technology and science, environmental concerns and many other issues facing young women and the world today.