Thursday, October 1, 2026
Ever since she was a Girl Scout Daisy at the age of 5, Woodmere resident Audrey Sasso aspired to achieve the Gold Award — the highest honor earned in Girl Scouts of the USA.
Sasso, now 19, turned that dream into reality on June 17 after completing her project, with the construction of a sensory garden, filled with a mix of plants and textured materials to mimic the five senses.
The Gold Award is earned by eligible Girl Scouts in the ninth through the 12th grades after committing at least 80 hours addressing an important issue in the community and then leading a team to find a sustainable, measurable solution.
Sasso was a member of Girl Scout Troop 737, which serves the Five Towns and Valley Stream — when she applied to receive the award in the summer of 2025, but missed the deadline.
Sasso, who is now pursuing her bachelor’s degree in forensic science at the University of Central Florida, said she loves to do gardening and wanted to select a project that combines environmental and health awareness.
“We have a little garden at my house,” she said. “But my grandma has a really cool garden that I like to help out with.”
For her project, which she started in 2024, Sasso constructed a sensory garden — an outdoor space designed to engage the five senses — at the Hewlett-Woodmere Community Garden Learning Center, just behind the Hewlett House on East Rockaway Road, in Hewlett.
Because the sensory garden receives partial sunlight due to trees, Sasso said she spent extensive time researching plants that could grow under those conditions, while also picking plants to help with “the declining pollinator population.” Her list included plants such as cornflowers, daffodils and lavender.
She was guided by a 2025 study led by NatureServe, a non-profit organization that provides scientific data and tools to guide biodiversity conservation across North America. The study found that 22.6 percent of more than 1,500 species in the best-studied native pollinator groups assessed in mainland North America, north of Mexico, were at an elevated risk of extinction.
“We were limited to the plants we could find and use,” Sasso said, acknowledging her team of a half-dozen people. “We had to try and cultivate the beans, and that’s much harder than just growing the plant.”
Sasso said she often sought advice from her troop leader, Laura Fratti, who also has a love for gardening. Sasso also said she drew inspiration from her senior Scouts, like Fratti’s daughter, Stella, now 20.
“My troop was only three girls,” Sasso said. “I got to see Stella do her projects and all her accomplishments, and I wanted to do that too. I like helping people.”
Fratti, who’s been troop leader since 2014, said the group began volunteering at the community garden in 2016. From that moment, Sasso and her fellow Scouts learned about gardening and the differences between fruit and vegetable gardens and butterfly gardens.
“Part of the projects was to educate the community about the importance of planting non-native species, planting gardens that attract pollinators, and help with the monarch butterfly population,” Fratti said. “She wanted to piggyback off that experience.”
Aside from Sasso’s research, the project was challenging, Fratti said. Sasso was expected to meet deadlines and wait for warmer weather to allow the soil to soften, while juggling her schoolwork at Kellenberg Memorial High School.
“I’ve had a lot of experience with girls who have started the project,” Fratti said. “They get into their senior year of high school, say they’re too busy, and give up. Audrey and I had talked about this from when she was little, and even though Stella completed her Gold Award last year, I told Audrey I’d stick with (her) to the end.”
During Sasso’s time with the troop, Fratti said she’s seen a lot of growth in her. When the group ran annual cookie sales, Sasso, who’s naturally shy, learned how to “put herself out there,” Fratti added. At the community garden, she showed children how to fertilize soil and maintain a garden.
By the time Sasso put together her Gold Award project team, she already had the skills to lead.
“It was her vision,” Fratti said. “She taught them how to build this sensory garden, how to use the tools and everything.”
Sasso completed her project in the summer of 2025, before she left for college. Whether Sasso’s in the community or not, she said that just knowing the sensory garden exists is enough.
“Even if no one is directly involved with it,” she said, referring to her team, “knowing that it should last long after I leave for school and start a job, it’s there for the community and the gates are open. Anyone can go and enjoy it.”
