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| Athena of the Month - Gabby By: Nicola Pioppi Gabby is thirteen years old, and she is already a great leader. Three years ago, when Gabby was a Junior Girl Scout, she and her friends Annie and Carolyn decided to form a Girl Scout troop called the “Owlets” for 3-4 year old girls who are too young to join the Brownies. “I like hanging out with younger girls,” she said, “and I didn’t think it was fair that there wasn’t a Girl Scout troop for them.” Gabby and her friends meet before the monthly meetings to plan the events and to get supplies. Twice per year they collect just five dollars from the girls in the troop, and this is enough to pay for snacks and supplies for the year. “We do all kinds of events. We make gingerbread houses and presents for the parents at Christmas, and at Halloween we have a scavenger hunt. We do a lot of art projects, and we make cookies. In the spring we plant flower pots.” That already sounds like a lot, but Natalie Carstens, who nominated Gabby as an Athena girl, mentions that the girls visit nursing homes to spend time with the residents. They also sell lemonade for Alex’s Lemonade Stand, a nationwide non-profit organization that raises money for pediatric cancer patients through children’s lemonade stands. It was, fittingly enough, founded by Alexandra “Alex” Scott, a four-year-old cancer patient. If it sounds like Gabby has her hands full with creating and running her own scout troop, wait ‘til you hear about her other extracurricular activities. In addition to school, Gabby has horseback riding lessons once a month, and she practices Pinkarate (pink karate), a form of karate which focuses on self-defense for girls. There are eight belts, and Gabby is already a brown belt, just a few steps below a black belt. She is also a member of the school volleyball team, which won its first game. Gabby is also very involved in her own Girl Scout troop, in addition to running the Owlets. Her troop focuses on camping and other outings, rather than badge earning, although they do the traditional cookie sale as well. Her Owlets project has earned her the Bronze Award and this year she, Annie, and Carolyn are working towards receiving a silver award, the second highest award, for their efforts. So what does the future of the Owlets look like? “We’re trying to get more girls to join, and once the original girls are old enough, I think they’ll be the new troop leaders.” It sounds like they have a great teacher for a leader, Gabby! |
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