Oxford Girl Scouts Earn Highest Award

Girl Scouting is one of the best places for young women to learn and excel. Among the thousands who participate, only a very few reach the highest level of achievement – the Gold Award.

In Oxford this year, two young ladies reached this pinnacle of achievement – Kim Adamski and Nicole Arrato.

To earn this award, they had to plan, organize and develop a project that will demonstrate their leadership skills and show a commitment to making their community a better place.  The project must be approved by the local Girl Scout Council and must involve many hours of dedicated work. With the help of an adult mentor, they are provided the opportunity to complete the project.

“The mentor’s role is to encourage and be a cheerleader, but the girls have to do all of the work,” said Karen Harper, the girls' troop leader. “It is such an honor to watch them grow in confidence and self assurance."
 
evolved from her interest in international studies and created a children’s program at the Oxford Library to teach world cultures.

“Each week, we used a storybook, a game, a snack, and a craft to learn about that day's country,” said Adamski, a senior at Oxford High School.

Among the many challenges she faced, she found that getting the official paperwork completed and spreading the word about her project were the most difficult.

“I discovered from my project that I am capable of running a program myself and not depending on adults to do it for me,” she added.

Her new confidence will help her as she heads this fall for UConn, Storrs, where she will major in business and minor in Spanish. Her parents, Tom and Connie Adamski, said they are very proud of Kim's accomplishments.

Nicole Arrato followed her voice talents to organize and lead a chorus of young girls who performed at local retirement homes. Called the ‘The Traveling Sunshine Chorus,’ the group spread the joy of voice to many appreciative senior citizens.

“I found that planning an organizing a chorus is much more difficult than just performing,” Nicole said. “It takes a lot of time and effort to put into a project, but the sense of achievement and accomplishment is well worth the effort."

Nicole, who is also a senior at Oxford High School, is heading this fall to Fordham University in New York to study Psychology and Law. 

On Wednesday, at the Stephen B. Church Memorial Town Hall, First Selectman Mary Ann Drayton-Rogers presented the girls their Golad Award Pin and certificates of recognition for their hard work and service to the community. Of the thousands of young women involved in Scouting in Connecticut, this year just 45 received the Gold Award, and Oxford is very fortunate to have two recipients. Their achievement not only is a credit to their hard work and dedication to service, it also speaks very well of a community that supports scouting and helps encourage young people to reach their potential.

Congratulations to Kim and Nicole, their families, mentors, leaders and we at Oxford Patch wish you well in your future endeavors.