East Meadow's Residents Honored for Highest Girl Scout Achievement

East Meadow residents Kelly Chappell, Melissa Kester, Sara Lapine, Elizabeth Li Puma, Victoria Li Puma, Shweta Shah and Danielle Syers joined the record number of 119 Girl Scouts in Nassau County that have fit a minimum of at least 65 hours of community service into their busy schedules.

These young women developed Gold Award community action projects, promoting acts of kindness and goodwill, which ultimately make the world a better place. Their efforts earned these girls the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor that a young woman can achieve in Girl Scouting.  

Kelly Chappell knew that children, while eager to have a pet, might not realize the responsibility that goes with it. For her Gold Award project titled “Pet Care,” she created a PowerPoint presentation, a coloring book, word search and origami craft that were geared towards young children to teach them how to care for pets.

Chappell recently graduated from , where she was a member of the Science, Italian and National Honor Societies and the Future Business Leaders of America. She volunteers at the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter and . She will be attending Hofstra University in the fall.

Melissa Kester was inspired by her brother, who has special needs, for her Gold Award project “A Different Mind.” Her research on special education helped her create a bullying workshop for teens in her community. Her workshop educated students about people with special needs in an effort to create understanding and stop bullying. Kester recently graduated from East Meadow High School, where she was a member of the National Honor Society, Co-President of the French Honor Society and a volunteer with the Special Education Teacher Association. She will be attending SUNY Cortland in the fall.

Sara Lapine knew that not everyone has the luxury of a birthday celebration. She wanted to give homeless children a birthday party for her Gold Award project. In order to gain support for her project, Lapine researched homelessness statistics and created an educational presentation for her community. After gathering donations, she created a game booklet and put together birthday boxes with all the supplies needed for a party, which were delivered to the shelter for use on any child’s special day. Lapine recently graduated from , where she was a member of the English Honor Society and the President of the Spanish Honor Society. She plans to attend Nassau Community College, where she will study nursing.

Elizabeth Li Puma designed her Gold Award project to educate young children on the importance of maintaining dental hygiene. By presenting PowerPoints, display boards and a demonstration with a soda-stained hard-boiled egg to show the effects of not brushing, she kept the children interested in learning proper brushing techniques. Li Puma recently graduated from East Meadow High School, where she is a member of the National Honor Society, French Honor Society and kickline. She is a Gold Award Scholarship recipient and will attend the University of Delaware.

Victoria Li Puma’s interest in the marine environment gave her inspiration for her Gold Award project. For her project, she gave a presentation called “Protect the Ocean!” to children and their parents. Her talk focused on the importance of recycling and not polluting the ocean with trash. She also created fun coloring pictures and word search activities for the children, while she went into greater depth with the parents. Li Puma is a junior at East Meadow High School, where she is a member of the National Honor Society, the French Honor Society and kickline.

Shweta Shah wanted to educate the younger generation about how important recycling is for their environment. This led her to develop her Gold Award project “Going Green,” which consisted of a series of presentations on the three “R’s” of the environment: reduce, reuse, and recycle. Ms. Shah had the children do a fun, environmentally friendly craft while she educated them about this important topic. She recently graduated from East Meadow High School, where she was a member of the National Honor Society, Key Club, Model Congress and Future Business Leaders of America. She plans to attend the University at Buffalo, where she is the recipient of a Girl Scout Gold Award scholarship.

Danielle Syers earned her Gold Award for her project titled “Never Forget,” that concentrated on the Holocaust, with a correlation to racism and anti-Semitism, as they exist today. Her aim was to educate her community about how they could make a difference by standing up and stopping these intolerant acts. Syers delivered a series of presentations, designing influential posters and creating a video on the subject. Syers recently graduated from East Meadow High School, where she was a member of the Gay-Straight Alliance and the tech crew. She will attend SUNY at Oswego in the fall.

"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 five percent of eligible Girl Scouts choose to take this rigorous path towards earning their Gold Award. We couldn’t be happier for those that achieved this award and really changed the lives of others and improved their communities in significant ways.”