Ready to help your community and earn one of the highest awards in Girl Scouting? Cadettes can team up with a small group of fellow Girl Scouts or work on their own. To earn the Silver Award, you will research an issue you care about, make a plan to address it, and then take action to improve your community.
Are in sixth, seventh, or eighth grade
Are a registered Girl Scout Cadette
Have completed a Cadette Journey
Please reach out to the SilverAward@gscwm.org address to submit Proposals, Final Report, and questions
Find an issue you care about.
Build your Girl Scout Silver Award team or decide to go solo.
Explore your community and think of how that issue affects your community.
Choose a Silver Award project that can lead to lasting change.
Develop your project.
Make a plan and put it into motion.
Reflect, share your story, and celebrate.
When you support Girl Scouts earning their Silver Award, you’ll help them see their own power and be by their side as they make a lasting change in their community. Download this guide to get started today.
Troop #64528: Mendon, Upton
Lyla Hill, Kate McCobb, Maya Evelyn Williamson
The Soul Fuel Café in town didn’t have allergy-free options available and Lyla, Kate, and Maya set out to change that! They worked with a professional chef to develop and test baked good recipes that are gluten, dairy, and nut free that the café could include as menu options. They donated an allergy-free portable kitchen, including a mini oven, all utensils, and accessories, as well as created an instructional video and held an in-person baking class for the café’s bakers to ensure these options remain available. They also created a webpage that lives on the Soul Fuel Café’s website, which includes allergy-free health information, recipes, a survey, and photos. Lyla, Kate, and Maya learned that time management can be challenging and developed a love of baking.
Troop #30853: Cherry Valley, Leicester
Natalia Kallio, Isabella LePoer, Hannah Martin, Dakota Zinkevich
Natalia, Isabella, Hannah, and Dakota created a dog park in their town as a safe space for dogs to play and their pet owners to socialize. They built equipment, designed and acquired signage, and beautified the park with flowers. To help promote the new dog park, they held a photo booth at the town’s harvest fair where people could take pictures with their pets and started a Bark Park Facebook page before turning the park over to a Bark Park Committee to care for the park moving forward. Natalia, Isabella, Hannah, and Dakota learned how to better communicate with governmental officials in their town and amongst themselves.
Troop #40487: Easthampton
Brianna Chartier
Learning that the bat population in her area is decreasing and that bats are important for pollinating plants and controlling the mosquito and tick populations, Brianna decided to educate the community about the bat problem. She created a website with information about bats, the importance of controlling the number of insects that can spread communicable diseases, and how to build bat houses to increase their population. She built and installed bat boxes at Nonotuck Park, advertising her educational website using QR codes on the boxes. Brianna discovered that even though things don’t always go as planned, there’s always an opportunity to go back to the drawing board and regroup.
Troop #30502: Sterling
Emma Cooper
Ever since Emma was in elementary school, she has had to stand while waiting for the bus to come and noticed how dangerous it is when others sit on the curb. She created a safe space for children and parents to sit while waiting for the bus. She made a pamphlet to educate, encourage, and inspire the students to do the right thing and stay safe while they are waiting for the bus, which she distributed to the Evergreen Circle families and the bus company. Emma discovered that she loves helping her community and learned how to make good decisions.
Troop #64528: Upton
Emerson Boissonneault, Ella Martin
Emerson and Ella honored those who have passed away fighting cancer and those who are battling cancer in their community by installing a Cancer Awareness Memorial at the Upton Fire Station. To increase cancer awareness and community involvement, they held an event during Upton’s Heritage Day and invited members of the community to paint rocks with the names of loved ones who had passed or who are battling cancer and added them to the landscape of the memorial. The memorial started out honoring firefighters because of their increased exposure to many cancercausing carcinogens while fighting fires but ended up honoring the entire community. Emerson and Ella learned how to use a sawmill, as well as developed communication, time management, and budgeting skills.
Troop #30502: Sterling
Alicia Contreras, Kaelyn Perry, Maria Petronino
After being in school for four years and not understanding the process of checking out a book from the library, Alicia, Kaelyn, and Maria decided to reorganize and update their library. After surveying all of the students, they added new books and removed older books based on the results of the survey; this survey will be used yearly to keep the selection current and relevant. They then created a video educating the students on how to navigate the newly remodeled library and how to check out a book that the school will use for years to come. Alicia, Kaelyn, and Maria learned the importance of time management and not waiting for the deadline to get work done.
Troop #30993: Shrewsbury
Claire Troy
Claire observed the amount of food that was being wasted every day by the students in the school cafeteria and decided to do something about it. She created a slideshow and signs that she brought into the 3rd-grade class to educate them on composting, and began a composting project at Paton School complete with the building of a compost bin. She further educated the community on the benefits of composting by setting up a table at two farmers’ markets and building an additional seven compost bins for members of the community. Claire is now more comfortable writing emails, talking to adults, and has learned the importance of making plans early.
Troop #11106: Northborough
Lana Ingerslev
While planting flags on Memorial Day, Lana heard a comment about how dirty the gravestones were, and how they deserved a little respect, and knew right away what she wanted to do to earn her Silver Award. After researching the proper way to clean the stones and the best materials to use, she hosted a scrubbing party and got to work. She created an instructional pamphlet including why it’s important to maintain the gravestones, what she did to restore them, instructions on how to clean them, and information about some of the people who are buried in the cemetery that she distributed to the First Parish Universalist Unitarian Church, Trinity Church, and the Historical Society of Northborough. Lana discovered that she gained better situational skills and developed more confidence in herself when asking people of authority for help.
Troop #64587: Wilbraham
Allison Demetri
Allison hiked the entirety of the White Cedar Swamp and McDonald Nature Preserve to map out the trails and record information like steps, miles, and the amount of time it took to hike each trail as well as health information for hikers. She made and installed two “Take a Rock, Leave a Rock” boxes at each of the trailheads to provide an interactive element for hikers and their families. She made a video that informs the community about the map and the rock boxes on the town’s trails, which are connected to Wilbraham Middle School. Allison developed her leadership skills by taking on the responsibility of organizing her project with her team members.
Troop #64510: Fiskdale
Avery Adams
After seeing that the Sturbridge Trails Committee was looking for ways to bring in more visitors to the trails, Avery decided to take her love of reading and get creative. She designed a StoryWalk throughout the trails at Heins Farm using the book by Kobi Yamada, Maybe, and created a scavenger hunt with a QR code for children to complete as they read the book. She worked with the Joshua Hyde Library to ensure that the StoryWalk program continues with the Summer Reading program. Avery learned that it is important to collaborate with others.
Troop #30760: Lancaster
Melanie Gould
Learning to pivot during COVID was something Melanie wasn’t expecting when she began her Silver Award project but soon learned that sometimes, change opens the door to better options. When children go to the UMass Memorial Emergency Room and need to wait, they often get bored and this can lead to more stress. She formed a team and put together colorful individual bags filled with mini coloring books, game books, crayons, materials for small crafts, and activity pads that are being used when children check into the ER. She provided how-to instructions and supplies to the ER and posted about the need for these activities to help others continue to supply the ER in the future. Melanie learned that if something doesn’t end up working out, she just needs to find another way to make it happen.
Troop #40487: Southwick
Ruby Kadlewicz
When puppies don’t receive the proper training and socialization, they can become adult dogs who act out when in the community. Ruby observed multiple obedience classes and worked with an obedience trainer to put together an educational tri-fold to be used during her presentation at the Labrador Retriever Club of Pioneer Valley Well Dog Clinic for breeders across New England. She built a teeterboard for the Sandy Meadow Farm Dog Obedience School to be used in puppy classes to help with socialization for years to come. Ruby learned that she has the tendency to think about giving up too easily, but that through hard work she has the strength to push herself and finish what she started.
Troop #66271: Hudson
Kristin M. Borella
The entrance to Hudson High School was not looking as inviting as it did when her grandfather opened the school many years prior and Kristin wanted to change that. Working with a local landscaping company and a very hands-on team, she began planning the new entrance to the school and the garden renovation. She made a presentation to the Rotary Club of Marlboro and secured ongoing maintenance from the Hudson Garden Club and a Hudson High School club. Kristin learned that a “project” by definition is a collaboration of people and activities to achieve a particular goal and that she definitely has a village of extremely dedicated people.
Troop #64587: Wilbraham
Charlotte Powell
There was no usable map for the McDonald Preserve or Cedar Swamp as Charlotte found out during the pandemic when she made her way through the trails with trial and error. With the help of a local designer, she designed a map for the entire preserve with helpful information about hiking, a QR code that links to the website, and built a kiosk made out of all recycled materials. She partnered with the Open Space Committee to maintain the kiosk and update the map as needed with the digital map she provided and held a community hiking event. Charlotte discovered that sometimes she just has to do something when she knows she can do it, despite the doubts of others.
Troop #11572: Bolton
Emily Beyranevand, Abigail Fantana, Allison Mortimer
The girls of Troop #11572 volunteered at the Stow Food Pantry and learned that the patrons of the pantry needed to learn more ways to use the food that they were receiving from the pantry. After asking the community for low-cost healthy recipes, they made the recipes, tested them, made adjustments to them, and took photos of the food. They created and printed 100 cookbooks that were distributed to the pantry’s patrons; they also provided a digital copy to the pantry. Emily, Abigail, and Allison learned how to plan a long-term project and that communication is key to making things happen.
Troop #30760: Lancaster
Sarah Giger
To raise awareness of a local shelter and the lack of reading materials there, Sarah used her love of reading to host a bilingual story hour at the Thayer Memorial Library and created a brochure to further educate the community. She created a library at the homeless shelter with over 400 donated books in excellent condition from various genres for young children to teenagers. She contacted all local libraries to encourage them to donate extra books to the shelter after their annual library book sales to keep the selection new and current. Sarah learned how to work with others to organize events and that her organizational skills helped her accomplish her goals.
Troop #11087: Shrewsbury
Marina O’Farrell
Marina noticed that most toy drives around the holidays were only aimed toward giving gifts to young underprivileged children. She decided that the teens in her community should have the same opportunity and worked with her school to hold the first teen toy drive to benefit the Shrewsbury Youth and Family Services. Her project will continue yearly with Special Ed and Student Council students facilitating the drive. Marina discovered that she can lead and direct attention to issues that are important to her and that she can accomplish a lot if she works hard and doesn't give up.
Troop #40487: Southampton
Lauren Benard
Creating a website with information geared specifically toward children that would help families to safely learn many different outdoor cooking methods, give kid-friendly recipes for each method, and emphasize safety considerations for each method was the focus of Lauren’s Silver Award efforts. After creating two surveys, one for the general public and one for Girl Scout and Boy Scout troop leaders, she received nearly 1,000 responses and was able to gauge the interest and need of the website she wanted to create, and received additional suggestions on what to include like fire building, food storage, and Leave No Trace. She shared her website on many online pages and to all of those who responded to her survey. Lauren learned that it’s okay if things don’t work out and she needs to start over; sometimes the second start is the one that is successful.
Troop #12652: Hadley
Elizabeth Rotunno
Elizabeth planted a garden in the Hopkins Academy School courtyard made entirely of Massachusetts native perennials, complete with a bench and a pollinator sign. She wanted to ensure that Hopkins played an active role in Hadley’s biodiversity and environment, educate the students and community about ecology and the environment, and provide a lively, uplifting outdoor space for students. Information about the garden is available in the school superintendent newsletter and on multiple school-affiliated Facebook pages. It has become part of the school’s lesson plans about pollinators, native plants, and biodiversity and the Garden Club will continue to educate students and maintain the garden. Elizabeth learned to be the kind of leader she would want to have, even if it seemed difficult and would take a lot of work.
Troop #64510: Fiskdale
Alana Williams
Alana’s love of flowers and how they help the environment was an easy match when the recreation director from the Town of Sturbridge Recreation Department reached out with the need to beautify an area of Sturbridge land. After getting the approval of the town board, she was provided the plot and budget to work with, and designed and installed a raised pollinator garden with a bench in the area of the Cedar Pond Recreation grounds. The Town of Sturbridge Recreation Department will manage the upkeep of the flowers in the garden. Alana discovered that she has very good critical and problem-solving skills and that she can be patient and assertive.
Troop #30930: Shrewsbury
Amy He, Meena Lakshmanan, Aarya Patel, Shruti Sivashankar
Amy, Meena, Aarya, and Shruti discovered that their town lacked flower gardens with native plants that could help local pollinators thrive and reproduce, and focused their project on establishing a pollinator garden in their town park with plants native to our area. Their project addressed the decline and importance of pollinators, especially to the families who walk on the trails near the garden. They established a website to educate and encourage their community to plant more gardens with native plants or to add more native plants to their existing gardens. Amy, Meena, Aarya, and Shruti learned how to prepare a plot of land into an ideal area for plants to live in and how to make the garden look aesthetically pleasing and informative.
Troop #30993: Shrewsbury
Kaitlyn Minton
Wanting to bring awareness to the LGBTQ+ teen community of the available resources in the library and a safe space to explore, Kaitlyn’s project first raised the funds to purchase new materials to add to the library. She educated the public about the resources through informational posters put up at the library, the local farmers’ market, the community bulletin, the school announcement board, and Facebook postings. She held group reading opportunities for teens at the library where they read a book by Michael Bronshi, A Queer History of the United States for Young People, and held open conversations about the accomplishments and contributions of the LQBTQ+ community. Kaitlyn learned that if she believes something strongly enough, nothing can stop her.
Troop #64526: Brookfield, East Brookfield
Lillian Egan, Megan Holm, Alison Regan
The girls of Troop #64526 wanted to beautify the pavilion and snack shack at their local recreation and sports park to make it more inviting and cheerful to the community. They sanded and stained the tables in the pavilion, restained the pavilion’s back wall to cover up graffiti, and gave the snack shack a new blue base coat of paint. They then painted murals on all four sides of the snack shack, inviting the community to join them in painting the Community Garden Handprint mural together. Lillian, Megan, and Alison felt like they were part of something bigger when the community participated in their project.
Troop #34015: Pepperell
Elisea Gutierrez
The goals of Elisea’s project were to create a place for her community to be able to spend time and enjoy the outdoors, to create a better environment for the ecosystem, and to increase the biodiversity. Coordinating with the local Invasive and Native Plants Committee (INPAC), she made a permanent change to reduce the number of invasive plants within the Keyes-Parker Conservation area and replaced them with native plants, trees, and shrubs. These new plantings will continue to improve the biodiversity, soil, and watershed potential, give the local community a space to enjoy, and the wildlife will be able to thrive and exist there. Elisea discovered that she was able to plan the project and put it into action and that she really enjoys planting and caring for them.
Troop #11122: Amherst
Hattie Holabird, Leah Mendelsohn, Eden Polak
When Hattie, Leah, and Eden spoke to the facility manager of Camp Lewis Perkins to find out what needs the camp had, they soon found out that the wetlands stood in the way of there being functional trails on Hill Top Trail. They designed and constructed 12 bridges across the wetlands, opening the trails up for hiking again to all future campers. Working with the site volunteer and facility manager, the girls found the right materials, built the bridges using power tools, and carried them out to the trail to install them. They made posters about their project to educate and encourage future hikers to use the reclaimed nature trails. Hattie, Leah, and Eden learned to be flexible, know their strengths, and when to use them, but also know when to listen.
Troop #11122: Amherst
Charlie Hope, Evelyn Hope, Milo Osborne
Being seasoned and frequent campers at Camp Lewis Perkins, Charlie, Evelyn, and Milo knew they wanted to benefit the camp and the Girl Scout community with their Silver Award project. They walked the trails at CLP and saw that the signs on all of the trails were cracked, had fallen down, or were severely faded and decided to replace the signs and make the trails safer and easier to follow. The signs they created are easier to see with bright colors and are made with quality materials and are waterproofed to last for many years. Charlie, Evelyn, and Milo learned to work as a team, even when they were hot and tired, and to never give up and work hard for the things that matter.
Independently Registered Girl: Rochdale
McKenzie Settle
Discovering in middle school that there wasn’t a lot of representation and acceptance for the LGBTQ+ community, McKenzie wanted to create a safe space for teens to be themselves. Holding two Gay-Straight Alliance meetings at the public library was the first step, followed by putting together a list of books regarding mental health and the LGBTQ+ community and holding a book drive to acquire these books were the next steps. A permanent shelf was dedicated to LQBTQ+ tweens and teens at the Leicester Public Library and an invitation went out to middle and high school students to visit the library and learn about representation in the community, and see the nearly 100 new books. McKenzie learned how to connect to people and that being a proud ally and not being afraid to speak up can inspire others to help the cause.
Troop #40160: Hampden
Juliet Danehey, Maya M. Marquez, Katie Pronovost, Yazmin Tafolla-Chapin
The team from Troop #40160 hosted an event for elementary school-aged children at the Hampden Public Library to teach them the importance of saving our planet and to show them ways that kids can take action to reduce their carbon footprint. At the end of the event, they donated educational materials, books, activity sheets, and games made from recycled materials to the Hampden Public Library that can be used to celebrate Earth Day each year going forward. As part of their program, they set up a display table with resources and books and took a tour of the library to show the participants the newly installed hand dryers that another team from their troop did as their Silver Award project. Juliet, Maya, Katie, and Yazmin learned the importance of saving OUR planet together and enjoyed the challenge of teaching this to young children.
Troop #12652: Amherst
Lindsay Franz
Lindsay’s goal for her Silver Award project was to make it easier for the MN Spear Library community to access books in a format that was visual and easy to access, and to contribute toward activities that the library could provide to children. She created online padlets of various genres of books, such as graphic novels and kids’ chapter books, and made activity kits to help inspire kids to have fun being creative that families could take home and work on together. The padlets and activity kits will be kept and maintained by the library. Lindsay learned that she had to be flexible to complete her project and that earning her Silver Award can lead to other opportunities.
Troop #20088: Westborough
Prisha Konduru
Prisha realized that there is a shortage of basic necessities to live a healthy and hygienic life available to people in need and created “The Essentials Cabinet” at the Westborough Public Library. She spent 10 weeks at the local farmers’ market educating the community about this need, not only in her community but worldwide, with a presentation and board display. She has ensured the sustainability of her project by creating an informational video and connecting with the Westborough Public Library’s youth volunteer group, WAVE, who will rotate shifts taking care of the cabinet. Prisha learned that she needs to be firm when leading a project and how to ask for help when she needs it.
Troop #30502: Sterling
Mattea Morini, Maren Paquette, Hannah Rausch, Alyssa Trombley
When the local sports field had to shut down because of the potential of mosquito-borne viruses being present, Mattea, Maren, Hannah, and Alyssa decided to tackle this issue by helping to increase the bat population on the fields. Working with their science teacher and getting approvals from the Sterling selectpeople, they decided that constructing and building bat houses on the fields would make the biggest impact. They created a slideshow to help educate the community, posted it on YouTube, included instructions on how to build bat houses, and worked with the middle school’s Conservation Club to maintain the houses. Mattea, Maren, Hannah, and Alyssa learned that things go a lot smoother when they communicate not only their ideas but their concerns as well.
Troop #11706: Holden
Eleanor Curran, Constance Currier, Lila Myers, Kaylee Scanlon
Eleanor, Constance, Lila, and Kaylee cleared a 200-foot-long nature path through a section of wood at the Holden Community Garden and lined the path with rocks and branches to make the path clear and easy to follow, using pavers and small stones to finish it. They worked with a Daisy troop to paint puns and jokes on the rocks to make the path more enjoyable and invited the Davis Hill Elementary School students to use the path. Eleanor, Constance, Lila, and Kaylee learned that they do not need to figure things out on their own and that they can depend on their peers to help out.
Troop #20400: Holden
Alison Grady, Carolina Hamburger Medailleu
Alison and Carolina are both very passionate about mental health awareness and wanted to share that passion with their community by creating a picture book about mental health in children titled, There Is So Much More To Me Than What You See, using characters to show mental health in its many forms, and the coping mechanisms used to help them through their challenges. They printed their book and the book has been cataloged in the Gale Free Library for children to access. They prepared a presentation in the library for Mental Health May, displayed their book for the month, and read the book to a group of preschool students. Alison and Carolina learned the importance of destigmatizing mental health challenges and the impact that stories can have to make someone an empathetic person.
Troop #11582: Uxbridge
Rory Goyette
Rory wanted to get her church community more involved in the parish’s faith formation program after COVID and get the community back together. She developed Halloween-type activities based around the saints that were offered in six different rooms at The Catholic Community of Sacred Heart that the church parishioners could participate in. She set up a volunteer system to get volunteers to help decorate the rooms and run the children’s activities and created a lesson plan so the church can make this an annual event. Rory learned a lot about time management and the importance of getting things done on time.
Troop #12960: Easthampton, Westfield
Katie Hinkle, Maddie Timmerman
Katie and Maddie created and then placed several cat boxes outside in their community to keep feral cats warm and to provide them with a safe place to have kittens. This work was done with the Homeless Cat Project, which then will take care of the cats and kittens. The girls made an educational video to educate the public about the feral cat population and the needs of area shelters, and a video about the Homeless Cat Project itself and the trap and release program. These videos can now be found on multiple shelter and community websites. Katie and Maddie learned that they are capable of helping their community and impacting the feral cat population.
Troop #64556: East Longmeadow
Susannah Cooper
Susannah made and decorated two wooden benches that were installed at the Birchland Park Middle School, and dedicated them to the LGBT+ community in her town. She created a slideshow that was presented to the school committee that has over 180 views, and made morning announcements at the school about the benches and bringing awareness to the LGBT+ community. Susannah learned that in order to reach your goal, you have to keep asking and continue moving one step at a time.
Troop #11784: Holden
Alexandra Belliveau, Molly Ellis, Abigail Flournoy
Alexandra, Molly, and Abigail led a homelessness awareness campaign at their school with posters, flyers, and morning announcements. They developed a collection program within their communities and supplied Veterans Inc. and Walking Together with Blessing Bags containing necessity items for those in need, which will continue through the Jewish Community Center and Immanuel Lutheran Church. The girls learned that by working together as a team they could accomplish a lot more and that communication is key.
Troop #30622: Millbury, North Oxford, Worcester
Ayden Blanchette, Savannah Cioppa, Julia Merriam, Allison Ulfves
The girls of Troop #30622 held two very successful holiday programs for the communities that Pernet Family Health Services provides for. They established a process and procedure for securing donations, volunteers, and funding so that these programs will be able to continue yearly and provide non-emergency resources to the families of this community. Ayden, Savannah, Julia, and Allison learned that they enjoy working with younger children, how to work as a team, and the importance of organizing to accomplish your goals.
Troop #Juliette: Athol
Allison Belliveau
Allison constructed over 30 birdhouses that were placed along a new birdwatcher hiking trail that is located within the Cutthroat Brook Tree Farm in Athol and placed placards containing information about the birds along the trail to educate visitors to the trail. She held multiple guided tours through the birdhouse loop for her community. Allison learned that you have to speak up a little when things get chaotic and step up to the plate.
Troop #11242: Conway
Mary Burt, Hannah Davis, Caroline Makosiej, Lilly Novak
Mary, Hannah, Caroline, and Lilly sewed care bags that were then filled with personal hygiene products for members of their community who were displaced from their homes due to safety concerns. The care bags were then provided to the Conway Fire Department, Police Department, and NELCWIT. There is now an ongoing collection bin in the Conway Town Hall and supplies are available for other Girl Scout troops to continue providing care bags to the community. The girls learned that you have to be persistent and keep trying to get the results you are looking for.
Troop #12808: Longmeadow
Rayna Gross, Abigail Richard
Rayna and Abby educated their community on the importance of composting by creating a video on tips and tricks, how to compost, and why it’s important, that now lives on the Longmeadow Department of Public Works’ website. They held an in-person workshop teaching their community about the importance of composting where attendees learned how to begin composting on their own to get people started with their compost bins. Rayna and Abby learned how to work collaboratively to accomplish a common goal that they were both vested in.
Troop #12808: Longmeadow
Maia Oh, Julianna Quinlan, Trevi Sandberg
Maia, Julianna, and Trevi worked with the town of Longmeadow to purchase and install a dog waste stand at Bliss Park to keep the park clean for dog walkers and hikers. They held a community dog-walking event to introduce the new stand to the town. Maia, Julianna, and Trevi learned the value of persistence, and problem-solving skills, and that there are a lot of layers when working within the town government.
Troop #64773: Westborough
Meredith Kelley
Meredith built and installed a buddy bench at Hastings Elementary School and had the students decorate the new bench. She created pamphlets and a video presentation that will be shown to students yearly about the proper use and value of the buddy bench. Meredith discovered she is skilled in the use of power tools and developed her communication skills.
Troop #11914: Hadley
Elena Conklin, Ruby Pfeiffer
Elena and Ruby developed a project booklet consisting of self-care tips, ideas about caring for ourselves while exercising, and the benefits of hiking that was made available online and in print at the town's Parks and Recreation Department and library. They created a letterbox on Mitch's Way to inspire children in kindergarten through grade six to get outside and do something active. Elena and Ruby learned that having a backup plan is always helpful because things don't always go the way you planned them.
Troop #330838 Millville, Uxbridge
Rachel Coleman, Karley Petion
Needing to do more than just a pet needs drive, Rachel and Karley built benches for the playroom at Pawfect Life Rescue. They educated the community about the needs of the rescue center by creating a flyer, posting on social media, and had stickers made promoting the center's rescue efforts. Rachel and Karley learned the importance of project management and that compromising can sometimes be difficult.
Troop #Juliette: Holden
Erin Connor
Erin developed a book club that met weekly to talk about the book I Will Always Write Back by Caitlin Alifrenka and Martin Ganda. Members of the book club participated weekly in slideshow presentations, answered questions about the book, listened to guest speakers to learn about the cultures of Africa and Ghana, and wrote weekly to their global pen pals. Erin discovered that she can make a huge impact on the world just by leading the way and found a new sense of responsibility for global awareness.
Troop #30123: Ashburnham
Skyler Packard
Working with several funeral homes and long-time Girl Scout volunteers, Skyler created a resource booklet for families to use when their Girl Scout passes away that honors their loved one's Girl Scout service. Her booklet was printed and distributed to multiple funeral homes covering over 10 communities. Skyler learned that it felt pretty good to create something that would be so helpful for others and that she will not procrastinate on future projects.
Troop #30838: Uxbridge
Julia Clark
Julia created an informational video for World Rhino Day for Southwick’s Zoo and held an educational tabling event to raise awareness about rhino conservation and poaching. She also created an informational video that is now part of the permanent display at the rhino habitat at the zoo as part of their interactive kiosk. Julia learned how to interact with people and that she had to be more outgoing and social to be able to educate others.
Troop #12635: Agawam, Springfield
Lauren Carrasquillo, Gabriella Carrasquillo, Kathryn Clark, Abigail Gil
The girls of Troop #12635 educated their middle school and a group of students at Springfield College on the effects of vaping on the body and mind. The girls conducted a pre-survey to assess prior knowledge, created a bulletin board and presentation to educate their audiences, and administered a post-survey to assess what their audience learned about the risks of vaping. Lauren, Gabriella, Kathryn, and Abigail learned how to collaborate, listen to each other, and that persistence gets the job done.
Troop #11942: Worcester
Addison Daly
Addison held knitting lessons for the girls in her troop and at the Burncoat Center for Arts and Wellness, where she then donated the scarves they made to Abby's House. She created an instructional video and flyer to continue to educate others on how to knit scarves and to encourage donations. Addison discovered that she has a natural teaching ability and the ability to change her teaching style with different students.
Troop #30123: Ashburnham
Georgia Duclos
Georgia worked with the Ashburnham Police Department to hold a community Kid's Safety Day to teach children and adults about internet safety, including stations on oversharing, thank you cards for first responders, and Kids Safety Kits. The school resource officer will continue the Kids Safety Kits during open house nights at the school and a display has been installed in the Public Safety Building thanking first responders. Georgia learned that even though there were a lot of decisions to be made and a lot of roadblocks, with a lot of hard work, she held a successful event that she is very proud of.
Troop #11900: Douglas
Michaela Boulette, Kaylie Ciccone
Michaela and Kaylie worked with Dog Orphans and created videos and a Facebook page to educate the public on how to make healthy homemade dog treats and dog toys for their furry friends. The girls held a car wash to increase the awareness of Dog Orphans' needs, and the needs of their dogs looking for furever homes and passed out educational dog facts coloring sheets to children as well as homemade healthy dog treats. Michaela and Kaylie's confidence in speaking to people grew throughout their project and learned that hard work and determination result in positive outcomes.
Troop #12948: South Hadley
Nora Matzen, Zoey Mordecai
Nora and Zoey worked with their local Council on Aging and various children's organizations to deliver handmade children's cards to the senior citizens in their community. They installed handmade letter drop boxes at four different children's organizations, hosted a kick-off event at their local library, and enlisted the commitment of the organizations to continue holding card drives in the future, including an in-class card making craft activity as part of the curriculum at the elementary school three times a year. Nora and Zoey discovered the importance of to-do lists and planning, and that it is important to set boundaries with your time and to effectively manage them.
Troop #30239: Rutland
Abigail Bouley, Emily Ryan
Abigail and Emily created allergy awareness school displays and posters throughout their school and community. They wrote and published a book called, Living with Food Allergies, and donated copies to multiple school libraries, as well as the town library. Abigail and Emily discovered that they work best with other people and writing a book is a lot of work.
Troop #11675: Northborough
Paneet Kandola, Isabella Thompson
Paneet and Isabella designed and planted a perennial community garden for the Northborough Senior Center, including pollinator-friendly flowers for the butterflies and bees. They designed and developed a self-watering system for the eight different planters. Paneet and Isabella learned that they are good at collaborating and working as a team.
Troop #64773: Westborough
Mary Durnan, Annastasia LeLacheur
Mary and Annastasia built two picnic tables for the pavilion at Bowman Conservation Area in Westborough, which increased the number of people using the pavilion and outdoor space. The girls made a presentation to fellow Girl Scouts about their project to help inspire other girls to strive for the Silver Award. Mary and Annastasia discovered they had strength in leading people, problem-solving, and developed other skills by stepping out of their comfort zones.
Troop #30652: Northborough
Niko Conway
Niko educated the community on the importance of wearing masks with posters and stickers, and by setting up a donation area in a local store. She taught a team to sew the masks, created a slideshow to teach others, and donated over 500 masks with handmade cards attached to her local food pantry, Nativity Preschool, and Lowe's Variety. Niko learned how important communication is and how to do market research.
Troop #11947: Athol, Orange
Mackenzie Downing, Arabella Malo
Mackenzie and Arabella educated their local community about the importance of protecting pollinators by hosting three informational booths at town fairs that had games, arts and crafts, informational handouts, seed bombs, and three raffles for pollinator stations. They created a YouTube channel with instructional videos on how to make butterfly houses, bee water stations, and bee houses as well as an informational video on how to protect pollinators. Mackenzie and Arabella learned that they are comfortable talking with people and sharing information with them and that they could truly make an impact.
Troop #30216: Grafton, South Grafton
Claire Bresnahan, Tessa Cacciapouti, Ava Walker
Claire, Tessa, and Ava repainted the faded recess lines at South Grafton Elementary School. Based on the results of a school-wide survey, the girls also created 10 STEAM Kits to be used in the classroom by teachers, a STEAM Kit refill bin, and indoor and outdoor recess activity kits. Claire, Tessa, and Ava learned that helping people feels really good and that if you need the help of the community, all you have to do is ask.
Troop #11809: Gardner, Hubbardston
Brielle Goodwin, Isabel LaBelle, Olivia Plouffe
Brielle, Isabel, and Olivia educated the public about the importance of increasing the bat population and the dangers of mosquitos at can drives, lemonade stands, and with a poster campaign. The girls built six bat houses and hung them at their local walking path at the recreational field to help control the mosquito population. Brielle, Isabel, and Olivia learned that they can overcome their fears and that they were more confident than they realized.
Troop #40160: Florence, Hampden, Wilbraham
Giana Hall, Olivia Marquez, Antonia Mascaro, Amelia Persaud
The girls of Troop #40160 earned enough funds to install and maintain hand dryers in the Hampden Town Hall, reducing the waste of paper towels in their landfill. They created a presentation that was livestreamed to their community about reducing our carbon footprint and wrote an article for Hampden Times. Giana, Olivia, Antonia, and Amelia learned that if they put enough effort and time into something, they can truly impact their community and the world.
Troop #12806: Mendon
Kayla Aubut, Sophia Blalock, Bridget Klupa, Eliza Kurze
The girls of Troop #12806 ran an awareness campaign about the need to lower mosquito born illnesses in their community that was under a Triple E threat. They created fliers that were put up around town, at their library, and the town hall as well as an informational video that was shared on social networks. The girls planted flowers that attract dragonflies and hung bat boxes up around town. Kayla, Sophia, Bridget and Eliza learned it is important to take the lead and that there are no small parts to any big project.
Troop #65186: Holden
Gemma Paolilli, Katherine Simmons, Lily Tremblay
At a town-wide event, Gemma, Katherine, and Lily educated the community on the endangered status of the Monarch butterfly and inspired the participants to create their own milkweed gardens. The girls installed a perennial garden at Eagle Lake, complete with a puddler, bench, and educational signs on the life of a Monarch butterfly and the garden has now become an official Monarch waystation. Gemma, Katherine, and Lily learned how to self-advocate, speak to people of authority, and how to dedicate themselves to something they care about.
Troop #30760: Lancaster
Isabella Paul
To educate and share the importance of sensory tools, Isabella hosted a Best Buddies meeting where the participants created calming jars. She then created a sensory kit/calming box for PACE students at Luther Burbank Middle School containing sensory tools and fidgets designed to drive focus and relieve anxiety, complete with direction cards to provide the tools the students need to strive. Isabella learned that everyone needs help and that asking questions is how you learn to understand the needs of others.
Troop #75302: Clinton
Eilidh McCobb
Using information gathered from surveying parents and the local librarian, Eilidh designed and created seating cushions for the Berlin Public Library and helped to modify existing library programs for their use. The fidget sit-upons contain buttons and ribbons on the sides and are made out of durable, easy to clean fabric to last in the reading program for many years. Eilidh learned that projects are less daunting and intimidating as they seem when she faces them head-on.
Troop #30838: Douglas, Uxbridge
Greta Colonero, Abigail Kay, Kennedy McGrath
Greta, Abigail, and Kennedy designed and installed a sensory garden for neurotypical preschoolers and preschoolers with autism spectrum disorder at Our Lady of the Valley School. The sensory garden addressed all senses and included: benches, sand toys, an outdoor fruit and vegetable market, a xylophone, an easel, garden toys, and flowers. The girls learned that communication is essential, that it's important to recognize each other's strengths, and that everyone's ideas should be heard.
Troop #30838: Douglas, Uxbridge
Veronica Jordan, Caitlin Kelly
Through a series of money-earning activities, Veronica and Caitlin educated the public about the food insecurities of their local community. The girls designed, built, and installed a food cabinet that will remain open and fully stocked with non-perishables thanks to St. Mary's Parish. Veronica and Veronica and Caitlin learned that managing a large project takes time management and flexibility.
Troop #12948: South Hadley
Natalie Harris, Abigail Vann, Adaline Woods
Natalie, Abigail, and Adaline developed an informational flyer and video teaching the Hadley community how to properly recycle. The video now lives on the Department of Public Works’ website and the flyer is given to every new family in the town. The girls hosted a litter pickup, a bottle cap art creation and installation program, and a recycled art program to supplement the Summer Reading Program at the South Hadley Public Library. Natalie, Abigail, and Adaline learned the importance of listening to each other, good communication, and how to resolve group conflicts.
Troop #11675: Northborough
Sophia Cairns, Moira Nolan, Lydia Reineke
Sophia, Moira, and Lydia upcycled an old medicine cabinet into a beautiful greeting card library for the local senior center and created many handmade cards to put in it. They designed posters and recorded a video to encourage the community to handmake or donate greeting cards to the library to help seniors stay connected. Sophia, Moira, and Lydia learned how to use their creativity for good and how to make decisions as a team.
Troop #30326: Shrewsbury
Caeley Gale
Caeley educated her community on bee decline with public presentations, pollinator-themed activities at her local farmers market, and by creating and planting a pollinator garden at Prospect Park. The garden will be maintained by the Friends of Prospect Park and an informational poster will continue to educate the public. Caeley learned how to delegate responsibilities and to take charge of her team.
Troop #30622: Worcester
Mary Foley, Abigail Ives, Charlotte Ives
Mary, Abigail, and Charlotte educated their school and their community about the poverty in Worcester, enlisting their help for continued donation drives within their communities benefiting Pernet Health Care Services. The girls held the first two pop-up thrift stores at Pernet Family Health Services, where over 120 families, including over 270 children, were able to receive clothing, toys, and books. Mary, Abigail, and Charlotte learned that one small act of kindness can truly make someone happy and that being a leader means strategizing.
Troop #11914: Greenfield
Loie Acton
To honor veterans, Loie first held a community clean-up day at Veterans' Park, and then fixed the flower bins, restored the existing flower beds, cleaned up the park and mulched the areas, and planted perennial flowers and shrubs. She got the Department of Public Works and the Chief of Staff of Greenfield to agree to continue maintenance of the park moving forward. Loie learned time management, communication skills, and that she enjoys using hand tools to fix things.
Troop #11900: Douglas
Addie Taylor
Working with her local soccer board and town highway department, Addie designed, built, and installed a new soccer field sign for the town's soccer field. The sign not only helps opposing soccer teams find the soccer field resulting in game starts, but it also spreads awareness about the youth soccer organization in the town. Addie learned time management skills and how to take initiative even when others were not interested.
Troop #11714: Wilbraham
Amanda Fenyes
Amanda reused 1000 plastic tops from medication vials to create a mosaic mural for the children receiving services at the Pediatric Perioperative Suite at Cooley Dickinson Hospital and created an educational sign about the use of recycled materials. She also supplied the facility with 100 packages of mini-mosaic kits for children, using an additional 700 plastic caps, and supplied the hospital with master copies for future use. Amanda learned about professional communication, and that she is adaptable to roadblocks that are beyond her control.
Troop #30260: Grafton
Elizabeth Lentz
After surveying her congregation and creating a PowerPoint presentation for her church's council, Elizabeth created an indoor faith retreat with her nautical-themed painted canvases displaying her artwork and inspirational quotes. She created a black and white coloring sheet that invites others to create their own faith-filled, stress-relieving art piece. Elizabeth learned the importance of combining her clear vision with the preferences of others, and that speaking in front of others is a skill that will get easier with practice.
Troop #11956: Chicopee
Savannah Soja
Savannah worked with the members of St. Stanislaus School and St. Stanislaus Basilica to organize and facilitate a week-long can drive to benefit the community of Lorraine's Soup Kitchen. She then created guidelines on how to run the event and enlisted the help of others to ensure this week-long event runs yearly. Savannah discovered that she is powerful and that she can speak up better than she thought when she is passionate about something.
Attending a Silver Award orientation can be the most beneficial thing you can do before beginning work on the Girl Scout Silver Award. Orientations provide valuable information about the process, the most up-to-date requirements, and timelines. As of October 1, 2022, taking a Strive for Silver Award Orientation is required to be taken by all girls within a year of submitting the Silver Award Proposal.
Strive for Silver Orientation Dates 2024-2025
For more information and to register, visit our website.
Silver Award Patrols: Do you have questions about the Girl Scout Silver Award? Silver Patrols are informal calls where girls and adults can ask questions, get help with a challenge, run your project ideas by the council, do some brainstorming, and get general assistance. Just starting out and need more than that? Be sure to register for a Strive for Silver Orientation where we go over all of the steps in detail. Silver Patrols do not meet the requirement of needing to take a Strive for Silver Orientation.
Registration for Silver Patrols can be found on our website.
If you have additional questions, contact silveraward@gscwm.org.