Over the summer, Girl Scout Troop 534 worked on a project to educate children about the dangers of bullying and how to deal with bullies. On Monday, the troop was rewarded for their efforts with one of the most prestigious medals in the entire organization.
Victoria Kosinski, 14, Hannah Lassiter, 13, and Savannah Turlington, 14, received the Silver Medal at the Kinston city council meeting for their week-long anti-bullying seminar in August at the Boys and Girls Club of Lenoir County. More than 90 children from the fourth to seventh grade attended at least one session during the week.
Colleen Kosinski, the co-troop leader, said she was truly happy for the teenagers.
“I can’t tell you how proud I am of these girls,” Kosinski said. “This is an exciting night for them, and it’s another example of people doing a great thing in Kinston.”
The Silver Medal is the highest award attainable by Girl Scouts in the 11-14 age group. Recipients of the award are honored for their work in the areas of personal development, leadership, career exploration and service.
Turlington said she was happy to provide assistance to some of the children in Kinston.
“It’s really cool doing something great to help out the community,” Turlington said.
Jennifer Turlington, Savannah’s mother, was impressed with the girls’ endeavors.
“I was extremely proud of them,” Turlington said. “They worked really hard and were very dedicated. For kids their age, it was pretty amazing and it was great seeing them work on the project from start to finish.”
Victoria Kosinski said more people helping would be beneficial, but any progression is positive.
“I feel like if we’re able to get one person to change, we’ve helped out a lot,” Kosinski said.
Lassiter said she was excited about the award and hopes to see an increase in community service.
“It’s a big impact and hopefully it can trigger a chain reaction,” Lassiter said. “We’re only three people and we can’t save the world.”
Colleen Kosinski said the troop made personal sacrifices to make the seminar possible.
“The girls have been saving money trip for two years to New York, and they voted to use $350 for the project,” Kosinski said. “They were truly committed in making a difference about bullying. Each girl has experienced bullying or worried about bullying and they felt it was something that needed to be addressed by reaching a number of kids. They said ‘If we can focus on 90 people, even more would be impacted in the upcoming year.’”
Kosinski said the troop’s message had been taken in by the community.
“The girls have been approached by quite a few people who said their message was helpful,” Kosinski said. “Also, they were asked to come to Campbell University to speak about projects to other Girl Scouts. It was a neat experience for the girls to talk to a couple hundred people in a college auditorium. Hopefully, they inspire others to carry on the work they started.”
For now, Savannah Turlington said the group is setting their sights on the ultimate achievement in the Girl Scouts.
“I want to work on getting the gold award in a couple years,” Turlington said. “I may do something different while still working with young children.”
Junious Smith III can be reached at 252-559-1077 and Junious.Smith@Kinston.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JuniousSmithIII.