Deanna Allen, Troop 955 Upper Saddle River

Deanna’s thirteen years of Girl Scouting have made her the young woman she is today. She says that the value of community service she has learned in Girl Scouting is a major part of her life.

For her Gold Award project, she created and taught a writing workshop of poetry, short stories and plays to twenty-two students in grades three through six for seven weeks. Deanna currently attends Indiana University. Her future goal is to be a creative writing teacher for high school students. She says “teaching others and writing are my ways of making the world a better place.”

Heather Schlemm, Little Ferry Troop 704

Heather has been a Girl Scout for thirteen years. For her Gold Award project, she decided to use her passion for animals by holding an Animal Awareness Day. She received flyers, pamphlets, posters, stickers, bookmarks and t-shirts from the Humane Society and PETA and set them up at tables of different categories. The displays included Pet Care, The Shelter (where donations were also collected for an animal shelter), Vegetarian (Vegan Food Samples), Entertainment/Circuses, Animal Testing, Fishing/Hunting and Fur/Leather.

Heather attends American University in Washington D.C. pursuing her studies in law and justice. “I love animals and I plan to stand up for their rights in my future.”

Alyssa Fudali -Troop 99 Ridgewood

Alyssa has been a Girl Scout for thirteen years. For her Gold Award project she created activity packets and collected books for terminally ill children and distributed the materials through Hackensack University Medical Center.

Alyssa will attend Coastal Carolina University this fall majoring in education. As a teacher she hopes to empower and enlighten her students so that they will grow to be successful citizens who will make this world a better place.

Marya Goodman -Troop 99 Ridgewood

Marya has been a Girl Scout since the age of five. She earned her Gold Award by organizing a book drive in her town. Her goal was to collect 1,000-2,000 books. She ultimately collected more than 43,000 books for the children affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Marya will attend the University of New Hampshire this fall and plans to study Education and Child Psychology. Her goal is to be a teacher so that she can help children learn the value of community service that she learned in Girl Scouting. Marya strongly believes that “everyone has a responsibility to help others.”

Elizabeth Guenther -Troop 489 Cresskill

Elizabeth has been involved in Girl Scouting for thirteen years. She currently serves as a Girl Board Member on the GSCBC’s Board of Directors. She is also a member of the Fund Development and Organizational Review Committees.

Her Gold Award project involved refurbishing a garden for the residents at the Bergen County Health Center Nursing Home.

Elizabeth will be attending Boston College this fall majoring in chemistry. She would like to work for a pharmaceutical company as a bench chemist while also working towards her law degree. She intends to continue her Girl Scouting experiences as an adult member in the future.

Kristina has been a Girl Scout since the age of five. For her Gold Award project, she coordinated a “Badge Camp” for younger Girl Scouts. Kristina used the organizational and leadership skills she learned in Girl Scouting to execute this project. “I always enjoyed service projects simply because of all the smiles I get as a response to my work. I feel that at the end of a long day all you need is a smile to know that your day was worthwhile.”

Kristina currently attends the University of Maryland in College Park studying microbiology in hopes of one day going into the medical field as a doctor of sports medicine. Kristina finds happiness in helping others.

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Alyssa Montone -Troop 849 Oradell

Alyssa Montone has been a Girl Scout for twelve years. For her Gold Award project, she chose an issue that was close to her heart to honor her late grandfather, an Alzheimer’s disease patient. She coordinated an Alzheimer’s Awareness Night with resource tables, presentations and she even created take-home bookmarks for everyone who attended with an Alzheimer’s quote on them.

“When I am volunteering my time, I do not feel that it is a requirement but rather a passion. The satisfaction of knowing that I made a difference in someone’s life is enough reason to stay active in my community. Girl Scouting has instilled an enjoyment for community service within me.”

Alyssa currently attends Villanova University in Pennsylvania and is double majoring in Marketing and Finance.

Samantha has been a member of Troop 76 since the second grade. She earned her Gold Award by using her strong organizational skills to coordinate a stuffed animal drive. She set-up drop-off sites throughout her town and distributed the toys to non-profits serving children in need.  Samantha says the most rewarding part of her project was “putting smiles on all of the children’s faces.”

Samantha will be attending the University of Georgia this fall and plans to study International Relations and Foreign Languages. She is excited to broaden her ability to effectively communicate with the diverse people of the world.

Victoria Rauch -Troop 691 Oradell

Victoria’s Gold Award Project was inspired by her passion for teaching. She traveled to many Girl Scout meetings in Oradell and conducted a workshop about the environment. She taught the younger girls about endangered animals, the food chain and recycling and helped them to earn their Eco-Explorer badge.

“I believe it’s important to give back to my community.” Victoria’s sense of community is truly evident. She volunteers at her elementary school’s summer program, teaches CCD religious education classes and drives her 2-year old neighbor to his Autism class.

Victoria attends Rider University majoring in education with future plans of becoming a math teacher.

Sylvia Szerszen -Troop 592 East Rutherford

Sylvia has participated in the Girl Scout program for thirteen years and is now a lifetime member as an adult. The focus of her Gold Award Project was the issue of “Healthy Living.” She single-handedly coordinated and implemented an Interactive Health Fair in conjunction with the Meadowlands/Girl Scout Council of Berge County’s 5K Run and Walk. As the coordinator, she designed the Interactive Health Fair on a level so that children ages 4-14 could learn how to live healthy and safe lifestyles through presentations, hands on activities, and games.

Upon receiving the Girl Scout Scholarship Sylvia said, “Girl Scouting will always have a special place in my heart. I have discovered my identity, developed my leadership skills, uncovered the meaning of helping others and established life-long friendships. I will always be a Girl Scout.”

Sylvia attends the University of Scranton and is pursuing a degree in biochemistry. One day she plans on going to medical school and becoming a dermatologist who works with skin cancer research.