Long features
Silver and gold
Local Girl Scout turns community service into precious commodity
Date Published: February 2008
[Susan Jameson/Granite Bay View]
Jenna Reese has been a Girl Scout since kindergarten.
[Courtesy Photo/]
Arriving at the Stanford Children's Home in November, Jenna Reese delivers boxes of donated items as part of her Silver Award project.
Silver Award
requirements
Girl must work on the project between the ages of 11 and 14
Earn the Silver Leadership Award
Earn the Silver Career Award
Earn the Silver 4Bs Challenge
Plan a project that takes about 40 hours to complete
Review and submit a final report to the council
requirements
This May Granite Bay High freshman Jenna Reese will not only be honored for being in Girl Scouts for 10 years, but she will also receive her Silver Award, the highest award a Girl Scout aged 11 to 14 can achieve.
Only a small percentage of Girl Scouts earn their Silver Award and even less stay with Girl Scouts for 13 years and earn their Gold Award, something Jenna plans to do.
Jenna's troop (677), led by Leslie Broadland, has fallen victim to sports and other interests over the years.
"Our troop started with 18 girls," says Broadland. "As the girls got older, it was harder to find time to fit Girl Scouts in. The troop got smaller and smaller, but Jenna didn't lose focus. I love her enthusiasm."
The troop now has only two girls - Jenna and Broadland's daughter Jessica.
"I am so proud of Jenna," says Broadland. "She has been in my troop since she was a Daisy. It has been fun watching her grow, mature and develop her leadership skills. Over the years, she has continued to stay focused and complete the Girl Scout awards we've talked about since kindergarten."
"I wanted to do some sort of care packages and collect items," says Jenna. "We were going to do it for a couple of different organizations but they didn't need anything at the time. Then we went to the Stanford Home and they said that they needed that so it worked really well."
Jenna collected items to make care packages for the children in foster care at the Stanford Home. She collected nine boxes of things like toothbrushes, stamps, pencils, stuffed animals and stationary and delivered them to the Stanford Home in November.
Jenna is committed to the Girl Scout program for the experience it provides. Juvenile arthritis in her ankles limits her ability to be involved in more active pursuits.
"I can't play a lot of sports, so for colleges I really want to go all the way through with Girl Scouts and community service because I really enjoy it," she says.
Although she enjoyed working with the Stanford Home, Jenna would like to do something for a different organization for her Gold project. The Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout aged 15-18 can earn.
"I might do something different just so I can have some variety and work with different organizations," she says.
Jenna enjoys dance and snowboarding. He favorite subject at school is biology, which she would like to someday turn into a medical degree.
"I have a natural draw to it and it is something I enjoy doing," she says.
Like many girls her age she also has an interest in music and recently saw the Jonas Brothers in concert.
"She also volunteers every week at the St. Joseph Marella Youth Center," adds mom Charlene. "She's there every week and works with third-graders."
Girl Scouts, however, remains a constant and Jenna says she has learned a lot through the program.
"I probably gained better communication in talking to adults over the phone and getting meetings set up and just a lot more leadership skills basically," she says. "(I am) more comfortable in a leadership position."
Only a small percentage of Girl Scouts earn their Silver Award and even less stay with Girl Scouts for 13 years and earn their Gold Award, something Jenna plans to do.
Jenna's troop (677), led by Leslie Broadland, has fallen victim to sports and other interests over the years.
"Our troop started with 18 girls," says Broadland. "As the girls got older, it was harder to find time to fit Girl Scouts in. The troop got smaller and smaller, but Jenna didn't lose focus. I love her enthusiasm."
The troop now has only two girls - Jenna and Broadland's daughter Jessica.
"I am so proud of Jenna," says Broadland. "She has been in my troop since she was a Daisy. It has been fun watching her grow, mature and develop her leadership skills. Over the years, she has continued to stay focused and complete the Girl Scout awards we've talked about since kindergarten."
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In addition to earning a leadership and career award, Jenna had to plan and complete a community service project to earn her Silver Award."I wanted to do some sort of care packages and collect items," says Jenna. "We were going to do it for a couple of different organizations but they didn't need anything at the time. Then we went to the Stanford Home and they said that they needed that so it worked really well."
Jenna collected items to make care packages for the children in foster care at the Stanford Home. She collected nine boxes of things like toothbrushes, stamps, pencils, stuffed animals and stationary and delivered them to the Stanford Home in November.
Jenna is committed to the Girl Scout program for the experience it provides. Juvenile arthritis in her ankles limits her ability to be involved in more active pursuits.
"I can't play a lot of sports, so for colleges I really want to go all the way through with Girl Scouts and community service because I really enjoy it," she says.
Although she enjoyed working with the Stanford Home, Jenna would like to do something for a different organization for her Gold project. The Gold Award is the highest award a Girl Scout aged 15-18 can earn.
"I might do something different just so I can have some variety and work with different organizations," she says.
Jenna enjoys dance and snowboarding. He favorite subject at school is biology, which she would like to someday turn into a medical degree.
"I have a natural draw to it and it is something I enjoy doing," she says.
Like many girls her age she also has an interest in music and recently saw the Jonas Brothers in concert.
"She also volunteers every week at the St. Joseph Marella Youth Center," adds mom Charlene. "She's there every week and works with third-graders."
Girl Scouts, however, remains a constant and Jenna says she has learned a lot through the program.
"I probably gained better communication in talking to adults over the phone and getting meetings set up and just a lot more leadership skills basically," she says. "(I am) more comfortable in a leadership position."
Susan Jameson is the editor of the Granite Bay View. She can be reached at susanj@goldcountrymedia.com.
