By SHELBA NIVENS/Community Columnist

“The Girl Scout Bronze Award is the highest award a Girl Scout Junior can earn,” according to Robyn Tucker of the Girl Scouts of North-Central Alabama.

“This award recognizes that a Girl Scout Junior has gained the leadership and planning skills required to follow through with a project that makes a positive difference in her community.”

Three girls from Troop 727 in Chelsea have earned this high award for their Weather Safety project.

Molly Deese and Allison Bishop, Chelsea Middle School students, and Miranda Pena, Chelsea Intermediate School, created weather safety kits for use by local schools.

Troop Leader Melissa Bishop said that Molly has moved away. She now attends school in Springville, but special credit goes to her “for her original idea, creativity and extra hard work.”

Allison, Melissa Bishop’s daughter, said the girls worked on the project at her house. Thinking about how they might make a difference in their community, they thought about the tornadoes, which had recently devastated Tuscaloosa, and decided to create a presentation to help educate people about ways to stay safe during a tornado.

“Most of the original material was put into the presentation by Molly, who has good computer skills,” said Melissa Bishop. “Then the three girls met to add a video on assembling a safety kit.”

They contacted Dr. Mark Baker for his insight on the use of helmets and for other weather safety tips, she said. They drew illustrations, took pictures with helmets and worked together on improvements.

“The content and how it came together was all the girls’ ideas,” the troop leader said. “I helped by doing the higher level presentation changes.”

After getting the presentation like they wanted it, the girls contacted several school principals to see if they might use the video in their schools.

Melissa Bishop, Troop Leader, will email a free copy of the video to anyone who would like to use it to educate others or learn more themselves. You may contact her at bishoprph@charter.net.

 

Shelba Nivens can be reached by email at Shelbasn@juno.com.