Girl Scout Katie Pinckney creates space for teachers in the John P. Faber Elementary School library.
DUNELLEN -- It was while helping a fellow Girl Scout with her Gold Award project when Katie Pinckney found the inspiration for her own Gold Award project.
Pinckney had been helping a member of her troop in the John P. Faber Elementary School library when she noticed there was no place for materials used by the teachers. The librarian told Pinckney there had been a teachers' corner in the library, but the space was repurposed for use as a computer lab, and the teachers' materials were moved to a storage room.
"After a few days of processing library books from the back room and seeing how much space was potentially available, I asked (Faber Elementary School librarian) Ms. Willoughby about the possibility of changing the room into a teachers' resource room or library. She thought it was a wonderful idea," said Pinckney.
Pinckney and her fellow Girl Scouts transformed the storage room into a teachers' resource center. They removed some shelves and cabinets to create space for a table and chairs and organized and labeled magazines, books and other educational materials, which they stored on shelves. The Scouts also hung posters in the new teachers' space.
To earn the Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can receive, a Scout must a complete leadership program and plan and execute a community service project.
Pinckney is a sophomore at Union Catholic High School and a member of Girl Scout Troop 65876. She received her Gold Award last month and will be honored at a formal ceremony with the Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey in council June.
To submit Scout news send an email to middlesex@starledger.com.