Girl Scout Troop 96514 earn Bronze Award
West Milford. Thirteen scouts spent the last year building a walking trail dubbed The Trails of the Highlanders at Maple Road Elementary School.
| 08 Jul 2020 | 03:36
Pictured from left to right, beginning in the top row are: Natalie Breckinridge, Kelsey Kaminskyj, Marie Swan, Giana Krupka, Kayleigh Kaminskyj and Maddie Hammett; and in front: Lexi Kral, Emily Bortolato, Emily Molan, Sophie Ferris, Tess Becker and Madeline Park. Provided photos.
Pictured from left to right are: Kelsey Kaminskyj, Kayleigh Kaminskyj and Sahara Cardullo.
The thirteen girls of Girl Scout Troop 96514 spent this past year working on their Bronze Award by building a walking nature trail at Maple Road Elementary School.
This service project began at the end of fourth grade when they talked to Principal Bill Kane to find out what they could do to help improve their school.
The principal gave them a few ideas, one of which was to make a trail that led from the parking lot to the upper fields so the parents and kids playing on sport teams could easily access the fields.
Not one, but three trails
The girls decided on that idea but then wanted to expand on it - to include not just one trail but three. They also wanted the trails to be used not just for quick access but to be walking nature trails for people to use anytime, including students during school time.
So, to get started, the girls planned a parent-and-daughter work day to break ground or more accurately, cut the overgrowth of weeds, to create pathways.
In September, the girls and parents cleared three pathways by weed whacking and racking and cutting up downed trees into small sections to be used as the border of the trails. From there, the girls spent afternoons after school, over the next few months, building the trails’ pathways by laying out logs to define them.
Advice from experts
They also went to High Point State Park one Saturday in November and met with Kate Foord, the park’s naturalist, to learn how trail blazes are used to mark trails and how High Point State Park and the trails were built in the 1930s during the Great Depression.
During the winter, the girls did a variety of activities to keep their project moving forward. To decide on the name for their trails, they decided to get the entire student body involved. The girls each came up with a name for the trail and, as part of Maple Road’s VoteEd program in November, had the students vote on what they would like the name to be.
By the end of the day, the votes were counted and the name was decided: The Trails of the Highlanders.
The girls also learned how to make sustainable art by using nature. They invited Michele Harrison, of WJH Chainsaw Carving in Hewitt, to come to Lindy Lake’s Manor House, to demonstrate woodcarving.
In another project, they learned how to create ornaments by using small sections of a tree. The girls also spent a Sunday building benches that would be put at various points along the trails.
No stopping these scouts
When COVID-19 hit, the girls didn’t let that stop them from completing the various projects needed to finish the trails. Some girls took a project, whether it was building a bench out of a pallet or painting the benches or painting the blazes and building the signs that would be used to mark the trails, and completed it at home.
Other girls used their time at home to create various grade-appropriate lessons to be used by teachers in the subject areas of Math, Science, ELA and Art, so students could use and enjoy the trails during class time.
And some worked on the maintenance of the trails by each taking a day to rake the fallen foliage, lay down wood chips, or finish laying down the logs to mark the trails.
By the end of June, the girls had completed the making of the trails.
Thank yous
To construct this service project, the girls used a portion of the money they raised from selling cookies this past winter. However, they would like to thank the following people and organizations because without their help and generosity they would not have been able to make the trails look as great as they do:
They would like to thank Wyatt Harrison of WJH Chainsaw Carving in Hewitt for making and donating the trail sign.
They would like to thank RJS Tree Service of West Milford for donating the wood chips used on the trails.
They would like to thank Home Depot of Riverdale, who donated the paint for the benches and trail blazes.
They would like to thank the Maple Road PTO for their monetary donation to help them purchase the last remaining supplies needed to complete the trails.
And finally, they would like to thank their parents that guided and assisted them with various aspects in the making of the trails.