Brandon Richter, father of North Street School Girl Scout kindergartener, Avery, age six, shared, “I’m an Eagle Scout and I am grateful that my daughter can have the opportunity to give back to her community like I did.”
North Street School second grade Girl Scout, Jane Shropshire, age eight, says “The Girl Scout motto is to leave things better than you found it. I am thankful for all the people who were so nice to help paint our school fence and bring paint and paint brushes. It looks a lot better now.”
On Friday, June 8th, Greenwich Girl Scout Troop #50303 helped beautify their beloved North Street School by painting North Street School’s split-rail fence, planting flowers and picking up after Field Day. Comprised of 50 civic-minded North Street School girls in grades K – 5, ages 5 to 11 years old, Greenwich Girl Scout Troop #50303 is co-led led by North Street School moms, Frances Wu Nobay and Jenny Winig.
The Girl Scout mission is to “build girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place.” Last year, the girls helped to repair and beautify the North Street School signage. This year, with double the number of registered Girl Scouts in the troop, the girls wanted to work on something bigger – 10,000 “Girl Scout cookies” bigger.
Girl Scout Troop co-leader Frances Wu Nobay shared “We are so lucky to have Mr. Vasili Trikoupis at our school and in our troop. The 2017 and 2018 painting projects were thanks to Mr. Trikoupis’ energy, enthusiasm and expertise.” For this year’s project, Mr. Trikoupis reached out to long-time partners, Mr. Christopher Polidoro of Shoreline Painting & Drywall, Inc. and Mr. Frank DeLuca of Edgewater Development to coordinate and manage the project with the girls. Ring’s End, a locally-founded, family-owned company donated all the brushes and paint.
Frank DeLuca of Edgewater Development shared "As a father of a Girl Scout and a long-time Old Greenwich resident, we’re happy to lend our skills and time to give back to our community.” Mr. DeLuca’s daughter is a Girl Scout at Old Greenwich School.
Allison Smith of Shoreline Painting, “What a beautiful weather to work shoulder-to-shoulder with the North Street School Girl Scouts. Our guys loved seeing and hearing the children’s enthusiasm and gusto to help beautify their school.”
To ensure that the project could be fully completed in one day, Greenwich Girl Scout Troop 50303 invited Girl Scout siblings and parents. In addition to the twenty-five Girl Scouts that participated, twenty parents, seventeen North Street School Cub Scout Pack 9 boys and friends, ages 5 – 11 joined too. First grade Girl Scout, Evie Kelly added “I’m really excited to make my school look pretty with my parents, brothers and the whole troop.”
The Girl Scouts worked closely with school administration, North Street School PTA, the Green Schools committee, the Board of Education, Parks and Recreation and the Greenwich Police Department. North Street School Principal, Ms. Jill Flood shared “We truly appreciate the girls’ enthusiasm and dedication to making North Street School a more beautiful place. They are giving back to their community while learning to work cooperatively and collaboratively on a volunteer project.”
To ensure the safety of all involved, the children worked in teams led by North Street Girl Scout moms, Mrs. Alex Krasnica, Mrs. Megan Kelly and Mrs. Beth Kallet-Neuman.
Teams rotated between painting the fence in the front of the school, planting flowers and picking up after Field Day in the back of the school, and of course, enjoying a snack break.
North Street School PTA Green Schools committee pollinator garden chair and mom of three North Street School students, Mrs. Mimi Syed led the planting project. Mrs. Syed recommended hardy perennials that could hold up through the hot summer and bitter winters. And, in a few weeks, Mrs. Syed will lead Girl Scout project to plant a tree to provide much-needed shade for the North Street School pollinator garden outdoor classroom.
North Street mom to a second grade Girl Scout, Julie Shropshire added “There was really a sense of community. Everyone came together to beautify our neighborhood and to teach the kids the importance of giving back”
To learn more about Greenwich Girl Scouts, please visit http://www.greenwichgirlscouts.com