Four Girl Scouts from Sewickley were among the 56 who earned their Gold Awards in the past year. The girls were recognized June 19 at the Pittsburgh Marriott North in Cranberry. The Gold Award is one of the highest achievements in Girl Scouting. According to a news release, while each Gold Award Girl Scout pursues an individual project that aligns with her interests or aspirations, each project provides a sustainable solution to the root cause of an issue, including gaps in community resources, youth education opportunities, environmental conservation and more.

Margaret McManus: McManus researched and created lessons to teach preschool-aged students mathematics to support their preparation for kindergarten. She also created a full binder of lesson plans, helpful tips for tutors and extra lessons, which she donated to her local community center for their use.

Taylor Rechenmacher: Rechenmacher addressed the stress that parents and families endure when a baby is staying in the neonatal intensive care unit by partnering with an organization called Project Sweet Peas. She created videos for Sweet Peas to help promote their work and coordinated a donation drive of toiletry items, in addition to leading 37 volunteers to make more than 300 Halloween costumes to allow these families to celebrate their baby’s first Halloween.

Ella Sanfilippo: Sanfilippo addressed the gap in available information for young kids about food allergies, wilderness food safety and the environmental impact of food production by creating a day camp program to be hosted at the Fern Hollow Nature Center. Her program was adapted to a virtual offering through the nature center’s YouTube channel, which allowed her to reach more interested children and remains a resource for families.

Allison Zeanchock: Zeanchock raised awareness about the harmful effects that inexpensive clothing has on the environment and provided simple steps consumers could take to reduce the impact on our planet. She created an inspired display for her library, school and church that featured throw-away clothing transformed into trending fashion options. She also hosted a workshop at her library to teach others how to replicate her work.

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