Hoosick Falls Girl Scout Ayla Graney has earned a Girl Scout Silver Award – an award that represents a girl’s accomplishments in scouting and her community as she grows and works to improve her life and the lives of others.
The Girl Scout Silver Award is the highest honor in Cadette Girl Scouting and the second highest award a Girl Scout can earn and is a national award with national standards, awarded by individual councils on behalf of Girl Scouts of the USA.
The first four requirements of the Girl Scout Silver Award, which include the completion of 11 badges/projects and 15 hours of volunteer work, help girls build skills, explore careers, gain leadership skills and make a commitment to self-improvement. The final project, which a girl designs to better her community, takes 40-plus hours of preparation, planning and work to accomplish.
For Ayla’s project, she presented the idea of creating a website for the local youth center to Aelish Nealon, Director of the Hoosick Youth and Community Center. Nealon and the Center’s Board were thrilled, and Ayla got underway immediately. The website at www.hoosickyouth.org continues to grow and is an invaluable resource for youth and families in the Hoosick area.
Ayla is the daughter of Bernie and Cathy Gee Graney of Hoosick Falls and granddaughter of Bernie and Betty Graney, Hoosick Falls, Sandy Gee, Weston, MA, and Tom and Sue Gee, Rockport, MA. She has been in scouting for nine years, is an honor roll student and will be in the tenth grade at Hoosick Falls Central School in the fall.
According to her mother, Cathy, who is also her troop leader, “Ayla enjoys scouting because it allows her to meet new people, gain new experiences and take adventures she might not take otherwise. Her passion for scouting has never waned, and she tackles each project with determination.” Ayla plans to begin the requirements for her Gold Award in the fall.
Ayla was awarded her Silver pin at a celebration with her family and troop members and their families on July 19; she will be recognized at a council-wide celebration in spring 2010.