For Girl Scouts, the highest award a scout can earn is the Gold Award, earned when a scout is at the senior level. Scouting begins for a girl in preschool when young girls join as a Daisy Scout and move up the levels, through Brownie, Junior, Cadet, Senior, and finally Adult.

In Massapequa's Girl Scout Troop 2246, four Massapequa High School seniors will be earning their gold award after years of dedication. Laura Parker, Collen Mullady, Stephanie Schwenk, and Holly Schroll have been scouts for years, and their years of scouting will soon be coming to a close in June when they join with girls from all over Nassau County for their last celebration.

To earn the Gold Award, a scout must provide 60 hours of service. A scout must also prove that their project is continuous, meaning it can be continued by others long after the scout completes her project.

Stephanie Schwenk is currently working on her project: "Sing...A Whole Life Long." With participants ranging from ages five to fifty, Stephanie will put on a free concert in Massapequa High School's Baldwin Auditorium. "I really hope that I can get as many people as I can in the community," said Stephanie. The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 9.

Working with the Twin County Sweet Adelines, a local community barbershop quartet, Stephanie has been working with other Girl Scouts and girls from the community, teaching them the basics of singing and the art of the barbershop quartet. She put together informational packets for her students to learn from, and keep. She also sent letters to local bakeries asking them for refreshment donations to make the evening concert more enjoyable.

Laura Parker is also currently working on her project: "A Box For Me." The idea for Laura's project is that she will be making personalized boxes for people to put personal mementos in. She's been asking boy scout, girl scout, and community groups to donate personal items that will be given to nursing home residents. "I decided to make up boxes of personal items that we could distribute throughout the nursing home," she said.

Laura said she got the idea from being at the nursing home she volunteers for one day a week. "It's great to go in and talk to these people, they love youth," said Laura. "Even if you talk to them for five minutes, they're chipper for the day."

Laura hopes that if the project is successful, that she will be able to initiate a Senior Appreciation Day. This way her project will continue long after her years as a scout are completed.

Colleen Mullady finished her project earlier this school year. Her project, "Disability Awareness," was a three hour long workshop with local children where she had guest speakers teach kids about braille, sign language, and canine companions.

Colleen went to Superintendent of Schools Jim Brucia and received permission to use Berner Junior High for the afternoon. She then set up tables with separate workshops where kids received packets of information on the topic. "I taught them how to use body language, and now they are more aware and they have the folders to go back to," commented Colleen.

Holly Schroll's project, "A Pet To Love," is also a project about awareness. In the past few weeks, Holly has be traveling to local elementary school classrooms where she has been holding sessions on how to properly care for animals.

Holly put together coloring books for the children to use, explaining the right way to hold, feed, and care for a small pet. Also, she has been bringing her own pet rabbit with her, demonstrating for the small children. She received a donation from Staples, enabling her to print up hundreds of copies of the coloring book. "When you tell people you're doing this for a good cause, they help you out," said Holly.

All four scouts are graduating from MHS this June. Laura and Stephanie hope to enter professions that mirror their Gold Award projects. Laura says she wants to attend Adelphi or CW Post to learn about social work. While Stephanie, even though she hasn't decided where she wants to attend school, knows she wants to become a music teacher.

All the girls say that their years in scouting have helped them in one way or another. "Just out of what I've learned about little kids, learning what I have to say to them to get them to sit down, shows that there are a lot of things to learn in girl scouting," said Holly.

Laura added, "Once you get into girl scouting you are forced to be friendly with everyone. You have to learn to be independent, and be familiar with the world you live in."

But all in all, Stephanie said, "Like anything in life, it's what you make of it."