By Lori BODNAR, intern

Rosemont Middle School eighth graders Ariah Armen, Valen Aznavourian, Molly Necus, and Sabrina Ordubegian from Girl Scout Troop 4511 saw a need and addressed it and, in the process, earned their Silver Award.

“Our project is about beautifying Mountain Avenue [Elementary School] by painting the storage bins, ” said Molly.

The girls began planning their project in February 2020 and started it on Oct. 10 (see CV Weekly, Oct. 15), putting on the final brush strokes on Jan. 11. Between them they completed approximately 58 hours on the project.

The newly painted storage bins include phrases like “Go Bears,” a nod to the Mountain Avenue mascot, the bear. The painted bins also reflect the beauty of the sun on the area’s surrounding mountains and feature a bright yellow sun, orange and purple colors reminiscent of a sunset, and brown mountains.

“My favorite part of the project was seeing each other and giving back to the school,” said Sabrina. The troop wore masks and practiced social distancing while working on the project.

         One of the challenges that the girls faced was the heat.

Valen Aznavourian said, “We used an umbrella to overcome the heat.” The girls also had snacks, visors, chairs, and lots of water.

“At first, we weren’t sure we would complete the requirement of the 50 hours,” said Ariah, “but it took a long time to paint over all the outlines and spots.”

“The girls beautified our campus,” said Principal Jaclyn Scott. “We had these cargo containers that needed paint and the girls made the containers beautiful. The students at Mountain Avenue will enjoy it.”

         Nicole Stephan and Lauren Wockenfuss are also eighth graders at Rosemont and are working on their Girl Scout Silver Award in Troop 4511. For their project, they are making fleece prayer blankets for City of Hope hospitals to give to their patients.

“I want to help people in need,” said Nicole. “People are sick and may need cheering up, so we can give them some kindness by giving them a blanket.”

“People would appreciate the blanket and can keep it for comfort,” added Lauren.

         The Silver Award is the second highest achievement in Girl Scouts and requires at least 50 hours on a project.