Girl Scout Cadettes receive Silver Award

Jan. 30—GREENSBURG — Three local Girl Scout Cadettes recently received an important award in a ceremony at Studebaker Suites.

Eighth-grade Girl Scout Cadettes Ryleigh Granger, Elizabeth Walden and Gabby Dick were each presented with the coveted Girl Scout Silver Award, the highest award attainable before moving up to their Girl Scout Senior level.

In the fall of 2021, the Daily News reported on the Grain of Rice Academy, a not-for-profit school that teaches students from several of the neighboring tribes in the Nairobi/Nanyuki of the Kenyan region.

Functioning as a boarding school, Grain of Rice Academy provides each student a bed, meals and an education. Grain of Rice students are required to wear a uniform, and even the cost of a single uniform can be a hardship on them.

Through a series of ZOOM meetings, the Scouts became friends with Kenyan children, sharing their likes and dislikes with the Academy students while telling a few jokes and comparing their lives. They learned that friends can be found all over the world.

But afterward, Ryleigh, Elizabeth and Gabby decided to take their relationship with the Kenyan girls to a higher level and earn their Silver Award at the same time.

To buy school supplies, crayons, pencils, paper, and notebooks for the students at the Academy, the enterprising trio turned the beads made by the Kenyan girls into jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, earrings) to be sold for profit. They marketed and sold their product on social media, at coffeehouses and at events throughout the summer of 2022.

The money they amassed was enough to buy more than just typical school supplies.

The $2,000-plus raised by the Scouts made it possible for the children at the Grain of Rice to receive beds, medical supplies, uniforms and books with special tags inside the front cover that read, "This book was given to Grain of Rice Academy by Elizabeth, Gabby and Riley, Girl Scouts from Greensburg, Indiana, USA. June 2022."

And to top it off, Elizabeth Walden was lucky enough to travel to Kenya later that summer to present the gifts personally. Gabby and Ryleigh attended the presentations via ZOOM.

All told, the three each invested more than 50 hours on the project, the required investment of time Girl Scouts requires for completion of the award.

Troop Leader Carrie Warden presided over the event which was attended by families, Regional Girl Scout leaders and Troop mates. After presenting the awards, she asked the girls to explain what they learned during the project.

"I really enjoyed that we got to meet girls across the world, learning how they live and giving us an opportunity to help them," Gabby said.

"I love doing stuff with my friends and meeting new people," Ryleigh said.

"I like helping people around the world. I think it sets an example of how ordinary people can do great things," Elizabeth said.

The ceremony concluded with the three Cadettes presenting their parents with gifts of the handmade bead strands.

Contact Bill Rethlake at 812-651-0876 or email bill.rethlake@greensburgdailynews.com