Sparta teen earns the highest rank available in Girl Scouting

Rogers gets the gold after completing project with senior citizens SPARTA — Kristine Rogers, a senior at Sparta High School, earned her Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest award a Girl Scout can earn. The Girl Scout Gold Award requires the completion of leadership development, career exploration, and community service projects. The final component is a 65-hour leadership project that each girl plans and executes to benefit her community. For her leadership project, Kristine created a program for the senior citizens at Knoll View Congregate Care Center in Sparta. Kristine’s program took place at Knoll Heights Village, the senior citizen center at Knoll View. She designed arts and crafts projects to unite residents and visitors of different age groups and cultures, giving teens and the elderly a common activity to connect them. “I wanted all residents of all ages to share experiences,” said Kristine. “They needed to have more activities to unite the teenagers with the elderly residents to end the exclusion of senior citizens from the rest of society.” Kristine said she learned about perseverance and reaching her goals through completing her project. “Goals can be accomplished despite obstacles by focusing on the task at hand to bring about a significant change,” said Kristine. “Girl Scouting gave me an opportunity to take a leadership role, plan a project that impacts the lives of others, and to become involved in community affairs.” Kristine has been a Girl Scout since the first grade. In school, she is a member of the National Honor Society, World Language National Honor Society, Peer Development Program, Go-Green Club, and is the president of the Key Club. After graduating, she plans to study environmental science in college to pursue a career in environmental law. “In the future, I can use the communication, organization, and leadership skills I gained through Girl Scouts,” she said. “It has been a beneficial experience that allowed me to mature into the individual I am today.” Within Girl Scouts of Northern New Jersey, 12 percent of eligible girls earn their Girl Scout Gold Award, compared to the national average of six percent.