Positivity project earns Urbana Girl Scout troop ‘prestigious’ honor

URBANA - The members of Junior Girl Scout Troop 8645 are working hard to spread some positive vibes at Center Point-Urbana Intermediate School.

The seven fifth-graders - Madalyn Staggs, Katelyn Hamer, Mikala Bearbower, Alexis Kirk, Addyson Palmer, Emerson Fleming and Erica Foreman - recently launched a 'Positivity Campaign” as part of their effort to earn the Bronze Award, the highest honor a Junior Girl Scout (fourth- and fifth-graders) can achieve. To earn the award, each girl must put in at least 20 hours of work on a project that is sustainable.

Kristy Staggs, troop leader, said the girls brainstormed and came up with the idea focused on positivity.

'We were excited about it,” she said. 'They really wanted to do something at their school to make sure every day is positive.”

The results of the girls' work has taken many forms:

l The group made more than 350 bookmarks with positive messages and distributed them around school.

l The girls came up with a list of positive quotes and messages to be read over the intercom at school each morning.

l A bulletin board with positive messages was created in the fifth-grade hallway of the school, 202 W. Main St., Urbana.

l A wall at the school was painted with a rainbow and the message, 'Paint the world a better place.”

'We were very happy when that wall was approved,” said Staggs, who leads the troop with Melissa Hamer. 'We've gotten a lot of positive comments.”

Staggs said the mural took about 10 hours to complete.

'We had to use fine little brushes to go around all the words,” she said. 'It was a lot more work than we thought.”

The troop members spoke about their project and the Bronze Award last Friday during an all-school assembly.

'It's a prestigious award,” Said Staggs. 'They have to be willing to put in the time.”

Staggs said the girls are to receive their awards on April 8 during the Girl Scouts of Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois 'Honoring Excellence” ceremony at Camp Liberty in New Liberty.

She said she expects most of her fifth-graders to continue on in scouting and she said the next big goals would be to earn the Silver Award, given to scouts in sixth through eighth grades, and the Gold Award, given to scouts in high school.