Sharelle Langaigne

Art therapist Katherine Pedrick and senior Viola Pande pose for a picture in front of the art therapy banner at the Children’s National Hospital’s annual Sunflower Festival, where Pande distributed the art kits that she made for her Gold Award. “Art is so multifaceted,” Pande said. “Even though I’m doing physical art— and I think physical art is really therapeutic because you are painting or coloring—art can come in many different forms. I’m combining music and physical art in [my Gold Award]. Music has been a really helpful form of therapy for me throughout my high school years and throughout my life in general because I can pour my energy into something that’s not school. It’s also creating something [that isn’t] physical or visual.”

The typical extracurricular activities that you can find Jefferson students participating in are clubs such as Model United Nations, various forms of debate or music. However, for some Jefferson students, Girl Scouts is a major extracurricular activity that they take part in.

Famous for their cookies, Girl Scouts often spend a lot of time selling Girl Scout Cookies. Selling cookies teaches girls about business and entrepreneurship from a young age. Senior Ella Clarke has been selling Girl Scout Cookies since she first joined Girl Scouts as a Girl Scout Daisy—the title for Girl Scouts from kindergarten through first grade—and managed to sell hundreds of cookies during her time at Jefferson alone. Now, she is a Girl Scout Ambassador, the highest level in Girl Scouts.

“At the beginning of cookie season, I bring in a form [that] people can [use to] preorder cookies,” Clarke said. “I find [that] really helpful, because I know exactly what to bring in. It is also really great because when I bring [the cookies] in, other people will see the cookies and they’ll go ‘wait, how do I get them?’ which brings more cookie orders.”

The money earned from these cookie sales go towards funding for troop activities and buying necessities for a Girl Scout troop.

“When I was really little, our troop would use [the money] for trips like camping trips,” Clarke said. “When I was a Daisy, we did [a] camping trip at the National Zoo [which] was fun. We’ve [also went] ziplining and whitewater rafting. We went to Switzerland this summer. So, [for the] past two or three years, I’ve been saving my money for that trip.”

Going for the Gold

The Gold Award is the highest achievement that a Girl Scout can earn. It requires girls to complete a community service project that focuses on leaving a lasting impact on a community. All projects must be approved by a committee prior according to very specific criteria.

Senior Viola Pande’s Gold Award was focused on art therapy. However, prior to starting her project, Pande had to go through a rigorous approval process which involved filling out a proposal and meeting with a Gold Award Panel.

“I’m making art kits and giving [them] to the Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., and it’s going to be at one of their music festivals,” Pande said. “I’m pairing with the Art therapy Center there.”

She worked with art therapist Katherine Pedrick at Children’s National Hospital to distribute art therapy kits to children at the hospital’s annual Sunflower Festival.

“[The festival] is a really great event,” Pedrick said. “It not only focuses on music, but [also] focuses on [other] forms of creativity and art making too. So, that’s why it worked out great for art therapy to have a table there [to talk] about some of the work we do. [Pande] brought in her kits for us to give out to patients, and to let them be able to make some art during the event.”

The art therapy kits received positive feedback, with the hospital planning on continuing the art therapy kits.

“I think [the] patients really enjoyed them,” Pedrick said. “I think these art kits and the idea that she had is a great thing that we can keep doing for bigger events like [the Sunflower Festival]. I do think that her art kit idea is a great thing that we could keep doing so that people could also take one with them. So, I would definitely love if this could be a longer term project as well.”

Pande also gave presentations during 8th periods in order to educate Jefferson students about the significance of art therapy.

Gone camping

Camping is also something that Girl Scouts do. In the camps that happen over summer break, older Girl Scouts have the opportunity to volunteer at these camps.

“The camp I go to is Ashgrove Adventure,” senior Theo Clark said. “There are people who have been coming [to this camp] for years. Everyone wants to be [at the camp], everyone is working together to make sure the kids have fun and have a great experience, and do all the really cool things about Girl Scouts.”

Beyond selling Girl Scout Cookies, Girl Scouts provides girls around the country with opportunities to have fun and give back to their communities.

“[Girl Scouts] reminds me to slow down and ground [myself],” senior Viola Pande said. “Nobody just goes outside and paints doors at a camp site, but that’s how I spent my weekend. Giving back to your community and doing community service projects make me grateful that I stuck with [Girl Scouts] because not many people do that. I just feel like a productive member of society at such a young age [which] I feel is valuable within Girl Scouts.”