Local Girl Scout earns Gold Award

ANDOVER — Arielle Klein, a senior at Lenape Valley Regional High School, recently achieved 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, Arielle rebuilt the playground at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Rockaway. “I’ve been a member of my church for as long as I’ve been a Girl Scout — since kindergarten,” said Arielle. “I remember playing in that playground when I was younger and to watch it fall apart over the years was disheartening to me. I wanted to make it a better place so that the kids could make wonderful memories like I did.” The playground at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church is also used by a local day care center, Sunrise Sunset Day Care. With the help of her friends, parents, brother and members of the church community, Arielle spent more than a year raising funds to replace old structures with new equipment. “As a result of my project, a brand new, safe and fun playground is in place for the children of the church and day care center,” Arielle said. “Completing my Girl Scout Gold Award taught me organizational skills, communication, and even how to use a socket wrench! I learned that with a little hard work and patience, I can accomplish anything.” Arielle has been a Girl Scout for more than 12 years and says it was always her goal to achieve the Girl Scout Gold Award. At school, Arielle participates in the German Folk Club, German National Honor Society, and school dramas. She is the statistician for the wrestling team. Next year, she plans to study zoology. Her hope is to travel to Africa and one day work with tigers. She would like to educate other people about this endangered species.