Girl Scout Dances to Gold Award

Alyssa Romano has been dancing practically since she could walk. Now her talent has taken her to the elite of Girl Scouting, earning her the Gold Award, the highest honor given by the Girl Scout organization.  She received the award and was honored at the town’s reorganization meeting, held on Jan. 5.

The senior completed an event titled “Jefferson’s Best Dance Crew,” patterned after the reality TV show “America’s Best Dance Crew.”

“The difference is that we didn’t exclude anyone,” Romano said. “Anyone who wanted to could participate. I really just wanted it to be a night of fun for everyone.”

Romano, with the help of some teachers at the high school, held mock auditions for the event.

“One crew did a take-off on ‘The Jersey Shore’,” she said. “They were very funny and very good.”

Romano had lots of help from fellow students for her event, which was held on May 16, 2010.

“The school choir sang and helped out with the sound,” she said. “And some of the members of the school band, who have their own band called East Coast Black-Out, played for us.”

Several adults helped Romano in her quest for the gold, including her girl scout leader Betsy Ferguson, as well as high school principal Karl Mundi and Jefferson High teacher Lori Castiglione.

Romano has been dancing since the age of two, and still takes classes at the Performing Arts Academy in Pompton Lakes. She studies tap, ballet, jazz, lyrical, contemporary and hip-hop dance.

She has applied to several colleges, with an aim toward studying physical therapy.

According to the Girl Scouts of America’s website, “A girl must be a registered Girl Scout Senior or Ambassador and have successfully completed specific requirements before she may begin working on the Girl Scout Gold Award project. This special project is an extension and a compilation of all that she has learned in Girl Scouting.”