Girls Grab Silver Awards in Chester

CHESTER, NJ - A relaxation space, laundry room renovations for senior citizens and bat houses, were three community projects that teens in Chester were recently recognized for.

Madeleine Adinolfi, Maria Arostegui and Elizabeth Hoye completed requirements to each earn a Girl Scout Silver Award.

All of the teens, part of Chester Girl Scout Troop 95052, helped to give back to the community through a different project.

“I chose to add a relaxation area to Black River [Middle School] because school stress can make students suffer from more intense mental illnesses,” Adinolfi said.

The West Morris Mendham High School freshman devised a relaxation space for Black River Middle School, raising over $500 with homemade Father’s Day cookie arrangements. With the money she collected, Adinolfi bought lounge chairs, throw pillows, a salt lamp, relaxation toys, a portable CD/DVD player, CDs, earbuds, coloring books, an art set and meditation books.

“I hope my project can help reduce school stress and help students manage their mental health,” Adinolfi said.

A lasagna sale was how Arostegui was able to revamp the Chester Area Senior Housing laundry room, focusing especially on the importance of the semi-gloss paint hues she chose.

“Through my research, I learned about the effect color has on mood and actual space overall,” said Arostegui, also a freshman at West Morris Mendham.

“I discovered that the color blue and the color yellow are the perfect combination for senior centers because they invite calm and happy feelings, while also elevating the space’s overall appearance,” Arostegui added.

“Bat houses provide safe homes for bats, who feed on mosquitos in the area,” Hoye, a student at the Academy of Animal Science at the Morris County School for Technology, said of her project.

She constructed and placed two bat houses in Chester Township’s Chubb Park, which entailed getting the go-ahead from the township’s Parks Committee. Hoye, who’s gearing up for a career as a veterinarian, bought and painted the houses, as well as purchased posts and other supplies.

“Fewer people will get bitten by mosquitos in the summer and bats also eat bugs that harm crops and in doing so, lead to farmers using fewer pesticides that pollute the air and harm different ecosystems.”

Adinolfi, Arostegui and Hoye are now gearing up to fulfill the requirements for their Gold Awards.

Questions or comments about this story? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.