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Community: Girl Scout gives youngsters a Healthy Start

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Ashley Alexander, 17, of Glendale, was inspired by her grandmother who has Type 2 diabetes to create a project to inspire children to make healthier food choices for life.

She, along with several other local women, received the Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting, for their ideas to effect positive changes in local and global communities. This year, 274 members of the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles earned the honor.

Ashley called her project “Healthy Start” and hopes it will help in the fight against childhood obesity. She believes children who are taught to make healthy choices at an early age will continue to eat healthy when they are older.

A member of Nishi Troop 12135, based in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles, she shared the weeklong summer program with several preschool and elementary schools. Each presentation was one hour.

“One day, we made healthy snacks, another day, we played games. I taught them the food categories and how to plant vegetables,” she said.

Another day, Ashley showed them how to exercise and the week culminated with a quiz day in which the children talked about what they had learned throughout the week.

In the planning stages, Ashley had several ideas for her Gold Award project and all of them were linked to sports and kids.

“I was in Cheer during high school, so I think being healthy is important,” she said. “My Grandma suffered from Type 2 diabetes, so I also wanted to do something where I can help prevent it.”

The experience was such a positive one that Ashley is considering following a career that involves children.

Ashley made workout videos and pamphlets about healthy eating the kids could take home to their parents.

If she were to do the project again, she would extend the project time to two hours and have the parents attend a workshop after work.

“I wish I had spent more time talking to the parents because they play a huge role in how their kids grow up health-wise,” she said. “It was held during school hours so most parents were working, but some parents came.”

One of the schools Ashley visited was the Nishi Hongwanji Child Development Center in Little Tokyo.

“A part of her project was to make fruit smoothies with the kids,” said assistant teacher Michelle Tanaka. “It was a great way for her to help identify different ways for the kids to learn about the food groups because our school program really emphasizes a daily intake of fruits, vegetables and dairy projects and the fruit smoothies gave the students a great way to add fruit to their diet.”

Ashley served in Girl Scouts for 12 years. Although there were times school became so busy she thought she should quit Scouting, she said she’s glad she remained with the program.

“Staying in Girl Scouts really helped me become who I am, and I’m so grateful for that,” she said. “And I met so many great friends, and Girl Scouts is just like amazing. I think if someone had a choice to join Girl Scouts, I think they should.”

Ashley graduated from Glendale High School in June and will begin her freshman year at San Jose State in the fall. She plans to major in public relations and hopes to become a Girl Scout leader someday.

Five others receive their Gold Awards

Margaret Diehl was motivated by the financial struggle of Immaculate of Mary School, so she raised funds to improve irrigation and soil and added new plants around the campus grounds for her Gold Award project, “Peace Memorial Garden Renovations.”

Christina Dupas called her project “Archival of Historical Photographs for St. Philip Apostle School.” She organized thousands of photos containing more than 60 years of her school’s history. She also developed a photo archive that preserves and makes the photos accessible to the community.

Mary Farley collaborated with Elizabeth House to collect shoes for families for her Gold Award project, “Happy Feet: Rebuilding the Family One Sole at a Time.” She gathered shoe donations and raised funds to purchase additional shoes. A Disney animator assisted with creating a project logo, “Happy Feet” that is now being used at Elizabeth House to get more shoe donations.

Gabriella Lopez named her project “Brothers’ Helpers Video.” She filmed and edited a promotional video for Brothers’ Helpers, a volunteer organization. It illustrates how the homeless try to survive on the streets of Los Angeles. Her video was uploaded to its website to bring awareness to the organization’s need for donations and volunteers.

Ani Sarkissian’s project, “Express Yourself,” allowed her to combine her love for art and teaching. In her workshops, she shared her thoughts about creativity with students in first through sixth grades at the Child Education Center. The students expressed themselves by making tie-dye butterflies and face masks. She also created a booklet of her crafts so others at the center can benefit.

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JOYCE RUDOLPH can be contacted at rudolphjoyce10@gmail.com.

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