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Community Corner

Waynewood Girl Scouts Educate Peers On B.P. Oil Spill

Troop 446 hosted about 90 Girl Scouts at a field day designed to educate and communicate about the B.P. oil spill.

Girl Scout Troop 446 out of Waynewood Elementary School put on a comprehensive field day to educate peers and parents about last year’s B.P. oil spill on Monday.

The event was designed to not only help the Girl Scout Juniors achieve their Bronze Award, but also further awareness about environmental sustainability in the community.

“They care about the environment so they wanted to have an impact on something they really care about,” said Troop Leader Carrie McNamara of the 11 fifth-grade girls who are part of the troop.

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Troop leaders say pursuing a project about the oil spill was an obvious choice for the girls, who have always been curious about the environment.

“We started the topic in the fall and they were wondering what would be happening a year later,” McNamara said.

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About 90 Girl Scouts attended the field day which featured several different stations.  One was devoted to trivia, another simulated what oil workers wear, one followed the life of an oil drop, another challenged students to recognize the role oil plays in different consumer products, and an outdoor station allowed students to clean oil off feathers and small stuffed animals. 

The snack was called “eating an oil spill” and substituted chocolate pudding for the spill and Oreo cookie crumbles for chunks of crude.

Troop leaders say the girls planned every minute of the event and even wrote a newsletter on the oil spill and the role of consumers in the oil industry.

“They amaze us all the time,” McNamara said.  “When they care about something, they can just do wonders.”

When Troop 446 had a day off from school back in April, they visited the Environmental Protection Agency and Audubon.  Troop leaders say those field trips really captivated the girls’ interest and were the perfect lead in for Monday’s field day.

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