Freeholders Honor Girl Scout Gold Award Recipients
Published on April 26, 2019
Four Morristown Scouts Present their Projects
The Morris County Board of Freeholders recently honored four Morristown Girl Scouts with county certificates for each earning their Gold Award, the pinnacle achievement in Girl Scouting, for ambitious and community minded projects.
Their Gold Award projects focused on a wide variety of topics, from sign language for hearing-impaired youths and a relaxation program for parents of special needs children to self-defense seminars for students and a documentary film that looks at challenges facing young female artists.
Girl Scouts from left, Kylee Strasser, Nya Federoff, Christina Ledford and Anna Cliche. Freeholders, from left, director Doug Cabana, freeholder John Krickus, deputy director Heather Darling, and freeholders Tom Mastrangelo, Stephen Shaw, Kathy DeFillippo and Deb Smith.
The Freeholders at their April 24 meeting issued county certificates to the young ladies:
- Kylee Strasser, Morristown, Troop 80841
- Anna Cliche, Morristown, Troop 80841
- Christina Ledford, Morristown, Troop 80841
- Nya Federoff, Morristown, Troop 81170
The Freeholder Board is privileged to celebrate the ambitious work done by these young women for the benefit of their respective communities,'' said Freeholder Director Doug Cabana. They have set quite a positive an example for all of us here in Morris County, and we offer our appreciation for their dedication and hard work.
Each of the Girl Scouts who received county certificates have impressive personal resumes, featuring outstanding family, school, scouting, and personal achievements. They each briefed the Freeholder Board on their projects
Here is a brief summary of their projects:
Anna Cliche of Morristown focused on sharing her knowledge of self defense as her Gold Award. Freeholders Stephen Shaw and Deb Smith look at photos on a screen.
Anna Cliche, of Morristown, focused on karate for her Gold Award project. She earned her black belt three years ago and wanted to share the knowledge and confidence she has gained. She taught three self-defense seminars to her peers at Morristown High School, and created a pamphlet that included information on safety, awareness, self-defense tips and online resources. She is working with faculty to make the seminars a regular occurrence.
A senior at Morristown High School, Anna is valedictorian of her class and a member of National Honor Society. She is involved in many extracurricular activities, from captaining the Mock Trial Team and participating in the Girls STEM Club, to serving as an assistant at her karate dojo.
Morristown Girl Scout Kylee Strasser talks about the program she created for parents of special needs students.
Kylee Strasser, of Morristown, founded a program called Peace for Parents for her Gold Award project. The program gives parents of children with special needs a place to go and relax while their children are engaged in sports with a mentor through the SNAP program.
A senior at Morristown High, Kylee is a member of the National Honor Society and is involved in many clubs and sports, such as the Colonial Croner, the school's broadcast club; and the Unified Track Team, which works with special needs kids. She also has participated in the Peer Group Connection.
Christina Ledford taught American Sign Language to elementary students.
Christina Ledford, of Morristown, is the founder of Start2Sign, a project intended to raise awareness about deaf culture and American Sign Language. For her Gold Award project, she chose to share her knowledge by teaching ASL to a third grade class at the Alexander Hamilton Elementary School.
A senior at Morristown High School, Christina has excelled scholastically and is a member of the National Honor Society. She currently also is enrolled in classes at County College of Morris €“ through CCM's Challenger Program €“ and has completed courses in American Sign Language and Mass Media.
Nya Federoff directed, shot and produced a 16-minute documentary on the challenges facing females in the arts.
Nya Federoff, of Morristown, created Gold Girls, a 16-minute documentary film that raises awareness regarding the challenges that face young female artists for her Gold Award Project. Nya plans to pursue cinematic arts in college. View the video here.
A senior at Morristown High School, Nya is a member of the National Honor Society and several other honor societies. She is Executive Producer of the Broadcasting Club, which manages the school radio station and video productions, and is a member of the MHS Theater Company, and was co-lead in the recent spring musical, Addams Family.