Ella Ward

                Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania is honored to present Ella Ward with the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest recognition for achievement in Girl Scouting.  Ella, daughter of Peter and Maria Ward, is a sophomore at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School and serves in a leadership position as a swim instructor and lifeguard at a local YMCA.

                As a Girl Scout member for 11 years, Ella is a Girl Scout Senior of Troop 20754. She has been supported in her Gold Award effort by Michelle Cindrich, troop leader, Cranberry Service Area,  Morgan Triska, Gold Award Advisor, and Charlotte Holly, Gold Award Mentor.

                Her Gold Award project began in April, 2010 and was completed in January, 2011. Ella became aware of the recent funding cuts for Pennsylvania libraries through her research into community needs as part of her preliminary Gold Award activity.  Ella decided to address the library’s need for new books by authoring a children’s picture book on water safety and donating it to the Cranberry Township Public Library.  Combining her interest, knowledge, and skills in both water safety and photography, she created a toddler age appropriate book on pool safety.  In addition to this book, Ella wrote a water safety brochure for parents of young children. This brochure was distributed to parents who attended the reading of her book at Story Time, at the Cranberry Township Public Library this past August. In demonstrating leadership skills related to her project, Ella volunteered her time as a swim instructor for 3-10 year old children, helping them progress in the developmental skills of swimming.

                Ella will graduate in 2013 and plans to attend a four year college. Her anticipated academic pursuits include elementary and English education.

                As the premier leadership experience for girls in the United States, Girl Scouting builds girls of courage, confidence, and character, who make the world a better place. For more information, visit www.gswpa.org.

Caitlyn M. Cindrich

 Girl Scouts Western Pennyslvania is honored to present Caitlyn Marie Cindrich with the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest recognition for achievement in Girl Scouting.  Caitlyn, daughter of Timothy and Michelle Cindrich, Jr. is a sophomore at Seneca Valley Intermediate High School and also serves in a leadership position as Captain of the SV Colorguard and Winterguard Squad.

As a Girl Scout member for 10 years, Miss Cindrich is a Girl Scout Senior of Troop 20754; and supported in her Gold Award by Michelle Cindrich, Troop Leader, Fran Hupp, Girl Scout Mentor; Michelle Duffy and Courtney Riffer, Project Advisors of the Cranberry Service Area.

Her Gold Award project began in July, 2010 and was completed February, 2011.  Caitlyn became aware of a need at VOICE concerning donations specifically geared towards teens.  She was inspired to assist the teens because she can relate to how important personal hygiene is at this age.  Caitlyn addressed this need by creating the Teen Care Kit, a hand sewn bag containing various personal care items such as face cleanser/lotion, deodorant, body spray, hair care items, and nail care items for both boys and girls.  She recruited the help of family and friends to sew the bags, as well as help from the community to receive the donations.  She organized a sewing club at school to continue sewing bags for VOICE and created a brochure to bring awareness of this need to the community.

Caitlyn's project currently has affected the lives of 81 teens and she plans on impacting many more.  Caitlyn will graduate in 2003 and plans to become a Pediatrician.

Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania is honored to present Sarah Ritchie with the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest recognition for achievement in Girl Scouting. Sarah, daughter of Kim and Sean Ritchie is a Junior at Seneca Valley Senior High School and also serves in a leadership position as a lifeguard and swim lesson instructor at her local YMCA. As a Girl Scout member for 11 years, Miss Ritchie is a Girl Scout Senior of Troop 20754; and supported in her Gold Award effort by her troop members, her family, Michelle Cindrich, Gloria Limetti, and Taeuk Kim of the Korean Catholic Community of Pittsburgh St. John Cantius Sunday School.

Her Gold Award project began in June 2011 and was completed in January of 2012. She renovated a Sunday School room in the St. John Cantius Sunday School by leading the youth group in repainting a shelving unit. She held a school supply drive and acquired donations to fill the shelves. Sarah then held an event where she directed young Girl Scouts from her community to paint fabric sleeves for paint cans. She filled these paint cans with the donations to make the supplies convenient for young children to access. This created a more positive learning environment for the students. She also wrote a short story about acceptance of diversity and presented and donated it to the Sunday School. She taught the children at the school lessons about embracing individuality and love for self and others. The project created a better learning environment for the children and taught them about self-esteem and diversity.

Sarah will graduate in 2013; and plans to attend a four-year college and study business and marketing as well as creative writing.