POWDERSVILLE — Lauren Stover, a Sophomore at Powdersville High School, had a ribbon cutting on Aug. 23, 2018 to celebrate the grand opening of her Gold Award Project — an outdoor classroom at Powdersville Middle.
Stover, a Girl Scout Senior, constructed the 24 x 24-foot wooden outdoor classroom at Powdersville Middle School to provide the students and faculty another location in which to learn and grow together.
The Gold Award, the highest honor a Girl Scout can achieve, requires an 80-hour service project.
“Well, it can’t be just any service project, it has to be sustainable,” said Stover. “So, you can’t do something that’s just going to last one year or something. In my case, I wanted the children to be able to ready, study and learn outdoors, no matter the weather,” said Stover. “Plus, I wanted to do something nice for Mr. Mustin as a thank you.”
Stover credits Chad Mustin, her eighth grade English teacher, for inspiring her.
“I was never any good at English but he was so patient that I finally began to ‘get it.’ He would open his window on nice days and or let us read outside,” she said. “I had finished my Sliver Award my eighth grade year and we built a pergola. Mr. Mustin joked that if I ever went for my Gold, not to forget about him. So when I did … It just seemed right.”
Stover, now 15-years-old, has spent the past 11 years in Scouting starting as a Daisy.
“My Mom’s my troop leader so it’s just always been something I’ve done,” she said. “But Scouting is about more than just cookies — it empowers girls to become strong, caring and motivated women leaders. There is a whole community of Scouts, we network, we plan, we set goals for our futures. It’s a wonderful organization.”
As if the outdoor classroom wasn’t enough, Stover also donated a library to Helping Hands.
“Giving back is an incredibly humbling experience,” she said.
When asked what was next, Stover said she wanted to travel.
“Traveling and not just seeing other cultures, but really experiencing them — that’s what I want to do,” she said.