At the February 2nd Board Of Education (BOE) meeting, Girl Scout Troop 40998 gave a presentation to do their part to make Roselle Park a better place.
Troop leader Ellen Margarita – along with co-leaders Kathy Roché and Muriel Ramos – as well as seven (7) Girl Scouts were at the meeting to present their case.
Mrs. Margarita addressed the BOE, “We are here today because our troop has a request to make about the grounds at Robert Gordon and the Roselle Park Middle School. We’re going to start with the first girl from the troop and they’re each girl going to say one sentence about this request.”
Lina Chemidlin was first, saying, “I am 3rd grader at Robert Gordon. When I go to school every morning I notice there [are] water bottles and wrappers on the ground in front of both school and also out on the field.”
Then Meriam Saaman spoke, “When there is litter on the ground, people tend to litter more.”
Ella Royster followed, “Our troop would like to put more garbage cans around the schools in our quest to make Roselle Park a better place.”
Phoebe Roché was next, “When I was at a soccer game, I picked up litter after the game. There are only two garbage cans and they’re in the far back of the field.”
Lisi Roca stepped up to the microphone to state, “Our troop would like to see 2 garbage cans in front of both schools and 2 garbage cans out in the field.”
Tanisi Dudani then commented, “Having more garbage cans will help people throw their trash into the can so there will be less litter.”
At this point, the Girl Scout troop used technology to have Mia Ramos Facetime her part,”When people litter, animals can eat the trash or it can go into the sewer system or eventually into our oceans.”
Finally, Lia Aasmae remarked, “Hi. I’m Lia and my mother has called Mayor Hokanson and he has agreed to purchase 4 garbage cans for this request. And our troop can purchase the garbage bags for these cans.”
The troop leader concluded the presentation, “Our troop would like to know if you approve of this request. And if you do, maybe we can arrange a timeframe when we can have the four garbage [cans] installed. I understand there might be a litter abatement event scheduled in the spring and the town is considering doing something in April. So that’s our request.”
BOE Facility Chair Loren Harms offered the board’s response, “There’s nothing I can say but ‘yes’. We thank you, girls. Great job contacting the mayor and all. We’ll work out the details and let’s see when we can get them done – quicker than April maybe.”
BOE President Chris Miller thanked the troop for offering their suggestion to keep the borough clean. He added, “We’re really, really proud of you and also we’re really proud of you for setting a good example for Roselle Park citizens . . . You’re out there, you’re setting a good example . . . So keep on doing it because we do have a wonderful town that we live in but we need to also keep it just as beautiful as you guys want it to and we’re very excited about your project.”
Anyone interested in the Girl Scouts can visit their website (link).
