Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

I have been a member of The Girl Scouts of America since first grade. My troop started as a large group, with around 20 girls. By fifth grade, the group was down to 5 core members. This group has stayed the same for the last 7 years, and we have all watched and helped each other grow up. This year, I earned my Girl Scout Gold Award,which is considered the highest award a girl scout can earn. I knew that I wanted my project to be related to the environment, as I have always had a passion for conservation. I also knew that I wanted to do something that would fit the requirements of the Nicodemus Wilderness Scholarship. The Nicodemus Wilderness project perfectly embodies my emotions towards the environment, and exemplifies the idea of assisting the environment as a community, or from a grass roots point of view.
My idea for my project was to make wheelchair accessible planting beds for an assisted living home in Madison, Ohio. My goal was to foster a connection to nature and a love for gardening in the residents. I believe that a connection to nature is important, and installing wheelchair accessible planting beds helped residents to re-establish a connection to nature they may have had before they moved into the home, or even to create a new connection to nature through an attainment of knowledge about gardening.
In the Summer of 2016, I began my project- I started by gathering donations of materials. I had a family friend help me draw a blueprint of the beds, and teach me how to build them. I spent over 12 hours sawing wood, fitting boards together, and then screwing them into place. After the beds were built, I stained them and put decorative caps on the corners. The beds were ready to be installed by the end of the Winter of 2017. I began to communicate with the residents about what they would like to be planted in the beds. Once I had their picks, I asked an indoor gardening expert which plants would be the most viable in the planting beds. In the Spring of 2017, I planted seeds and grew my own starts, while I waited for the weather to warm up so that I could install the beds. On May 26th, I installed the beds at The Lantern of Madison and had a "planting party," where the residents were able to help me plant the starts in the beds and learn about the basics of gardening. After two years of work, and support from all of my troop, family, and community, I had finally finished my project and installed the planting beds.
Many of the residents now love working in and caring for the beds. Growing their own food also allows the residents to reduce their carbon footprint a little, and saves food transportation energy and costs. On a larger scale this would help conserve fossil fuels and help fight monocropping, which is a growing agricultural problem that faces America today. my project has taught me to be passionate and hardworking, and compassionate towards others. Doing such a big project by myself has taught me how to use my individuality, and I am so glad that I was able to help members of my community.