Trio of friends earn Girl Scout Gold Awards ahead of graduation from Richards

Aine Kelly, Maddie DeBleyzer and Lily O’Dea have been friends for years, starting when they were small. As they grew, they realized they shared another quality besides friendship: a desire to help out in their community.

So that’s what they’ve been doing, at their school and as part of their Girl Scout troop. Now, as they’re preparing to graduate as seniors at Richards High School in Oak Lawn, they’re also being honored for their good works with Gold Star awards, the most prestigious honor in Girl Scouting.

To earn the award, each had to put together a signature project. For Kelly, it was all about communicating.

She noticed early in her high school tenure that Richards students were lacking a school newspaper. She’d been active in the newspapers at her elementary and middle schools, so she started a digital newspaper at Richards. Kelly and her staff of fellow student journalists plan to publish a hard copy as a present to graduating seniors. She also runs the staff meetings, posts assignments and writes and uploads articles.

“I started thinking about something I wished I had here, and bringing back the newspaper to me was a good way to inform students but also give students interested in journalism an outlet,” Kelly said, adding younger students plan to continue the newspaper after she graduates.

Bleyzer’s project also drew upon personal experience. She had a good idea of what patients at Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago had to deal with because she had been treated there for two brain tumors. So she got to work organizing toy and gift card drives for patients there, with the help of the PTA at Kolmar School. She also helped construct a treasure chest where people can leave donations throughout the year.

“I’m a patient there so I wanted to give back to them,” Bleyzer said.

O’Dea, an avid dancer since childhood who also teaches dance at the Oak Lawn Park District, organized a dance shoe drive for families who might have trouble affording multiple pairs of specialized footwear as their children grow. She built a donation box for the shoes, which will remain at the Park District facility after she graduates. O’Dea is getting more and more requests as the program’s recital date approaches.

“Just being able to give back to a program that I participated in and knowing I’m making it a little easier for some kids who might not have thought they could participate,” she said.

Kelli Mason, a film and literature teacher and instructional coach at Richards, also was the trio’s Gold Award coach. She said it was unusual for three girls from the same school all to get the awards in the same year.

“I just feel proud they’ve stuck with Girl Scouts,” Mason said. “A lot of girls get involved, and we tend to lose girls throughout the year. They’ve stuck together and supported each other through these awards.”

She also said the award is sometimes overlooked, as it’s not as recognizable as its Boy Scouts counterpart, the Eagle Scout award.

“These young ladies are just amazing and they’ve worked really hard and overcome quite a bit to get this far,” Mason said.

Each project takes girls at least 80 hours to complete.

Lily O’Dea’s mother, Karen O’Dea, who leads the troop with Jill Fontana, said she had seen the friends’ leadership skills grow throughout the years.

“The time and commitment it takes to earn their Gold Award while excelling in their other commitments like school, their jobs and extracurricular activities was rewarding to witness,” O’Dea said. “For Maddie, collecting toys for children at Lurie was near and dear to her heart. For Aine, the Richards newspaper is a way of connecting stories to the students at Richards written by their fellow classmates.

“And for Lily, she saw the need for a donation bin after quickly growing out of her own dance shoes. This will keep students dancing for years to come without the financial burden of buying new shoes as often.”

Debbie Swanson, the troop’s activities facilitator, said she also was proud of the girls.

“Just the dedication and the persistence they displayed and their commitment to service is really commendable,” she said. “It’s hard to find even one student who accomplishes this, let alone three.”

Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.