With projects that helped kids work through challenges from their own childhoods, Caroline Makosiej of Conway and Allison Belliveau of Athol have been honored with Gold Awards through the Girl Scouts of Central and Western Massachusetts.
According to the Girl Scouts of the USA website, “Gold Award Girl Scouts are rock stars, role models and real-life heroes” who earn the highest Girl Scout award by “using everything they’ve learned as a Girl Scout to help fix a problem in their community or make a lasting change in their world.”
Makosiej, 18, earned her Gold Award for a project titled “Barks and Books.” A bookworm who loves dogs, Makosiej certified her 10-year-old white English retriever, Brady, as a library reading companion. Brady took obedience and behavior classes through the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen program to sit with students while they read in Conway Grammar School’s library and learning lab last year.
“He’s a gentle giant,” Makosiej said. “He’ll just lay there and he’s so happy to just be pet.”
Partly inspired by her cousin who certified her dog as a therapy dog for her Gold Award project, Makosiej believed Brady would ease students’ nerves while they read aloud. She struggled with these jitters herself in elementary school.
“I thought this would be great with helping kids build confidence reading aloud,” Makosiej said. “The dog can’t judge you if you mess up a couple words or stutter.”
When Makosiej walked Brady through her school’s halls, Makosiej said the kids’ excitement to see their furry library buddy made her beam. Although Brady is taking a break from the library life while Makosiej studies biology at the University of Vermont, the teen created informational guides for others hoping to train their dogs to become library companions. A few teachers have already expressed interest, Makosiej said.
After winning the Silver Award for building birdhouses at Cutthroat Brook Tree Farm’s trails, Belliveau earned the Gold Award for her project, “The Magic of Kindness Through Comfort.” The 17-year-old created about 50 “comfort bags” filled with breathing technique cards, journals, stuffed animals, coloring supplies, stress balls and sensory bottles for children in foster care. Seeds and glitter float inside the colored water of the sensory bottle, a tool for taking a breath and processing emotions that Belliveau used herself during her experience with the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families (DCF).
Over the course of a year, Belliveau sewed and filled the bags with the help of local volunteers. She then worked with DCF and Valuing Our Children, a nonprofit in Athol dedicated to providing support to children and families, to ensure the comfort bags landed in the right hands. Beyond the bags, Belliveau also gave presentations at Athol Community Elementary School and Athol-Royalston Middle School on tips for interacting with struggling students.
“Everything I went through, even though it was traumatic, it led to a brighter side of being able to help kids that are in different situations, maybe in some of the same situations I was in as a child, [by] being able to give them something I thought could’ve helped me in their position,” Belliveau said over the phone. “That was my way of giving back.”
A commitment to giving back has guided Belliveau for as long as she can remember.
“My family has always told me that I have a heart of gold,” Belliveau said, “I’ve always given back and always thought about people that have it worse than me.”
She plans to continue this calling by becoming a police officer, hoping to learn at Fitchburg State University’s police program.
“I always knew I wanted to help people in my community, but I didn’t really know the ‘how’ until then,” Belliveau said. A senior at Montachusett Regional Vocational Technical School, Belliveau has already started training through the school’s Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program.
“I’ve absolutely loved it: the uniform, the physical training, everything,” Belliveau said. She described becoming a police officer as “being able to do that on the daily and being able to have the adrenaline but at the same time know I’m doing something to help other people.”
Makosiej received the Gold Award this summer at Mechanics Hall in Worcester, and Belliveau traveled to the Massachusetts State House for her ceremony. Both Belliveau and Makosiej noted that the award not only recognized their hours of service, but also strengthened their chances at college acceptances and scholarships.
“It’s something that I feel like is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Belliveau said, adding that she shared the room of her ceremony with a Purple Heart veteran and the president of Fitchburg State University.
Belliveau and Makosiej both started as Girl Scouts 13 years ago and never left, setting their sights on the Gold Award early on. When Makosiej was too young to join a troop as a registered member, she attended meetings and events by her mother’s side.
Group outdoor activities like ziplining along with the trust in her Girl Scout troops kept Belliveau coming back.
“I’ve always liked that sense of community,” Belliveau said. “I don’t have to worry about what other people are going to think about me, because we all have the same interests, so I can be myself and don’t have to worry about other people thinking, ‘Oh, that’s wrong.'”