Tower Lakes resident recipient of national Girls Scouts scholarship

Lauren Kolasinski of Tower Lakes is the recipient of the Gold Award from the Girls Scouts of the USA for her work on service project involving students with disabilities and horses.

Kolasinski received a $2,000 scholarship for her efforts as a part of the award, which is the highest award Girl Scouts in high schools can received, according to a news release. The Gold Award is given to a Girl Scout who creates a project to “address the root cause of a problem, plan and implement innovative solutions to drive change, and lead a team of people to success.”

Kolasinski’s project was called “Signs Make a Difference,” which included work with horses and students who use them to help with their disabilities.

The project involved working with Walk on Farm and eight therapy horses. The problem Kolasinski saw was that many students who rode the horses would not be looking up as they rode, causing horses to go the wrong direction. Kolasinski worked to place signs throughout the indoor arena that students could focus on and would help them keep the horse moving in the right direction. In all, she created 22 signs that therapists at the farm could use for with their students.

Three other Girl Scouts from McHenry County also received the Gold Award: Abigail Covert of Huntley for her project “Bats: Why They Matter;” Julia Perrone of Lake in the Hills for a project addressing community hunger; and Elise-Marie White of Woodstock for her projected titled “Inspiring You to Inspire the World.”