FREEHOLD – A young woman from Freehold Borough has been recognized by the Borough Council for attaining her Girl Scout Silver Award.
On Feb. 3, council members honored Alice Edwards upon her achievement of earning the award, which is the second highest award a Girl Scout may earn, after the Gold Award.
A framed copy of the council’s resolution was presented to Alice at the meeting and was read aloud by Councilwoman Margaret Rogers.
Reading from the resolution, Rogers said Alice is a borough resident and a student at Freehold High School. She joined the Girl Scouts when she was 6 and has received awards in the past, including the Girl Scout Bronze Award.
To earn her Silver Award, Alice created educational materials to teach kindergarten pupils about a Buddy Bench.
A Buddy Bench is where a pupil sits when he is looking for someone to play with, but does not know how to ask. Other students may approach a child who is sitting on a Buddy Bench and invite that youngster to play.
The benches were purchased by the Freehold Learning Center PTO and placed on the playgrounds at the school on Dutch Lane Road.
To complete her project, Alice worked with the elementary school’s guidance department, created a poster for each classroom, wrote a letter that was sent home to parents and created a video to demonstrate how a Buddy Bench is used, according to the resolution.
“Alice Edwards drew upon her own experiences when developing this project,” council members said in the resolution. “Therefore, be it resolved by the mayor and council that they hereby formally commend and honor Alice Edwards for her outstanding achievement.”
Councilwoman Sharon Shutzer said Alice’s siblings have also received scouting awards, including her brother William, a Boy Scout who attained the rank of Eagle Scout in 2019.
