Elisa Sacchetti, a junior at Lassiter High School, has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor in Girl Scouting. The Gold Award recognizes girls in grades 9 through 12 who demonstrate extraordinary leadership through sustainable and measurable community service projects that require a minimum of 80 hours to complete. Less than five percent of Girl Scouts earn the award.

Elisa chose to promote health and fitness at three different schools–Mountain View, Bells Ferry, and Rocky Mount Elementary Schools–once a week for four weeks, teaching lessons to the After School Program (ASP) elementary school children. Entitled, “Project: Be a Superhero,” Elisa created a health and wellness program because she noticed a drastic change in the way adolescents treat their bodies. “Children, teenagers, and adults are decreasing the amount of exercise and making poor choices in foods. . . I chose to target elementary school children and teach them about the importance of eating healthy and exercising. I want the younger generation to grow up treating their body right,” says Elisa.

Elisa’s health and fitness units taught the children about food groups, muscles, exercise and healthy eating benefits, negative effects of not taking care of body, how to have a balance diet, understanding food more and where food comes from. With the help of an elementary school teacher and a pediatric doctor, she researched important information to teach the children about making healthy eating choices and exercising. As Elisa explains, “I had a team of 18 fellow high school students, who came to the schools over a period of 4 weeks  (once a week for each school) and taught the lessons. . . which included a lecture and an educational fun game to play. The parents also received a “What Did My Child Learn Today” pamphlet.”

“75 amazing students from three different elementary schools have been educated on the importance of eating healthy and exercising. There are new “superheroes” in this community now. Healthy eating and exercising is extremely important and I hope to see more take on the initiative to better themselves,” states Elisa.

(This article first appeared in the January issue of the EAST COBBER.)