INPERSON
GOLDEN
GIRL
Chelsea Carver creates demonstration gardens in
North Park and earns Girl Scout’s highest honor.
BY JENNIFER BROZAK
A
t just 16 years old, Chelsea Carver has already made a name for herself
as a passionate environmentalist.
Chelsea recently earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, which
represents the highest level of achievement in Girl Scouting, for the creation
of five demonstration gardens at the entrance to Marshall Lake in North Park.
The five different sections of the garden feature pollinator, deer‑resistant,
drought-resistant and edible perennials, as
well as perennials that attract butterflies and
hummingbirds. She says she created the
gardens to encourage visitors to learn more
about their natural environment.
“My house has green space behind it
and I live near North Park, so I have grown
up surrounded by nature,” says Chelsea.
“When my family vacations, we usually
visit national parks and I get many ideas
from the parks. I want to improve the local
park because of the impact it has on the
community, and I enjoy spending time in
nature.”
Chelsea worked with Meg Scanlon,
interpretive naturalist at North Park, to
complete the project. She had worked with
Scanlon on previous projects, including
a Silver Award project about Eastern box
turtles as well as two Presidential Service
Award projects: one where she investigated
Asian jumping worms, and another in
which she created naturalist field guides
and new programming for Scanlon. She’s
also worked with her to study white‑tailed
deer problems and to investigate the
sensory perception of turtles.
“Mrs. Scanlon mentioned the
garden beds as an option for my Gold
Award project, and I was interested
in transforming the weedy beds into
educational gardens,” says Chelsea.
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The Girl Scout Gold Award is akin to a Boy Scout earning an Eagle Scout
award. To earn it, Chelsea was required to complete a seven-step process in
which she had to investigate the issue, submit and present an action plan,
implement the plan, and then educate her community. The project required
80 hours of labor on her part, and her team of volunteers added an additional
200 hours of service.
“Chelsea has so greatly benefited the
park, which in turn benefits the community
at large,” says Scanlon. “She’s an amazing
girl. You don’t expect people her age to
have the talent, the commitment, the drive
and the resolve to accomplish what she’s
accomplished here. The quality of her work
just goes above and beyond what you’d
expect.”
Chelsea, who has been a Girl Scout since
the third grade, secured donations from
Phipps, Master Gardeners of Allegheny
County, Northern Area Environmental
Council, the Audubon Society of Western
Pennsylvania, and the Allegheny County
Parks and Recreation Department. Best
Feed Garden Center, the Allison Park
Home Depot, John Berckbickler and the
Wexford Ace Hardware also donated
supplies.
“This was the largest and most
complicated project that I have undertaken
so far. I had to write proposals, secure inkind donations, manage a budget as well as
a timeline, and oversee volunteer activities.
I also had to write a report, create web
content, develop signage and then create
public relations,” she explains.
To complete the project, Chelsea and
her team planted approximately 200
perennials. Most were planted in the fall
of 2014, with the rest added the following