Bath Elementary School benefits from Scout projects

by Wendy Turrell

Bath Elementary School has benefited from the Scouting tradition of service with the addition of four projects on its playground and in the Outdoor Learning Lab. Two were completed by Girl Scout troops, and two were designed for Eagle Scout projects.

Recently, Girl Scout Cadette Troop 91512, under the leadership of Katie Gehring and Amy Gentile, installed original storyboards along the Lab trail. Gehring said the girls were inspired by library story podiums they had seen in area parks. But instead of featuring books by published authors, the Scouts wanted to encourage and display creative writing and art by Bath Elementary students.

“We are planning for this to be an activity that is done during the students’ library encore time with Mrs. Mary Mourton,” said Bath Elementary Principal Dan Fry. “She is developing a story-writing activity that students from each grade level will complete at some point throughout the school year.”

Gehring, who is also the service unit director for Girl Scout troops in all Revere/Old Trail schools, said this project was developed to earn the Silver Award, the second-highest award for Girl Scouts.

“Principal Fry was an enthusiastic champion of the project and helped the troop secure funding from the Bath PTA and the Bath Building Fund,” Gehring said. “The Revere Middle School PTA also contributed towards the project.”

Those donations purchased the storyboard frames. The troop used their Girl Scout cookie sale proceeds to buy lumber, hardware, concrete, stain and rent equipment. “The troop contributed ‘sweat equity’ by installing the podiums,” Gehring added.

Cadette members Sophie Gehring, Sofia Rauschert, Emerson Beesley, and Molly Myers wrote and illustrated the first story entitled “Finding Your Voice,” about a student who works hard to overcome challenges with public speaking.

Girl Scout Junior Troop 90190, under the leadership of Lindy Cibula and Shelley Faulhaber, built their Bronze Award-winning “Gaga Ball Pit” this past May through July. The fast-paced playground game is a huge hit with Bath Elementary students. The eleven troop members are in the sixth grade at Revere Middle School and have now bridged to Cadette level in Scouts.

Cibula said the girls earned money for the materials from their Girl Scout cookie sale, and partnered with the Bath PTA, which funded the floor for the octagonal pit. She added, “The school also prepped the site for us, making it level and giving it a gravel base.” The Scouts then built the walls.

“It was wonderful to see the girls all working together on the project,” Cibula said. “I think it was very empowering for them to use the drills and power screw drivers, as well as lifting and carrying the boards, fastening them together … and then to see the completed project that they built.”

Eagle Scouts Freddie Mealy and Andrew Froelich are former Bath Elementary students, who were eager to give back to the school they had attended.

Mealy built six kickball field benches last year, “because it was something the school needed, but it wasn’t in the budget for the new school,” he said. “When I was in fourth and fifth grade, I played in the same kickball tournament that hundreds of kids love to this day.”

He researched the idea and presented it to Fry, who was happy to approve the project. Fry said Mealy also raised the money needed, ordered the materials, and assembled a team to help with the construction.

Mealy had the help of six fellow Scouts to assemble the benches in June. Under his direction, the ambitious project culminated when he and “around twenty Scouts, four Scout leaders, my godfather, dad and grandpa installed the benches in September 2021.” Mealy concluded, “The most satisfying thing to me is driving past the school and seeing kids enjoy my benches during tee-ball games and recess.”

Andrew Froelich earned his Eagle Scout by building raised garden beds for the Learning Lab. Fry had reached out to the Boy Scouts to see if anyone was interested in doing an Eagle project at the school. Froelich said when his Scoutmaster, Eric Matheny, told him about the opportunity, he was intrigued and connected with Fry by email. “He [Fry] gave me the idea of an outdoor project. We discussed it further to come up with the raised flower beds idea,” Froelich said.

Bath art teacher Amy Kock helped by writing a funding grant, and she also worked with Froelich on the design and materials, according to Fry.

Froelich, now a senior at Revere High School, described the process, “First we spent from March until about June [2021] planning the design and placement of the beds. In early July we ordered all the lumber from Menard’s, and by late July the project was started.”

Each garden bed is 10 feet long by 4 feet wide and 2 feet tall. Froelich said, “It took about four months to complete the whole project, which consisted of stacking the wood, installing brackets and rebar, and filling the beds with dirt.” He enlisted assembly help from ten of his fellow troop members, along with a couple friends and adults.

Fry is grateful that Bath Elementary graduates are still thinking about their old school. “We love when our former students want to donate their time, energy and ideas to improve learning spaces for our students. The projects are a great way to pay it forward and leave a legacy for future students,” he said. ∞

Photo: Girl Scouts (l-r) Emerson Beesley, Sophie Gehring, Molly Myers and Sofia Rauschert stand with a storyboard panel they installed. Photo by Katie Gehring.