Girl Scout project brightens school in Lakewood Ranch

When Kylee Francies, a fourth grader at Braden River Elementary School, walks by Building Two of the school and sees the flowers she planted with her Girl Scout troop, it brightens her day.

“They’re just so beautiful and bright,” Francies said.

Francies’ troop, Girl Scout Troop 701, planted the flowers as part of a beautification project, so all the girls in the troop could earn a Bronze Award.

To earn the Bronze Award, which is the highest a junior Girl Scout can receive, the troop had to collectively work 20 hours on its beautification project.

To earn the award, the troop had to first go through a Girl Scout Junior Journey, which has the girls think about how they use Girl Scout values, who they have connected with and more. The troop then explored its community and created an observation list to think of ideas for their projects. Lastly, they had to choose their project, make a plan of action and complete the project.

Members of Troop 701, which has 14 girls, have been together at Braden River Elementary since they were in Daisies, the youngest level of Girl Scouts.

Now as fourth and fifth graders, the troop wanted to make a difference at the school they’ve called home for years.

With funding from the school’s Parent-Teacher Organization, the girls planted about four flowers in each of 10 planters and placed them around the entrance to five of the school’s buildings.

Some of the flowers included snapdragons, marigolds and daisies.

“When we got here [as kindergartners], it was really nice,” said Alice Barr, a fifth grader in the troop. “We realized that in the past six years, it hasn’t kept up the niceness. We wanted to make it nice again with flowers to brighten it up a little bit and make the school a better place.”

The troop came after school March 3 to plant and place the flowers outside the buildings. The next day, students and staff were surprised to see the troop’s project.

“I’ve gotten lots of messages from teachers, administrators and parents because we just literally brightened up the whole breezeway,” said Elly Barr, one of the troop’s leaders. “It was beautiful.”

For the 12 fifth graders in the troop, the beautification project was an opportunity to leave their mark on Braden River Elementary’s campus before moving onto middle school.

Throughout the project, the girls learned about how delicate flowers are, the proper way to plant flowers, teamwork and organizational skills.

The girls were able to keep their own flower or vegetable plant at the end of the project along with the tools they used.

Members of the troop said they were proud of themselves for achieving the highest award a junior Girl Scout could receive and for knowing their hard work will pay off when they are honored at the Young Women of Distinction Awards Ceremony on May 17 at the Charlotte Harbor Event and Conference Center in Punta Gorda.