When Lily, a Cadette Girl Scout from Troop 33013 in Tamaqua, earned her Silver Award this year, she didn’t expect to be featured in a video interview with her state representative, but that’s just what happened.

Rep. Jamie Barton, who serves Schuylkill and Berks counties, learned about Lily’s project, “Cell Phone Safety” and invited her to appear on his videocast, “Barton Breaks It Down.”

“My mom told me he wanted to interview me, and I thought, ‘Oh cool!’” Lily said. “I was a little bit nervous.”

For her project, Lily conducted multiple Zoom sessions with girls across the country, collecting and sharing information about staying safe when using a cell phone. “I had done interviews before for the project, but I wasn’t the one answering questions,” she said. “I was the one asking them, so this was different because Representative Barton was asking me questions.”

Lily’s mom shared the video through Facebook, and Lily was happy with how the interview went.

“Before we started recording, Representative Barton ran through the questions so that I would know what to expect,” she said. “I think it turned out OK.”

Not only did Lily learn more about cell phone safety through her Silver Award project, which included creating a YouTube video, but she also expanded her knowledge of coding. “I created a patch using a coding website called Scratch,” she said. “It took me quite a bit of time to make it. There were so many things I had to do that I didn’t know how to do, so that was a learning experience for me.”

Having been a Girl Scout since age 5, Lily, now 13, said she has her sights set on earning her Gold Award next.

“I did my Bronze Award when I was a Junior, and I like to raise my levels of independence as I go through Girl Scouts,” she said.

Being featured on Rep. Barton’s show was just one of the many things Lily enjoyed about her Silver Award project.

“One of the main reasons why I did my Silver Award was because it’s fun,” she said. “It’s a fun experience to do something that helps out your community. Achieving awards in Girl Scouts can help make the world a better place, and it just feels nice to help contribute to that.”

The Silver Award is the highest award a Cadette Girl Scout can earn. To learn more about Girl Scout Highest Awards, click here.

Story written by Cathy Molitoris, Marketing Coordinator for Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania. To reach Cathy, cmolitoris@gshpa.org.