Turtle Ramps in Queens

I am often asked, what does a Gold Award Project look like, that maybe doesn't hit homelessness, domestic violence, social justice, literacy, etc.  This one was posted in the GSUSA blog this week.  Take a look at what Katherine Kurre did for her Gold. 

The New York Daily News reports that Katherine Kurre was enchanted by the sight of turtles sunning themselves at a local park in Queens, NY. But she thought there must be a better and safer way for them to relax out of the reach of curious kids and potential poachers.

With the blessing and guidance of the Parks Department, Kurre put together a plan and a team of volunteers, including friends and family.

They designed and built the turtle island out of composite material. And they also embarked on an ambitious clean-up of the pond area which had been battered by flooding and erosion. The group fished paving stones out of the pond and reset them into a patio area. They also reclaimed logs that had washed into the pond and rebuilt the low rustic trail fence. In addition, they removed invasive plants and unclogged some of the streams that feed into the pond.

Does this qualify.  Errr, yes, I think, and here's how the backstory might look:

DISCOVER  Katherine saw a need in her community.  She identified her issue (Helping the animals at the site? or was it a larger environmental issue?) and the root cause (the turtles needed a safe environment? be eco-smart and re-create a healthy environment in the park?).

CONNECT  She did the research, and found that there were turtle ramps that could be purchased and installed to help the turtles.  Katherine partnered with an agency that had experience with the site and its needs.  She gathered a team of non-GS people to lead.  I hope she engaged them by giving education to her team, having them tell others about the project. 

TAKE ACTION  And from there, she took action. Not only did she put in turtle ramps, but she and her team also cleaned up the site and made it more useable for the community. And more ecologically sound, it seems.

SUSTAINABLE The article doesn't say, but I truly hope that she put a plan in place or the Parks Department to continue the work she started.  The requirement is to "plan for sustainability", not just hand over a notebook. I also hope that there was a community action piece in her project, where she was able to post on the Park's Website or create a link from there to her site giving information about the animals, why it was important to do this project, and how other people could volunteer to help in the future.

MEASURABLE  How did she measure success?  By counting live turtles?  By counting visitors to the site?  How was she able to confirm that she made a difference?  I wonder if she participated in a Parks Day/Community Fair/Grand Opening where she was able to hand out literature about the site, what she did and why, and how others could help?

GLOBAL IMPLICATION  Was Katherine able to think bigger?  To imagine how this could look if EVERY site in her town could do something like this?  The city? the other boroughs? the state? If her true message was about the environment, then how could her project make the world a better place for everyone?

It's a Gold Award Take Action Project.