After months of preparation, senior Emma Bradley went to Stanton Elementary School with puppet theater in tow. One month later, she received the Gold Award for her work at Stanton.

“[The Gold award] is the highest award for Girl Scouts. To get it you have to complete a journey, and then also do a project, which is 80 hours,” Bradley said.

Bradley decided on doing an outreach project to Stanton Elementary School in Anacostia, where many students live under the poverty line. Her project was very puppet-centric, and included puppet videos, a puppet theater, and teaching students how to make their own puppet.

“[I decided on it] because in elementary school I loved doing puppetry camps. I also wanted to do stuff with voice recordings, and changing voices, and making funny stories,” Bradley said.

She chose the stories that she enjoyed as a child – The Rainbow Fish, Shoo Fly, Five Little Monkeys Jumping Down the Road, Click Clack Moo, and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom – and was able to bring them to life in videos she made and then shared with the students.

On Oct. 10, Bradley, along with some friends looking to help, visited four different classrooms and taught the children how to make paper bag puppets.

“It was really nice to see how excited they got about getting to keep [the puppets]. They didn’t expect to be allowed to keep their puppets. The kids don’t have much at that school…and so [it was rewarding] just seeing how excited they get about having something of their own,” Bradley said.

Bradley also dropped off the puppet theater she made, along with many books she collected, which further excited the students.

The Gold Award is the highest offered because it is an independent project, meaning Bradley had to organize and execute the project herself. However, that doesn’t mean she didn’t get help along the way.

“I have a friend who is an amazing painter, so I got her to paint the puppet theater for me, because art isn’t my forte. I had a bunch of friends who were able to help me out with making the videos, because they enjoy doing that type of thing,” Bradley said.

The happiness on the student’s faces as they received books, puppets, and a puppet theater for the school made for a rewarding experience and one deserving of Bradley’s newly received Gold Award.