Rebecca Waggel is a senior at Perry High School and a Girl Scout Ambassador of Perry Girl Scout Troop 71111 in the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio.
Rebecca joined Girl Scouts when she was in first grade and received her Gold Award in 2018.
Rebecca motivated by completing her Girl Scout Gold Award project and her desire to impact the environment, Rebecca came up with providing a water filling station to be installed in her school’s cafeteria. The aim of her project is to eliminate the excessive usage of disposable plastic water bottles.
With the newly installed station, Rebecca had immediately seen measurable results, as students and staff have used her fountain to fill their personal water bottles numerous times, eliminating waste from 234 disposable bottles as of February 2, 2018.
The requirements of Rebecca’s seven-step project consisted of identifying an issue in the community and taking action, including research, recruiting the help of others and creating a plan that achieved quantifiable community impact. The results also would need to educate and inspire others.
Starting in March 2017, Rebecca spent a total of 93 hours on her project. She researched filtration systems that would be practical for student use. Affordability and minimal maintenance also were factors in her study.
After she graduates, Rebecca will attend Stautzenberger College and plans to study ultrasound technology.