It is truly special when young members of the community take the initiative to give back. After several years of hard work and over 80 hours of service, Dorothy Lakshmanamurthy, a senior at Munster High School, has just completed her Girl Scout’s Gold Award. The Gold Award may be the most prestigious and final achievement a Girl Scout can earn, but for Lakshmanamurthy, it’s only the beginning of her legacy.
“I've been in Girl Scouts for 13 years, so to end it with earning the gold award is really special. I wanted to do something that would leave my name out there and allow me to continue being a role model to young girls in my community,” said Lakshmanamurthy.
To earn her gold award, Lakshmanamurthy had to create a meaningful project that would benefit her community. She was immediately inspired by her participation in Munster’s Jr. Historical Society. The organization provides children in Munster with the opportunity to dive deep into Munster’s rich history and do service projects for Kaske House, Munster’s very own history museum.
Lakshmanamurthy decided that she wanted to find a way to encourage people, especially young Girl Scouts, to become more passionate about Munster history.
“I think Munster is a very close-knit community. It's nice to be able to go back and see our beginnings and see what everything evolved from and how we still are evolving. It's just nice to have a deeper understanding of where you’re from,” said Lakshmanamurthy.
Lakshmanamurthy came up with the idea of placing fun, educational signs on the park trail near Kaske House for people to read as they walk. To raise money for the signs, she held several fundraisers all on her own and reached out to people from the community.
This wasn’t enough for Lakshmanamurthy, though. She also created her very own Girl Scout Munster History patch. To earn the patch, young girl scouts will have to complete service projects at Kaske House and do several things to commemorate Munster history such as making a recipe out of one of Munster’s historical cookbooks.
One side quest still wasn’t enough for Lakshmanamurthy. While designing and making the requirements for her new patch, Lakshmanamurthy learned about Julia Radde, a young girl who longed to be a Girl Scout but died of kidney cancer before she got the chance.
Lakshmanamurthy didn’t want the girl to be forgotten, so she set out to make her a permanent part of Munster’s history. She reached out to the Radde family and worked with them to create a small shadow box in Julia’s memory to be hung in Kaske House.
After Lakshmanamurthy had completed her entire project, she decided there was no better way to celebrate than by holding a fun event at Kaske House. She welcomed all the younger Girl Scout troops to come out and start working on their Munster History patch. The young girls got to take part in a dinosaur dig in honor of Sue Hendrickson, the scientist from Munster who discovered the most complete skeleton of a tyrannosaurus. They also got to meet a police officer and his K-9.
Reflecting on her project, Lakshmanamurthy realizes how much the experience taught her about self-discipline, time management, and determination. Most importantly, though, it taught her how to be a leader in her community. She’s grateful to have had such a meaningful opportunity to make an impact on Girl Scouts for years to come.
“It’s almost surreal knowing that I’m spreading my passion to these younger girls. One girl came up to me at the event and said how amazing it was. That really hit home and made me think, ‘Wow, this is actually happening.’ I’m glad that I got so much positive feedback, and I'm happy that everyone enjoyed it. It’s been a lot of fun,” said Lakshmanamurthy.
Of course, Lakshmanamurthy knows that none of it would have been possible without the support of many people in her community. She’s thankful for her friends – Simon Nirenberg, Peyton Reynolds, Chloe Reynolds, Lauren Hoogeveen, and Addison Dzurovcik – for volunteering to help out in any way they could.
Lakshmanamurthy is thankful to her Girl Scout leaders – Dana Lakshmanamurthy and Diane Hoogeveen – for always being there to push her throughout her entire Girl Scouts journey. She’s also thankful to Officer Alex Rillo and his K-9 Vader for making her event extra special and to the Radde family for being so willing to get involved in her project.
Lastly, Lakshmanamurthy is endlessly grateful to her Munster Jr. Historical Society Leader Dr. Chickie Wolfe. Wolfe was truly the inspiration behind Lakshmanamurthy’s project and was a huge asset throughout the entire experience.
Now that she’s earned her Gold Award, Lakshmanamurthy knows that her time in Girl Scouts will soon be coming to a close. She also knows that she’ll carry the values and lessons she’s learned with her for life. She can’t wait to go off to college and find ways to volunteer.
If Lakshmanamurthy could give any young Girl Scout a piece of advice, she would encourage them to stick with it. Between friends and opportunities, Girl Scouts is definitely one of the most rewarding things Lakshmanamurthy has ever done.
“It’s like a family — we’ve all been through so much together and have grown up with each other. Because of Girl Scouts, I always know I have a group of friends to fall back on. Also, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had so many opportunities — I’ve been to London, and I’ve received my Bronze, Silver, and Gold Awards. There’s just so much to do,” said Lakshmanamurthy.