Marblehead Scout goes for the gold in Lynn

LYNN – She goes to Marblehead High School, but Ava McGarry dedicated a sunny summer day Tuesday to making sure Sisson School students in East Lynn have books to read when they return to their classes.McGarry, 16, and classmate Claire Caplan are members of Girl Scouts Troop 1215 in Marblehead. As veteran scouts, the pair have their sights set on completing Gold Award projects – a Girl Scout accomplishment roughly equivalent to work undertaken by Boy Scouts on their way to achieving Eagle Scout status.McGarry set pencil to paper a year ago to design five bookcases on wheels for use in the Sisson School. She outlined her project to Sisson Principal Jane Franklin – a former Girl Scout – in May.?She asked me if I was interested in some bookcases and just took it from there. It?s absolutely wonderful,” Franklin said.Tuesday, Caplan?s mother, Heather – who is also Troop 1215?s leader – and a dozen other General Electric engineers volunteered their day to help the girls construct the rolling shelves.Caplan and McGarry sunk screws into boards to assemble the cases under 25-year GE veteran John Jesi?s watchful eye.?They work harder than the men who helped out, and Ava did an unbelievable job on the drawings for the shelves,” Jesi said.McGarry said personal experience inspired her to launch the bookshelf project. She said she shied away from reading until a Veterans Middle School librarian encouraged her to read and gave her books to get her started.Her mother, Jeanette, teaches at Sisson, and so Ava looked for ways to pass on to Lynn students the same gift she received. She undertook a Girl Scout “Do Something” project when she was 13 and collected books she donated to Tracy School students.When she committed to doing a Gold Award project, McGarry decided to help Sisson students. She will paint the shelves with help from fellow Scouts and assemble a book collection to fill the mobile library. She also plans to work with neighboring Pickering Middle School students to launch a book club for Sisson students.?A lot of these kids don?t have any books,” McGarry said.Sisson?s library was converted several years ago to a classroom, Franklin said, to meet school space needs. Classrooms have reading corners, but Franklin said a small alcove in the school?s main hallway is a perfect spot for McGarry?s rolling shelves.?It will stay put in one place but, if necessary, we can move it,” she said.Heather Caplan said Gold Award projects require 80 hours of work by Scouts, and she said McGarry?s project will be evaluated by a review team next March along with its commitment to continue fostering reading in Sisson.?A key element of the project is sustainability,” she said.As soon as she wraps up her project, McGarry will help Claire Caplan prepare her Gold Award project focused on bringing music to senior living centers.?In the end, you know you are doing something good for someone,” she said.