FALL 2021
SCOUTING PROJECTS ADD TO CAMPUS BEAUTY,
FUNCTION
When Raquel Ramirez-Harrison, of Charlotte, North Carolina, picked her Girl Scouts project, she chose the Winthrop campus as the setting for her herb garden creation.
“My project was for my Silver Award, which is a Girl Scout award you earn in middle school,” said Ramirez-Harrison, now a freshman elementary educa- tion major. “I’ve always had an interest in the environ- ment. The idea of planting a garden sounded really appealing to me.”
She conducted research on herbal and medicinal plants that are native to the Carolinas. “With that re- search I purchased those plants, and they are what you see in the garden today near the Campus Green,” she added.
Her garden is one of more than 40 scouting projects completed on the Winthrop campus since 2016.
A Win-Win Partnership The university is proud to partner with the Scouts to provide opportunities for students to fulfill their Scouts
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BSA Eagle Awards or Girl Scouts Bronze, Silver or Gold Awards.
The students’ projects have been executed on the university’s main campus and at the Athletics, Recre- ation and Research Complex, commonly known as the Farm. It is located about a mile east of the main cam- pus off Eden Terrace.
Both areas offer opportunities to carry out creative and functional ideas. The main campus is known for its beautiful spaces and trees, plus the Farm is used by biology students for teaching and learning about the wetlands, lake, woods and more.
Some of the scouting projects to date have included construction of bat and bird houses, installation of a flag retirement plaza and fire pit, creation of raised garden plots, building of a water sampling platform and formation of a bee colony and pollinator garden. A faculty or staff member is involved with every Scout initiative to offer guidance and give regular feedback.
Another student, Jesse Huggins of Fort Mill, took in- spiration from the landscape work and paintings by his
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grandfather to design beds in Hardin Garden near Scholars Walk. Huggins and his helpers worked for hours on Oct. 2 to install his vision.
Winthrop officials said the Scout proj- ects are among the best-kept secrets across campus. “This is a win-win for everyone,” said Chris Johnson ’99, the sustainability coordinator with fa- cilities management.
Another visible project on the main campus is a diversity and inclusion garden located by Rutledge Building. Emily Pilarczyk, the first female Ea- gle Scout in York County, spent 130 service hours on the project in 2020, and then oversaw volunteers who put in another 550 combined hours.
SCOUTING PROJECTS ADD TO CAMPUS BEAUTY, FUNCTION
Emily Pilarczyk, middle, oversaw the concrete pouring at the diversity and inclusion garden that she undertook for her Eagle Scout project that is located near Rutledge Building.
Pilarczyk, of Fort Mill, polled people connected to the university on what diversity and inclusion meant to them, and then incorporated responses into concrete stools in the garden.
Psychology Professor Cheryl Fortner-Wood, the fac- ulty liaison who works with Johnson to support the Scouts, was thrilled with the results and added that the Scout projects exemplify and perpetuate what drew her to Winthrop more than 20 years ago.
“It’s about the beauty of our campus and the helpful- ness of our people,” she said. “I am honored to be a part of the team that helps each Scout earn his or her top rank through the design and implementation of a significant project that will enrich our campus for years to come.”
Visit
www.winthrop.edu/civiclearning/ccl and click Scout Projects in the menu selection to learn more about the process, view the projects already completed and see suggestions for other projects.
For his Eagle Scout project, David Whitcomb built and installed a demonstration table, equipped with a sink and drop leaf top, at the outdoor classroom near the Winthrop Woods.
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