Nicole Sherer, an eighth grader at Hillsborough Middle School, received the Girl Scouts Medal of Honor for saving a life while she was vacationing in Costa Rica.
Meghana Gandavabi is a Hillsborough High School graduate and a freshman at Pratt University. She earned her Gold Award for a project focused on how to understand allistic and autistic peers effectively.
The Hillsborough Township Committee recognized two local Girl Scouts at its recent regular meeting on Jan. 14.
Mayor John Ciccarelli presented proclamations to Nicole Sherer, who received the Girl Scouts Medal of Honor, for saving a life, and Meghana Gandavabi for the completion of her Girl Scout Gold Award.
Sherer, who has been a member of the Girl Scouts for six years, was vacationing in Costa Rica when she noticed a young boy was drowning in a deep swimming pool. She rescued the boy and removed him from the pool. The boy coughed up significant amounts of water and was then aided by adults, according to the proclamation.
The Girl Scouts Medal of Honor is one of the highest honors in Girl Scouting. Sherer is an eighth grader at Hillsborough Middle School and participates in the band and choir.
Ciccarelli said they are proud of Sherer’s actions adding he can’t imagine what it’s like to save another person’s life.
“We done,” he said.
Meghana Gandavabi is a Hillsborough High School graduate and a freshman at Pratt University majoring in 2D animation. She was a member of Girl Scout Troop 60640.
She earned her Gold Award for a project focused on how to understand allistic and autistic peers effectively. She assembled a project team where an autistic adolescence worked with neurotypical peers. The observations were then presented to the public in a video. The project took 83 hours to complete with a team of five members.
In 2019, Gandavabi completed her Silver Award project focusing on the Alzheimer’s community. She had also organized a Diwali food drive from 2020 to 2024 and was a member of the design team and end of year fundraiser for project graduation.
“She serves as an example to the youth of Hillsborough Township through her achievements, leadership, and community service,” Ciccarelli said. “We are proud that Meghana is a member of the community.”
Gandavabi thanked the mayor and the Township Committee for the proclamation and said her Girl Scout Gold Award project allowed her to use her voice to highlight a topic that is “incredibly important to me.
She hopes to continue to bring awareness and acceptance to the autistic community beyond her project.
“As someone with many personal ties to the community, this is a population that I have observed has been misrepresented time and time again,” she said. “I wanted to do my part in reassessing societal perception of autistic adults to show that each person deserves a voice and opportunities to grow and succeed in life.”
