Community Corner
Mehlville Senior Receives Distinction Award
Katlyn Sansone of Mehlville High School won a $500 scholarship for her work with a local women's shelter.
The Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri recognized the accomplishments of 20 local girls and women Tuesday evening at the fourth annual Girls and Women of Distinction award ceremony.
Each award recipient was nominated for demonstrating leadership in her community and embodying the Girl Scout values of courage, confidence and character. The girls, ranging from seventh to 12th grade, each received a $500 college scholarship.
The Women of Distinction, recognized for leadership in everything from law enforcement and civil rights to sustainability and biochemistry, each received a pearl necklace with her award. The necklace symbolizes the one that Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low sold to fund the organization at its birth. Donna Martin, CEO of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri, said the pearls represent the difference that one person's dedication to a cause can make.
"When I heard the women's contributions read aloud, I said, 'Wow,'" said Board Chair Mary Ann Altergott in her closing remarks. "When I head the girls' accomplishment cited, you took my breath away. Thank you."
Among this year's recipients was Katlyn Sansone, a senior at Mehlville High School. Sansone won the award in the Creative Arts category for her work with a local women's shelter, Our Lady's Inn, which serves pregnant women or recent mothers in crisis. Sansone took portraits of the mothers, babies and children at the shelter, then gave them to each family in an album, along with a disposable camera to continue capturing memories.
"So they can have this happy memory, even if their home situation is not great," Sansone said. "From the letters I got back, they loved it."
Hope Bretscher, a senior at Parkway West High School, received the award in the Government and Legal category. She recently won an essay contest from the Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, writing about the the plights of women and children in St. Louis and around the world, and how different countries handle such issues. She also led a group to Washington D.C. to participate in a discussion on social justice, and has been active in Civitas, an organization that gets students involved in citizenship activities and global issues.
