Girl Scout Achieves Highest Honor

WHITESBORO – In her 19 years, Hannah Farrow has served on Middle Township High School Student Council, been inducted into the National Honor Society, and participated in field hockey, track, Key Club, Rotary Club, marching band, and school plays.
Around these activities, Farrow, of Court House, was also a Girl Scout in Troop 46175, reaching the highest honor in November, the Girl Scout Gold Award.
Farrow is the 17th scout in the Whitesboro-based troop to achieve the honor. Troop coordinator Gail Farrow said few scouts achieve it, because other activities often get in the way of scouting.
“But she hung in there and she stuck with it,” she said.
Farrow’s parents, Tiffany and Robert Farrow, pinned the Gold Award badge to her sash at a ceremony celebrating the achievement May 16 at Bethel Commandment Church, which is the troop’s sponsor.
Becoming a Gold Scout requires taking action on a community issue, completing 80 hours on a project, and making sure the effects of the project last. Farrow’s project involved teaching area children how to combat childhood obesity.
“It was a personal challenge and ultimately an achievement for me,” she said. “I am proud that my project educated many and will benefit the community.”
Farrow’s mother, Tiffany, was in the same troop, achieving her Gold Award in 1997, 20 years before her daughter. Tiffany Farrow has served as a troop leader since.
When Farrow was a toddler, her mother brought her to Girl Scout meetings as a “tagalong.” She had to wear a handwritten t-shirt so others wouldn’t confuse her for a scout. Within a few years, she traded the tagalong t-shirt for her first Girl Scout smock.
The t-shirt and smock were two of several of Farrow’s scouting mementos displayed on a table that became filled with certificates and plaques as they were presented throughout the ceremony.
Among the honors were certificates from Middle Township Police, Mayor Michael Clark, and the Board of Chosen Freeholders.
Sheriff Robert “Bob” Nolan presented an engraved rosewood pocketknife and a gold coin. It was the first award he presented as sheriff.
“This is one of the things I enjoy the most about my job,” he said.
As undersheriff, Nolan attended Ruby Washington’s Gold Scout ceremony last July. “At that time, I met Hannah and she said to me, ‘you’ll be back to present that award to me,’” he said.
Farrow’s field hockey coach, Janina Perna, recalled how Farrow became one of her most memorable students.
When Farrow first joined the field hockey team, she “floundered,” Perna said. After a year, Perna pulled Farrow aside and asked her if she was really committed to the team. Farrow promised she was.
“It was the last time I ever questioned her dedication to the team, her effort, her desire to do well,” Perna said. “From then on, she blew me away. She was a different person, and that year she won her first varsity letter.”
Troop Leader Lydia Simmons implored Farrow to be a selfless leader as a Gold Scout.
“We have too many who use their strength and their brains to exploit others and gain selfish ends,” Simmons said. “I charge you to be among those who dedicate their hearts and hands to common good.”
Farrow graduated high school last year and began studying psychology and forensics at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck. Her goal in life is to help children in the juvenile criminal system overcome their troubles.
Farrow has aged out of Girl Scouts, but she plans to serve as a scout leader when she finishes college.
“Girl Scouts has molded and shaped me into the goal-oriented young lady that I am today,” she said. “I wish to thank family, church, and friends for your love and support during my entire time as a Girl Scout.”
Farrow was also honored at the Girl Scout Central Southern New Jersey ceremony May 20, where she received letters of recognition from the U.S. Senate, Congress, and Gov. Phil Murphy. 
To contact Taylor Henry, email thenry@cmcherald.com.