Noticing Neighbors Avery McKenna

There can be a lot of joy that comes from enjoying your own backyard, and one Girl Scout has expanded access to that experience. Meet Avery McKenna, who has been working on her Gold Award Project for Girl Scouts. With years of workshops, training, and collaborative projects under her belt, it all led up to this final solo project. For her final project, Avery renovated the outdoor space at the Newhouse Shelter in Kansas City. Her goal was to help everyone who comes to stay have access to a garden, meditation space, sensory wall, and just a spot for themselves to enjoy. For this interview, I got the chance to talk with Avery about her work in more detail.

Hayley:

I'm so excited to talk to you today. I saw a glimpse on LinkedIn about your project with Newhouse, could you tell us about it?

Avery: Yeah, so the project is to address the problem that shelters are underfunded in the United States. I was trying to do what I could to help Newhouse renovate their outdoor space because they may not have the funds to do it themselves. It's always better with help! I started planting a garden that has some fruits and vegetables in it, that way they can have some fresh produce in their backyard. Hayley: What else goes into the renovation? Avery: I’ve cleaned up some landscaping, made a meditation area nicer for their use, and I am also in the process of building three sensory walls. These are basically boards that have pots, pans, and things to spin, touch, listen to and hit. It's really for kids to get their wiggles out and express their energy, feelings, and whatever they've got going on. It’s a way to play and move it out!

Hayley:

How did you choose what to put on the sensory wall?

Avery:

I went to buy the supplies, and got some smaller pots and pans for them to hit. I picked out these boomerangs, and we're going to see if we can attach them so they spin. We want to make it colorful too, so that there are inviting spaces that the kids can come and mess with stuff that's so creative.

Hayley:

It sounds like the landscaping has everyone that comes to Newhouse in mind. It's for adults, but there's also places for kids, because they provide daycare and education too. The way you’re thinking of everyone is special.

You have a lot of decisions when working on your Gold Award project. Why did you choose to work with Newhouse?

Avery:

A year or two ago, my troop wanted to do a service project. My mom, who is also my troop leader, reached out to Courtney Thomas. She is the CEO at New House and also happens to be our neighbor. She was talking to my mom about a few things that they needed, and we ended up doing a craft drive where we gave them new coloring books, color pencils, and crayons for their residents—but one of the other things that she said was that they kind of needed their outdoor space cleaned up.

That stuck with me. So when it came time to start my goals, I felt like I had a lead there. So I went up to Newhouse just to see if that was an idea worth pursuing. After looking at it together, I thought it was something I could do and it would be a good way to help the people I wanted to help.

Hayley:

Did you learn a lot during your time volunteering there? Avery:

Before working with them on the craft drive, I really didn't know much about the problem of domestic violence. From helping with the craft drive and working on my Gold Award project, I've learned so much. It is so valuable to help these people specifically. I really want to do my part to help make their time at Newhouse as good as it can be.

Hayley:

There's something about work when you care about it, you know what I mean? It feels a lot different. I've seen pictures and it looks like it's a lot of work, but I'm sure it feels different when you care about your project.

Avery:

Yeah, and I've had so much help. The main weekends I was planting, my grandparents came down to help with some of it. Both my parents have been up there with me, and so I really had a good support system. My dad has also been a huge help when I'm buying the supplies for these sensory walls, and helping me start getting them built. My mom is really helping out when I go shopping to pick out the materials. She's always throwing out ideas and giving me options like, oh, maybe we could do this on the walls! They've really helped make my project even better, and even then it's still taking plenty of time. I've gotten way more hours than I've needed, but they have made it so that those hours didn't take as long as it could have.

Hayley:

Well, I just want to commend you real quick, because it sounds like there was a certain allotment of hours you needed, and you're doing this till it's finished. Is that the way you’re looking at it?

Avery:

Yeah, for sure. Right now, I think I'm at, if we're being really specific, 98 hours.

Hayley:

Wow. Thank you for what you're doing. That makes a huge difference.

Avery:

I mean, that does include all the planning. When you start your Gold Award there's this online training to take. You fill in all of your hours and you put your expenses with the money you've received, which, without my family members who donated and believed that I could do this, I definitely would not be able to do this project. This is where you can put in all the information, and where you plan it. So a lot of those hours were also spent just kind of thinking through everything, planning and coming up with a budget and thinking of which plants would be best. Then you propose it for Girl Scouts, and have to get it approved, too.

Hayley:

That is a lot of work to make sure it's lined up. I'm curious, how long have you been in Girl Scouts to get to this point?

Avery:

I've been in Girl Scouts since kindergarten, so I'll be going into my 12th year.

Hayley:

That's so cool.

Avery:

Technically, I think because of kindergarten, I think if you go all the way through high school, it's 13 years total. I'm going to be a junior this year, and I'll be going into my 12th.

Hayley:

With how long you've been in it, this project sounds like it takes a lot of initiatives and self-drive. Those are some things I'm hearing. What are some skills you've learned in Girl Scouts that really prepared you for this experience?

Avery:

A big one would be leadership. Without doing all those service projects before, I don't think I'd have the confidence that I did going into this project. Now, it hasn't been easy—but the practice, leadership, and steps that I've done before with other projects has definitely made this more manageable.

One of the things that I did was teach a lesson with some of the kids at Newhouse after I planted the garden, so they could learn about the plants in the garden. I have led day camp through my service unit for a few years, and so it was a very similar skill to teaching an activity to a bunch of younger Girl Scouts. Another thing would definitely be like my knowledge of power tools. For my Silver Award, a good friend of mine and I in the troop built a dog agility course for a community college’s vet tech program. We definitely had to learn how to use power tools, and there are parts of this project that are easier because it was something I learned in Girl Scouts.

Hayley:

It's like every one of those experiences kind of built to this point.

Avery:

And really, that's what the Bronze Project and Silver Project are. You do them at different levels, but they're basically stepping stones to try and get you ready to do your Gold Award project.

Your Bronze Project is when you're in upper elementary school and that's with your whole troop, you do a project together that makes a difference. Then you move on to your Silver Project, where it's a smaller group and it's more hours. Hayley: How many hours? Avery: With the Bronze version, I think it's 30, and then the Silver is 50, and then 80 for your Gold Award. Girl Scouts has made those as stepping stones so that girls feel like they can take on their own goal, too, because they know that they've done similar things before.

Hayley:

That's very well thought out. But bringing it back to you, and working on the project: What is your hope for the people that interact with and see all the renovations with the landscaping?

Avery:

I hope that they, especially the kids, can have an outdoor space that they take ownership of. Everything growing in the garden is theirs. I know that they are the ones who, along with their teachers, are taking responsibility for the watering of the garden every day. I know how much I appreciate my backyard space, and so I hope that everybody at Newhouse can have the same value. Like, I hope they can appreciate having an outdoor space that they can go to. Then with the sensory walls, I hope that they use them as an opportunity to get their wiggles and feelings out, so they can have fun!

Hayley:

That is beautiful, and that's a really good point. It's like a backyard. You enjoy your backyard, so it's important.

Avery:

Yeah.

Hayley:

You've just been in a very cool position, and the things we work on can change us, too. How has working on this project positively impacted you?

Avery:

Seeing them and seeing the kids, just like when I did this lesson, some of them were so excited. Like, they would just yell out the plant names! They weren’t just like: “Well, that's a blueberry.” I was like, “Look! It is a blueberry!” And they would say: “Really?!” Seeing them happy in the outdoor space has made all the time I spent worth it.