My name is Brooke Weaver and I am a student at Massaponax High School and a Girl Scout. During the summer of 2021, I completed my Gold Scout Award, which is the highest achievement for a Girl Scout as it requires a sustainable impact and at least eighty hours of community service.
For the topic of my project, I decided to bring awareness to river safety through artwork. I accomplished this by creating a series of sidewalk chalk pieces and digitally designing a poster. This was only possible through collaboration efforts with the Respect the Rapp coalition, Friends of the Rappahannock, and Fredericksburg Parks and Recreation throughout the project. The chalk series was at the entrance to Ficklen Island along the Rappahannock River Heritage Trail from late July to Labor Day weekend. I did a different chalk piece each weekend and collaborated with fellow Girl Scouts from Troop 468 for the last one. Furthermore, each piece portrayed a specific message related to river safety. The digitally designed posters were placed at various locations around Fredericksburg and along the Rappahannock River, including Old Mill Park. They highlighted the same river safety points as the chalk art: Wear a Life Jacket, Bring a Buddy, Wear Foot Protection, Watch for Debris, Beware Drop-offs and Undertow.
My favorite part of the project was seeing how thrilled some people among the community were at the sight of my artwork.
Thank you for the support,
Brooke Weaver
