Local Girl Scout reaches for the stars at NASA Space Camp

SPOKANE, Wash. — For Gonzaga Prep sophomore Adalgisa “Addy” DeCaro, hitting her personal record for Girl Scout cookie sales (2,032 this year!) means a lot more than satisfying people’s sweet tooth.

“Sometimes I think that kind of puts everything else we do in the dark,” Addy said.

Girl Scout cookies have helped her save for college and assist her in paying for some unbelievable opportunities. Two years ago she headed to Alabama for space camp where she went on missions, donned a spacesuit and even launched rockets.

“Ours was the only rocket that properly deployed it’s parachute so I was like ‘yay!’ I was the one who wrapped the parachute,” Addy said.

This summer she’s taken her love of the planets one step further, attending Reach for the Stars. Addy is one of just twenty girl scouts picked nationwide to head to Maryland for the Girl Scouts/NASA camp.

Again, she’ll mingle with astronauts and learn about space, but there’s a greater purpose this time around.

“It’s a big jump, that’s for sure,” Addy said.

When she returns home, she will lead the effort in forming a local Girl Scouts astronomy club.

Lani Nachtsheim with Girls Scouts added, “the nice thing about the Girl Scouts is we are all about being girl-led. It’s actually going to be led by the girls so as a council we are going to be guided by them. We don’t have any expectations except they are going use their creativity and they are going to use what they take away from this training.”

Hopefully inspiring other young Girl Scouts to follow in her footsteps.

“Its a really big thing cause I’ve always loved working with little kids so it’s fun just to share my experiences with the younger ones and hopefully inspire them to do the same,” Addy explained.

Addy is joined by a fellow Girl Scout from Pomeroy. The two will work together on the astronomy camp. The Girl Scouts hope it will be up and running by this time next year.

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