ORANGE PARK – Kate Staten, a Girl Scout with Troop 2116 in Orange Park, achieved the Girl Scout Gold Award by designing and implementing a comprehensive composting and environmental education project at her school, St. Johns Country Day.

When Kate noticed food scraps were being thrown away instead of reused, she created a sustainable project to educate students on how food we typically throw away every day can be turned into rich compost to help soil, plants and gardens thrive. Kate installed a permanent three-bin composting system on campus with food scrap collection bins, signage and provided classroom instruction for the students.

Kate’s project not only implemented a sustainable composting system on campus, but she was able to track its impact through pre/post project knowledge surveys that showed dramatic increases in students’ knowledge about composting, sustainability and soil health.

“My main focus was on sustainability and creating a project that would outlast me and continue to help the school and the students learn about composting and how it benefits our environment,” Staten said. “I hope that students now have a better understanding of how small things we can do every day like composting food scraps can make a big difference.”

Kate was inspired by her great-grandfather, Hi Williamson Staten Sr., who was an agronomy professor and soil researcher. Hi Williamson’s research focused on developing ways to improve the productivity of soils and increase food production. Following in her great-grandfather’s footsteps, Kate merged her love of science with environmental care and education to help students learn about composting and sustainability.

To earn the Girl Scout Gold Award, Girl Scouts research a problem that is important to them, create a sustainable solution that leaves a positive impact on the issue and demonstrate leadership by implementing a plan that creates change. Only about 5% of Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award.

Kate is a rising sophomore at St. Johns Country Day and stays active in school with her academics, sports, student leadership and volunteering. Kate hopes to pursue a career in science and continue her nonprofit, Staten’s Stems, teaching people to grow food in innovative ways that make fresh food accessible to everyone.