Ellen Petrik, a lover of history, set out to make the subject more engaging and approachable for children. She worked with Blount Mansion to create a new, interactive exhibit featuring historical toys that children can play with! This included handmade marbles, whirligigs, dolls and a dollhouse. She developed interactive stations featuring reticule sewing and writing with quills. She earned a prestigious Girl Scout Gold Award in 2024 for her History at Play: Engaging Children with the Past project.

Gold Award Girl Scouts are rock stars, role models and real-life heroes who address issues they’re passionate about by using everything they’ve learned as a Girl Scout to solve an issue. They plan and implement projects that produce lasting change in the community and beyond. It is the Girl Scouts’ highest honor.

Ellen describes herself as creative, sensible and determined, all traits that came in handy while investing more than 110 hours to make this project a reality. She learned so much about the importance of planning and communication – especially to carry out a project of this scale.

Ellen wanted history to come to life in a way that connected with students instead of rote memorization of names and dates. She also loved getting to use her creativity, sharing: “My favorite part of the project was making and furnishing the dollhouse because I got to pick out a lot of things I wouldn’t normally get to buy at the craft store and use the full extent of my creativity.”

She unveiled the project during a special event at Blount Mansion and invited younger Girl Scouts to attend as well.  

Ellen’s memories of her time in Girl Scouts go back to her first skiing experience with her troop in 2021. She comically shared, “It was fun, but took a lot of getting used to. The second year, I could ski all the way down the slope without falling over, which made it much more enjoyable.”

In her free time, Ellen loves to garden, write, sew, read and spend time with friends and family. Her college plans include pursuit of a not-so-surprising major: history.

Congratulations, Ellen! Visit girlscoutcsa.org to learn more.