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Chandler Catholic school principal honored with award from Girl Scouts
By Joyce Coronel, news@catholicsun.org
December 18, 2008
When people think of Girl Scouts, they generally envision uniform-clad young ladies pedaling boxes of cookies. But that’s not entirely accurate.
About 1,000 gathered for the Girl Scouts’ Arizona Cactus-Pine Council’s annual World Awards Dec. 6 at the Arizona Biltmore. With guests and honorees that included retired Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor and Gov. Janet Napolitano, the room was abuzz with mostly female camaraderie.
At two tables near the front of the room sat members of Girl Scout Troop 4013 along with their adult leaders. They were all there to honor Sr. Mary Norbert Long, SC, principal of St. Mary-Basha Catholic School in Chandler, whom they had nominated for a prestigious World of Learning award.
In order to qualify for the award, nominees must be, or have been in the past, a member of the Girl Scouts. Sr. Mary Norbert remembers well her experience with the organization.
In a short video shown just before receiving the award, Sr. Mary Norbert spoke of the leadership skills she learned as a Scout growing up in Pennsylvania and how she carried those skills into adulthood. The emphasis on service, she said, was something she carried into her vocation as a Sister of Charity.
Recipients of the awards, which were given in seven different categories, were nominated by letters of support from members of the Girl Scouts.
Gina La Benz, a World Awards committee member with the Cactus-Pine Council, said Sr. Mary Norbert’s letters of nomination were unique.
“The amazing thing was that children wrote letters of recommendation. Usually it’s just adults,” La Benz said.
Terry Easley, one of the co-leaders of Troop 4013, said Sr. Mary Norbert has been an inspiration to the girls.
“She’s a great leader and a good role model,” she said. “She has a direction she’s going to go and she allows no one to fail.”
Roxanna Easley, a freshman at Xavier College Preparatory, remembers how supportive Sr. Mary Norbert was of the Girl Scouts at St. Mary-Basha.
“She pushed me to do well and she helped us when we were doing our bronze award and the Marian award,” she said.
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