Mater Dei Student Develops C.O.I.N. Program As Girl Scout Gold Award Project

Michaela Kunkler, 16, the daughter of William and Julia (Schank) Kunkler and a sophomore at Mater Dei High School, recently completed requirements for the Girl Scout Gold Award – the highest award a Girl Scout can achieve. The value of the Girl Scout Gold Award is recognized by colleges and universities (many of them offer scholarships to Gold Award recipients), as well as by employers and the military.

As part of the requirements for earning this prestigious award, Kunkler was required to identify an issue; investigate it thoroughly; enlist help and build a team; create and present a plan; gather feedback; take action; and educate and inspire. Michaela credits her Girl Scout leader, Wendy Christmas, with guiding and supporting her through this challenging process.

For her “Take Action Project,” Michaela created the Classes and Organizations In Need Program at Master Dei, which is designed to raise awareness of the needs of groups in the Mater Dei community that are not generally funded by the school. 

Teachers/sponsors/leaders/coaches were invited to complete a C.O.I.N. request form listing the needs of the group they represent.  Donors wishing to help one of these groups could donate money toward or purchase the item(s) needed.

To show the community how easy and important it is to support the C.O.I.N. Program, Kunkler decided to highlight a need identified by the Mater Dei Marching Wildcats.  As a band member, she understood the need for mobile lighting because the band practices on a parking lot with insufficient lighting.

She formed a team to determine the most appropriate type of lighting, and Band Director Dan Klipper completed a C.O.I.N. Program request for four torch-lights and four battery bundles.  The total cost was $1,000 after a generous discount from Evansville-based Escalade Sports. Mater Dei made a donation to cover a large portion of the money to fund the lighting project, and the remaining portion of the money was donated by generous supporters of the Mater Dei Marching Band.

The mobile torch-lights have been used at several marching band practices, and the Marching Wildcats took the lights to Indianapolis as they earned their way to their seventh ISSMA State finals.