Girl Scout Mariska Robinson and her mother, Heather, pose by a tree at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
W-B Area sophomore earns Girl Scouting’s highest award
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Girl Scouts receive a star pin for every year in Scouting. Mariska Robinson has 10 stars on her vest, starting with the ones she earned as a Daisy and a Brownie, then a Junior, Cadette and Senior.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Mariska Robinson has earned quite a few badges during her time in Scouting, signifying that she has learned about topics as diverse as cooking, car repair and government.
Mary Therese Biebel | Times Leader
Ten tiny pins, each shaped like a star, show that 15-year-old Mariska Robinson has been a Girl Scout for 10 years.
And if you ask the Wilkes-Barre Area sophomore from Laurel Run about her experiences, she’ll describe what sounds like a decade of fun.
There have been camping experiences at Camp Small Valley in Dauphin County, filled with games, gathering firewood and graduating from sleeping in a cabin to sleeping in a tent.
There was a scavenger hunt with a Harry Potter theme, where she had to look for “horcruxes” like the diadem, locket and cup mentioned in the books she had enjoyed reading.
And the high-ropes course she completed helped her overcome her fear of heights.
“I was almost in tears, walking across this itty bitty little wire,” she said.
But she told herself “I can do it,” and she did.
“I’m proud of the growth I’ve seen in her, through Scouting,” Mariska’s mom, Heather Robinson said.
Over the years Mariska has earned a Bronze Award and Silver Award in Girl Scouting, and she recently fulfilled requirements for the Gold Award, the highest award in Girl Scouting.
She is a member of the 2025 class of Gold Award recipients in the Girl Scouts in the Heart of Pennsylvania Council, meaning she will officially receive the award next year.
For her Gold Award project, Mariska built a “9 Square” game for Pocono Mountain Bible Conference Camp in Clifton Township, another camp she has attended for years.
Viewed from above, 9 Square resembles a volleyball game, but each of nine players is separated from the others in his or her own 3 x 3-foot space. Mariska built her 9 Square game from PVC pipes that can be adjusted for the height of the people playing the game.
“It was great project,” camp director Matt Macking said, adding that Mariska taught children how to play it when they arrived at camp and it was a good way for them to get acquainted.
“The counselors are so glad that it’s movable,” he said.
Mariska said she wanted to do something nice for the Bible camp since people there helped her deal with her sadness after her beloved grandmother died during the Covid epidemic.
“I felt like God wasn’t there anymore,” she explained. “But they helped me find my way back to God.”
Mariska’s other projects over the years have included collecting 200 pairs of eyeglasses for the Lions Clubs, and collecting tabs from aluminum cans for the Ronald McDonald House. She also built a “buddy bench” at Heights Elementary School, to be used with the peer mediation program.
Her favorite subjects in school are math, science, history and English,and she has earned a black belt in karate.
And while she doesn’t belong to a Girl Scout troop — Mariska is a “Juliette” Girl Scout operating as an individual; that name comes from Girl Scout founder Juliette Gordon Low — her mom said Scouting nicely rounds out her daughter’s experiences.
“She’s growing in self esteem,” Heather Robinson said. “And I can see how she puts herself in other people’s shoes.”