THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, December 28, 1995 TAG: 9512230144
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY VICKI LEWIS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 80 lines
UNTIL RECENTLY at Lake Taylor High School, second-place trophies didn't have a home.
The school's trophy case had room for first-place trophies only.
But now, thanks to senior Nicole Raney, second-place trophies are proudly displayed in the hall for everyone to see.
Nicole, 17, designed, gathered materials, and built a glass and wood display cabinet just for second-place awards.
The project helped satisfy two of Nicole's desires - one, to see second-place honorees get their due, and, two, to help her earn the Gold Award, the Girl Scouts' highest honor. She will receive the award in a ceremony in April.
To achieve the Gold Award, seniors have to complete a community project. The Scouts come up with the idea, gather the materials and build the project on their own.
This is Nicole's 11th year in Scouting. She has gone through Brownies, Juniors, Cadettes and Seniors at St. Pius X Catholic Church, where she's now in Troop 97.
``Each project is supposed to be personalized,'' said Nicole, the daughter of Jack and Cindy Raney of Larrymore Lawns.
The display case is personal to Nicole because of her involvement in sports at Lake Taylor. She is on the swimming team and soccer teams, and is co-captain of the volleyball team.
``They didn't have room for second-place trophies,'' Nicole said. ``So I asked permission to build one from the principal. It took about a year to get it started.''
First, she wrote letters, then she sought donations from local businesses.
HQ donated wood and nails, and Binswanger Glass donated the glass and tracks. Then with help from a friend, Tim Riedel, she brainstormed the design and measurements for the cabinet.
She did her own cutting and ripping in a woodworking shop on the Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base. She then brought the materials home and nailed, sanded and varnished the display case in her father's work shed.
She did the majority of the work over the summer, and the case was put into the school in October. It's now filled with second-place trophies and most outstanding swimmer plaques for the boys swim team because the girls team has yet to earn a trophy to put into the case.
``But our team is determined to get second place this year,'' she said of this season, which began in November and ends in February.
The reason for the modest goal, Nicole said, is because Maury High School seems to have a handle on first-place awards.
``Maury has a very, very big team, and they're very competitive,'' she said.
An honor student, Nicole is also concert mistress of Lake Taylor's orchestra, for which she plays violin. She's co-captain of the Strolling Silver Strings and vice president of the National Honor Society. She also plays violin for the church choir at St. Pius.
But even with her busy schedule, she always has made time for Scouting.
``I went into Scouts a shy little girl,'' she said. ``But now I can serve as a role model to younger girls. It's given me a lot of self-confidence.''
She credits her scout leaders for making the program ``fun and positive.''
Nicole has been accepted into the College of William and Mary, where she plans on majoring in education. She says she would like to teach high school English one day. She also says she hopes to be as involved at William and Mary as she is at Lake Taylor.
``It's good to stay busy,'' she said. ``If I wasn't I would probably slack off on my grades.''
She explained that by having a schedule she always pencils in time for homework. She adds that if she didn't have a specific time set aside to do it, it might not get done.
``I have to keep on my toes and know what I'm going to do next,'' she said. MEMO: If you know someone whom you feel is deserving of a Thumbs Up! feature,
call Vicki Lewis at 446-2286. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JEN FRIEDBERG
Lake Taylor High senior Nicole Raney looks into the trophy case that
she built for a Girl Scout project, then gave to her school.
by CNB