RIRA And Roosevelt Island Brownie Girl Scouts Poster Campaign To Promote Good Citizenship And Community Pride

Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) Social, Cultural & Educational Committee Chair Lynn Strong-Shinozaki reports:

The Social Cultural and Education Committee of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association is working with local groups to promote good citizenship. The multi-media campaign is designed to raise awareness of the impact residents have on each others' lives, whether by design or through inadvertent actions.

Most residents are loyal members of our community and praise life in our small town. The campaign will highlight actions individuals can take to make the island a warmer place for everyone.

The campaign began with posters drawn by members of Brownie Girl Scout Troop 3001, a group of second and third grade girls. Together, the girls brainstormed a list of ways to complete the sentence "On Roosevelt Island we" with a verb that suggested a positive action and a picture that illustrates the thought.

The girls identified many ways that we can be good citizens to make our community a warmer and better place.

Troop Leader Aiesha Eleusizov said that one action that really resonated with the girls was cleaning up after their pets. One girl immediately piped up, "I once stepped in it in my bare feet!" Which of course, elicited a loud chorus of "EEEEW" from the rest of the troop.

This is an issue which personally impacts everyone's ability to enjoy the wonderful outdoor activities available on Roosevelt Island, especially the children who spend a lot of time playing in the grass.

Several of the Scouts drew pictures of children playing with and cleaning up after their dogs with the sentence, "On Roosevelt Island we pick up the poop!" to help remind everyone on the island to be a responsible pet owner.

@TruesdellClass We R doing neighborhood campaign children draw pictures ON ROOSEVELT ISLAND WE.... pic.twitter.com/4mu59rFz3V

— Lynne Shinozaki (@LASHINOZAKI) December 9, 2015

The "On Roosevelt Island we" posters will emphasize positive actions, like saying hello to neighbors

and helping elderly residents. They will be printed in a larger format for placement on the kiosks and the red bus. Some will be scanned and displayed on the monitors in the tram cabin. RIOC is supporting the reproduction of the posters.

The campaign is scheduled to run for the year ahead, with posters from Girl Scout Troops 3244 & 3245 with Troop leader Janine Schaefer in the next series.

Other child-oriented groups to be invited to participate are students of PS/IS 217, Roosevelt Island Day Nursery, Island Kids, Roosevelt Island Parents Network, Church of Good Shepherd, Roosevelt Island Jewish Congregation, Hope Church, Roosevelt Island Marlins and the Child/Legacy High Schools.

UPDATE 6:15 PM - Ms. Shinozaki adds:

We were unable to list every group we intend to reach out to but we look forward to having the opportunity to present first the work of all Island Children and then we hope to reach out to everyone who would like to participate.