EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK -- MARY BETH P. ADOMAITIS

Nine Huntington Harbour girls are making a difference in the world

around them.

The members of Brownie Troop 1259, under the direction of leader Tina

Diskant, have taken it upon themselves to transform a garden at Harbour

View Elementary School. Just last week, the girls removed all the dead

plants and flowers and replaced them with drought-resistant ones.

And they did it for a good cause.

The girls, who are all 7 and attend Harbour View Elementary, are

working toward hopefully earning the President’s Environmental Youth

Award -- an annual recognition of troops from kindergarten through sixth

grade who make a difference in their environment.

“This is not a traditional Girl Scout patch program,” Diskant said.

“This is more manageable for their age.”

The girls will be monitoring the garden for a year, keeping journals

about the growth of the plants and the amount of watering they needed.

“This teaches them about water conservation, responsibility to their

community,” Diskant added. “It also gives them school spirit and pride.”

The Harbour View girls are competing with other troops from the

Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 9, which includes all of

California, Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa and Marianna Islands.

If they win the regional award, the girls will receive a plaque and trip

to Washington, D.C. They can also be awarded a regional certificate by

President Bush.

“They are really trying to make the world a better place,” Diskant

said. “We want to leave it [the world] cleaner and a better than we found

it.”

And the girls are having fun in the process.

“They had a blast doing this,” she added. “There was so much dirt

flying around. It was wonderful.”

The nine youngsters involved in this project are: Madison Diskant,

Andrea Maehara, Heather Rosen, Natalie Kridel, Melissa Barnett, Sarah

Lubin, Alex Chadwick, Molly Lepak and Jacqueline Clark.

***

On a personal note, I will be taking the next few months off to

concentrate on my pregnancy. In the meantime, the Independent will

continue to be in good hands giving its readers the same quality

journalism they expect.

If you need to get in touch with an editor, feel free to contact

Senior City Editor S.J. Cahn at (949) 574-4233 (so7

teven.cahn@latimes.comf7 ) or Editor Tony Dodero at (949) 574-4258 (o7

tony.dodero@latimes.comf7 ).

* MARY BETH P. ADOMAITIS is the city editor. She can be reached o7

marybeth.adomaitis@latimes.com.

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