DHS Student Reaches Girl Scout Gold with Cat Mural

When it comes to Girl Scout honors, the gold award is the highest and most prestigious one can earn. So when  (DHS) student Laurie Polisky decided to go for gold, she knew it was going to take some work.

“It’s the final step in scouting,” Polisky said. “It’s not typical.”

The DHS senior joined the Girl Scouts in kindergarten, and Polisky has persevered despite acknowledging that "I’ve been the last person you would ever expect to stay."

But the Deerfield native stuck with the organization and did it in style. “I’ve put a different spin on the Girl Scout thing,” Polisky said, noting she sold cookies out of a locker at Deerfield High School.

A vegetarian since first grade, Polisky knew she wanted her final project with the organization to involve her love for animals and looked to contribute something special to a local shelter, .

“The cottage is where they originally kept the cats when Orphans was founded,” Polisky said about an older structure in back of the shelter’s main facility in Riverwoods. She said she wanted to “make the whole thing brighter and happier.”

Polisky started preparations in her sophomore year, noting that “it took more time to plan than actually do."

"I had to figure out what was going to hold up outside," she said of the planning. "How am I going to hang it.”

But thanks to contributions from  and a team of artists, Polisky finished the mural in her senior year and received the gold star award for it.

“It’s something you’ll always be proud of,” she said after the dedication ceremony last Sunday at Orphans. “It felt amazing because I had so many people there, not only to see me, but to see the animals and realize how special this place is.”