Senior Shannon Slie is a Girl Scout, an active FCCLA member, now co-president, and culinary participant, but there is so much more behind the scenes.

Shannon is currently working for Girl Scouts to earn her Gold Award. To earn this award, she has to do a service project to benefit the community. For her Gold Award Project, she said, “The overall goal is to be publishing the book with stories and experiences of veterans in the community, so they are preserved for generations.” She is currently getting the project approved with the Girl Scout Board and seeing how many people are willing to do this project.

Shannon helps out every year at the Veterans Day assembly, and every month at the American Legion Pasta Dinner. She has marched in the Memorial Day Parade with the Color Guard. This year, at the Veterans Day assembly, she will be in the Color Guard again. She will also be attending the luncheon, hoping to gather more emails of veterans in hopes they will share their stories with her for her book.

Something most people do not know about Shannon is that she participates in martial arts. She said she does Tang Soo Do, a Korean based martial arts. She said she “started at the age of 8 and stopped for a year or two when Covid hit, but went back for another year and got my black belt.” Shannon explained that she began because the teacher was her dad’s best friend. She explained that there were no other girls. She said, “I only saw another girl during testing with other studios.” Being the only girl in a male dominated sport is a challenge, but Shannon excelled and reached the highest level when she recovered her black belt.

Shannon is thinking about her future. She said, “I’m applying to Quinnipiac University for a master’s degree in occupational therapy.” She wants to go to Quinnipiac because “It has a great occupational therapy program, and it’s close to home, and I also have family that lives in the area.”

Senior Ainsleigh Landino, Shannon’s best friend, attests to Shannon’s outstanding character. Ainsleigh said they became friends in 7th grade. She shared, “I was out one day in Vex Robotics, and I was put in Shannon’s group because I wasn’t there,” and that was their start to becoming best friends.

Ainsleigh said Shannon had a string of positive effects on her life. She explained how Shannon gives her positivity: “Shannon brought me into Girl Scouts, which has helped me give back to the community through all the fundraisers and donation drives we’ve done.”

Something interesting about Shannon that Ainsleigh shared is how she always perseveres. Shannon is very hard-working and committed. Ainsleigh said, “the black belt test she took was five hours long, and then she still showed up to track practice the next day.”

Shannon has accomplished so much, and will continue to succeed and grow.