Finding someone who has met the producers of Tarantino movies, explored Czech graveyards and swam with barracudas is not easy to come by. But as a Girl Scout for 13 years and a Boy Scout for five, senior Clare Toman of Spring Lake Heights has lived a multitude of experiences.

Toman joined the Girl Scouts when she was only a kindergartner, and now serves as the president of Crew 4385 of Venturing, a youth development program coinciding with the Boy Scouts of America. She is also a member of the Washington Crossing Council’s National Youth Leadership Training staff.

Besides these positions, Toman also makes an impact in leading younger scouts.

“I enjoy being there for younger girls as someone they can come to with issues like that, who’ll actually do something about it,” Toman said.

Along with leadership experiences, Toman’s opportunities through Venturing have taken her around the globe to countries like Japan and the Bahamas.

“Venturing has way more opportunities for hands-on experiences, traveling and volunteering as well as leadership trainings and positions,” Toman said.

She is working toward achieving the highest award possible in the Girl Scouts, The Gold Award, an award equivalent to the prestigious Eagle Rank of the Boy Scouts. To achieve this, Toman started an LGBT+ club at CHS.

“I started the club as a way of combating the higher rates of LGBT+ suicide in teenaged youth and to educate people on LGBT+ history and culture. I wish I had as welcoming of a space when I was a freshman,” Toman said.

As she works toward this goal and runs the club’s meetings, Toman said she is grateful for her experiences as both a Girl and Boy Scout.

“It’s very integrated, so I love being part of such a large community,” Toman said. “I want to be a figure in the program to make younger girls realize their possibilities within the organization.”