A friendly environment for students “on the spectrum” has been created at C.H. Booth Library thanks to a Girl Scout Gold Award project by Newtown Girl Scout Troop 50617 member and Lauralton High School junior Maya Welber.

“For every kid, it is always going to be hard when you are first going into high school,” said Maya, adding that it was especially hard for her younger brother, Francisco, who has autism. Maya decided to make the process easier for local students through her Girl Scout Gold Award.

“I wanted to make an environment that was very friendly for kids on the spectrum,” said Maya.

Maya said the new Abilities With Possibilities group at C.H. Booth Library began meeting in January, “but there was definitely a lot of preparation before then.” The project was mostly influenced by her brother, and the Girl Scout Gold Award was an impetus for creating the group.

Roughly ten students have been regularly attending the meetings, and Maya said she hopes more will begin to attend. The group meets once a month, from 1 to 2 pm, on Saturdays. The next meeting is scheduled for this Saturday, April 20. May’s meeting is scheduled for May 11. The sensory-friendly crafts event is for ages 10 to 15.

Maya is a St Rose of Lima School graduate.

To help promote the new monthly event at the library, Maya created an Instagram account called “Abilities With Possibilities.” So far, photos posted to the account show some of the crafts students have made while attending the library events.

“I wanted to promote inclusiveness and engage children with shared interests to become more social and reach out of their comfort zones,” Maya wrote in a recent e-mail. “I also wanted to encourage collaborative learning among children of all abilities.”

She wanted a group that could provide an environment for “kids to show their true colors,” she said on April 3.

The monthly meetings are open to all, not just students with autism.

“I just wanted to help educate people on similarities they may have, things they may like, and... it was all kind of inspired by my brother. He definitely helped me a lot,” Maya said, smiling.

She chooses the crafts for each event. The first month, the students created newspaper animals. The next month, they made bird feeders out of recycled plastic water bottles. She finds inspiration for the crafts online.

Making it to a point where she could work on her Girl Scout Gold Award was “hard to get to,” but worth it, Maya reflected.

“I definitely want to encourage people if they have a chance to go for a Gold Award [to do it], because it opens up a lot of opportunities to make a change,” said Maya. “It’s not something you can do for yourself. I was definitely not alone in doing this.”

Some of her support came from her troop; her library project advisor, C.H. Booth Library Children’s Librarian Alana Bennison; and her Girl Scout mentor, Cat Fedorchek.

“A part of my project is making it sustainable, so after I leave maybe for college, hopefully someone else will be able to take over,” Maya said.

Her original goal in creating the group was to offer an “inclusive, friendly environment for everyone to share their creative sides and share common interest with peers.

“I wanted to provide a place where all kids could learn more about each other and bring them closer, whether or not they are on the spectrum. I think we see a lot of programs exclusively for one type of person, and I wanted to break that cycle and encourage acceptance and change with my club,” Maya said in a recent e-mail.

She hopes more local students will attend in the future. Participants are asked to register to attend events in advance through the C.H. Booth Library’s website, chboothlibrary.org. Links to upcoming library events are available on its online calendar.