Local Girl Scout goes Hollywood
Whitney Kazragis is headed for Hollywood.
The 15-year-old Martinez teen is working behind the scenes through the Girl Scouts Wider Opportunities program.
The program offers Cadette and Senior girl scouts the opportunity to study a wide variety of topics on-site worldwide ranging from scuba diving in the Great Lakes, backpacking in the Alps or viewing the wonders of Yosemite National Park to studying successful women in business or drama at a Savannah college.
"Sometimes (the trips) are just for fun, but they certainly broaden ideas of what you are capable of," said Susan Simmons, director of communications and marketing for the Central Savannah River Council of the Girls Scouts. "It is a great opportunity for the girls."
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In Los Angeles, Whitney, a rising sophomore at Aquinas High School, is one of 32 Girl Scouts from across the country who will meet with film producers, directors, editors, screen writers, make-up artists and costume and set designers about careers in the film industry.
The girls will be divided into small groups to make their own music video to premiere in a studio in Beverly Hills.
Whitney Kazragis, 15, is one of two Girl Scouts who will travel to Los Angeles to work with experts in the entertainment industry to create their own video.
Photo by Jim Blaylock
This is not the first Wide Ops trip for Whitney, who is interested in singing, acting and entertainment law. She went to Traverse City, Mich., in October, where she learned how to handle money and be a smarter businesswoman from successful businesswomen. Whitney considers what she learned the foundation for later in life.
"What is so nice about the programs are they are both building blocks for what she wants to do," said Whitney's mother, Marina.
The 15-day trip, which started Saturday and runs through Aug. 9, won't be all work. Whitney gets to sun on the beach at Disneyland, attend a showing of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl at the famous Graumman's Chinese Theater, go behind the scenes at Universal Studios and hike and camp in the mountains around Hollywood, Simmons said.
"I am excited," Whitney said before leaving on the trip, promising to take time from the work to enjoy California. "I am going to make time to have fun, too."
Many of the programs are affiliated with Outward Bound and range in cost. The local council paid Whitney's $1,180 program costs, leaving her family to pay only for the $200 round-trip airfare.
"This is something I would not be doing otherwise," Whitney said with her mother's agreement.
Girls apply for up to three programs, write essays and are interviewed before the local council decides to send them. Whitney got her first choice in October, but she applied only for the Behind the Scenes program this time hoping she would get in.
"This one will be much more fun," she said. "This was my first choice. So many girls apply to the programs and this was the only one I applied to this time, so it is kind of an honor to be chosen for this one."