Way to Go! Olivia Phillips of Shirley
Olivia Phillips, 9, sold more than 3,000 boxes of Girl Scout cookies, and thus became a cover girl. Credit: William Floyd School District
A Shirley student landed a spot on a magazine cover after selling the most Girl Scout cookies in all of Suffolk County.
Olivia Phillips, a fourth-grader at Nathaniel Woodhull Elementary School, earlier this year sold more than 3,000 boxes of cookies, earning her the honor of being on the cover of the Girl Scouts of Suffolk County’s Fall 2016 magazine.
To sell the $4 boxes, Olivia said she stationed herself for a few hours each weekend inside Freshy Fresh Bagels in Shirley.
“I was really surprised, because I didn’t think I would sell so many boxes,” Olivia, 9, said.
For her achievement, the cookie cover girl also received an invitation earlier this month to observe the preparation of floats for the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in Manhattan. She was joined by 15 other scouts from the tristate area who also had special achievements this year.
In addition, Olivia and her fellow Troop 12 members held a holiday toy drive last year that collected two bins of toys for Nathaniel Woodhull students. The girls solicited the gifts outside a local Family Dollar store.
“Olivia and her troop are one of our biggest supporters,” Nathaniel Woodhull Principal Monica Corona said. “Whenever we have a project needing support, we know where to go.”
Olivia is also in her school’s orchestra and Student Council.
Michael R. Ebert is an education researcher and has worked for Newsday in various capacities since 2003. He was part of an 11-person team named as 2008 Pulitzer Prize finalists for investigative coverage of the LIRR's platform safety issues.
