ALBANY — Alyssa Gaige, of East Berne earned the Girl Scout Silver Award for her project investigating wheelchair accessibility in Altamont last year.

For her Take Action project, Gaige, who uses a powered wheelchair, visited public buildings in the village and negotiated their entrances and exits, taking notes on how they could be improved.

She titled the project, “Beyond ADA Compliance,” after the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 that prohibits discrimination against people with mental and physical impairments. It requires certain design standards, like ramps, wide halls, and automated doors, for public and commercial buildings.

“I am proud to report that I have already made a difference and inspired some changes as well as planted some seeds for future improvements,” Gaige wrote in a letter to the Enterprise editor last year.

The Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York announced 32 cadettes — in sixth, seventh, or eighth grades — including Gaige who had earned the Silver Award. Each girl put in more than 50 hours of work for the Take Action projects aimed at making their comunities better.