Girl Scouts pay tribute to local woman’s efforts
A recognition event of area Girl Scouts drew a crowd of about 1,000 Saturday, April 21, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The event was part of the yearlong national celebration of Girl Scouts 2012 centennial anniversary.
- Mary Alice Muraski
A recognition event of area Girl Scouts drew a crowd of about 1,000 Saturday, April 21, at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The event was part of the yearlong national celebration of Girl Scouts 2012 centennial anniversary.
Mary-Alice Muraski of River Falls was one of 28 women chosen as a “Forever Green Honoree” for having “demonstrated outstanding commitment, exceptional service and an extraordinary dedication to the Girl Scout Movement.”
“Being named one of the 100 Women of Distinction for the Girl Scouts of Minnesota and Wisconsin River Valleys is a wonderful honor,” Muraski said of the broader recognition. “I was very humbled.”
Muraski joined Girl Scouts while growing up in Rockford, Ill., before becoming an assistant troop leader there as an adult.
She moved to River Falls in 1984 to teach in the computer science area at UW-River Falls.
Her current position is manager in the university’s Division of Technology Services. She is also an associate professor of computer science and information systems.
In River Falls in the late 1980s, Muraski took on the leadership of her own daughter’s Girl Scouts troop while encouraging those girls to get involved with community service.
“Growing up, my entire family was, and continues to be, active in scouting,” Muraski said.
When UWRF had a Campus Girl Scouts group, Muraski served as faculty advisor.
She also facilitated a relationship between the River Falls School District and Girl Scouts so that girls attending a Career Choices workshop would fulfill a leadership requirement.
Muraski and her husband Stanley Schraufnagel, a UWRF professor of agricultural economics, have been married over 25 years. They were married at St. Bridget Church.
The couple has two children who graduated from River Falls High School -- Corrine, who will soon earn a bachelor’s degree in nursing from the College of St. Scholastica, and Daniel, a freshmen, majoring in engineering at UW-Madison.
Muraski served for eight years on the Girl Scouts board of the legacy St. Croix Valley Council. She has promoted greater involvement for girls in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) programming.
Girl Scout programs, with support from people like Muraski, have tried to boost STEM skills in order in order to increase women’s presence and success in these academic areas.
Muraski is a member of the River Falls School District Online Learning Committee and a past member of multiple community boards.
Tags: wisconsin, lifestyle, minnesota
More from around the web
RSS Feeds