Special needs children face challenges every day. As part of my Eagle Scout Service Project, I wanted to support these children in a crucial area – sensory activity. My mom does part-time substitute teaching and prefers to work with special needs students at Buffalo Trail Elementary School. One day, she mentioned that it would be nice if the students at her school could have more engaging sensory activities. This got me thinking about ways I could provide the students with their needs. Ultimately, I decided that I would design and build two sensory activity tables for my Eagle Project.
First, I researched sensory stimulation, as well as its needs and considerations. Activities help children develop appropriate responses to stimuli and can enhance their learning experience. They can also facilitate better visual, auditory, and tactile processing. In doing so, children can learn how to regulate their behaviors in a comfortable environment. However, some may be more sensitive to their environment and inclined to overstimulation. Using this information, I compiled a list of possible sensory activities that could be used. Next, I thought a table would be the most appropriate means to present and organize these activities for the students. I leveraged the activity table’s general design from a table my dad built for me when I was younger for my own activities (e.g., building train tracks, playing with Legos, playing with cars, etc.).
I then met with a Special Education Program teacher from Buffalo Trail Elementary School to discuss the proposal, gather requirements (e.g., size, height, features), and start planning the project. With the requirements in hand, I proceeded to make one of the tables as a prototype. This helped me fine-tune the process, materials, and design of the tables. I then used this experience to model the way for the second table. For example, originally, the table legs’ dimensions were slightly too small to secure the caster wheels with all four screws. For the sake of stability, I expanded the legs using an additional 2”x 2” board, enabling the caster wheels to be appropriately fastened to the legs. Once the prototype was completed, I planned out how to best execute the construction with other Scouts and participants. This included determining the order of how different pieces would be built, what teams would make what parts, how to maintain quality and safety, who would be on what team, how to motivate the team, and which participants could use what tools.
To account for COVID-19, I pre-screened the participants based on my Troop’s checklist. I also provided masks, hand sanitizers, and face shields on the build date. Social distancing was also employed (when applicable) to guard against transmission.
The most challenging part of the project was planning. There were many aspects to consider, including measurements, materials, supplies, tools, and safety. Other considerations included what activities to use and how to manage and lead Scouts to complete the project. Although it was a bit tedious and demanding, this process helped me improve my critical thinking and planning skills, including determining the budget, procedures, and logistics.
My favorite parts of the project were seeing the development of my ideas take shape. Its completion left me satisfied, especially seeing how beneficial the outcome is. What started as merely an idea became tangible objects that will benefit students over many years.
The most important things I learned from completing my project were communication, leadership, and planning skills. Being able to communicate effectively with the beneficiary, Scout leaders, and the Scouts who assisted me, whether through email or speech, was crucial to the project’s completion. With this came improved leadership skills, as I was able to better formulate courses of action and efficiently construct the tables.
On the weekend of October 9-11, 2020 Troop 1550 camped at McCoys Ferry Campground (a National Park Campground) that’s located along the C & O Canal National Historical Park.
Scouts from Ashburn’s Boy Troop 997 and Leesburg’s Girl Troop 998 joined together on a conservation mission for screech owls, organized by a Troop 997 Life Scout. The Scouts have spent the last week honing their woodworking skills building screech owl nesting boxes. The Eastern screech owl is not an endangered species, but its habitat is in decline, particularly in Virginia and the Northeast. Screech owls often resort to nesting in old woodpecker holes, but nesting boxes placed high in woodland trees keep the owls and owlets safe from predators like snakes, racoons and larger owls and other raptors.
Eagle projects centering on building duck nesting tubes, bat boxes, duck feeders and bluebird boxes. Ian P. decided to focus on owls by building screech owl nesting boxes. He teamed up with Camp Highroad in Middleburg, a stellar United Methodist Church camp that has campsites frequently used by area Troops and Packs, as well as for leader training. Ian recruited Scouts from Troops 997 and 998G to build the nesting boxes, identified locations with the Highroads team, and will soon lead a team to mount them in likely nesting areas around the Camp. He built an extra nesting box and created a screech owl guide for the Camp’s nature education program. The guide includes information about the owls, the project, the installation locations around camp and instructions on annual maintenance.
Ian invited his sister Riley, a Star Scout and one of the founding members of Leesburg’s Scouts BSA Girl Troop 998, and her fellow Scouts to participate as well. They learned about the wildlife conservation and educational mission of the project, then received hands-on training with woodworking tools and methods. With over 80% of the Troop participating, the girls have taken what they’ve learned and accomplished, and completed the application material for the prestigious Hornaday Unit Award.
The Founder of Scouting, Lord Baden-Powell said: “God has given us a world to live in that is full of beauties and wonders… if only we have the sense to look at them in that light.” The Scouts BSA Outdoor Code tells Scouts “To be Conservation Minded.”
This project was important because, although the Pawpaw and Persimmon are fruit trees native to Virginia, they cannot thrive on their own. Pawpaw trees require pollination from an unrelated tree to bear fruit. Persimmon trees generally need a male tree to pollinate a female tree to produce fruit. These factors, combined with the large seeds that are not eaten and spread by animals, hinder fruit bearing Pawpaw and Persimmon groves.
While this was Troop 840 Girls first Conservation Project, the Scouts have conducted several community focused Service Projects. These included projects for our Nation’s Veterans in conjunction with Vets on Track, which furnishes/decorates homes with essentials and comfort items for homeless Veterans “Making Houses into Homes” and Black Horse Forge which provides free metal forging classes and forging facilities for Veterans; Black Horse Forge is planning to expand into woodworking too and also has horses, donkeys and chickens for visiting Vets to caretake. Additionally, Troop 840G Scouts have participated in the National Night Out opening ceremony and Scouting for Food.
“Recognizing limited time for me to accomplish my goals, I worked fast to get organized. I was excited to learn more about leadership and to advance in ranks like my brother did,” said Bazemore. Joining Troop 1533G in 2019 not only built Bazemore’s skills in leadership, but also her confidence. “The fact that you interview with adult members of the troop when advancing ranks or earning merit badges really helps to build some confidence as you share what you’ve learned. While each step can feel a little intimidating, you keep going, and it gets easier the more you practice.”
To earn her Eagle Scout Award, Bazemore must hold leadership positions in her troop, earn 21 merit badges focusing on important life skills such as first aid, camping, and personal finance, and lead a service project in her community. For her Eagle project, Bazemore organized volunteers from her troop to make snuffle mats and blankets for a local animal shelter, the Animal Welfare League of Alexandria. The shelter staff requested the snuffle mats because they stimulate dogs’ brains and encourage slower eating habits. She raised money to purchase the supplies and also collected material donations, like dog and cat food, from her troop. As a result of the pandemic, she had to accomplish all of this digitally to maintain social distancing. “Thankfully, it was fairly easy to transition the demonstration of how to make the blankets and snuffle mats online. Although I am not set on a specific career path yet, I am very interested in veterinary medicine, so I wanted to do a project I was both interested in and could tie into my love for animals.”