Eagle of the Week

From the moment he joined Cub Scouts, Colton M. of Troop 162, Arlington, VA, knew that he wished to be an Eagle Scout. To him, that meant “Someone who lives by the Scout oath and law, is a leader, good at helping people, and making sure things happen on time and well. Someone who you can depend upon.” When he crossed the bridge into Scouts BSA, he moved quickly to make it a reality. In two years, he made it to Life and now, at just 13, has completed his Eagle Project.

For his Eagle Project, Colton worked with Westover Baptist Church after he noticed their preschool playground was greatly in need of restoration. The playground’s picnic tables and lawn bench were in a state of disrepair, to the point that the Church’s local pastor feared that the picnic tables would need to be replaced in their entirety, and the lawn bench (the pastor’s favorite) would need to be thrown out. Working with his fellow Scouts, Colton was able to refurbish two of the picnic tables and build four more from scratch, perhaps most importantly, the Scout was able to save the lawn bench. Seeing Colton’s success in saving something he had thought unsalvageable, the pastor was “flabbergasted” and inspired to dedicate a sermon to the project and the restoration.

Throughout the process, Colton employed the leadership and time management skills Scouting had instilled in him. Though initially, he was, in his own words “overbearing,” Colton soon realized that a leader didn’t need to be everywhere and command everyone. This allowed him to step back and delegate tasks. Spacing out activities created ample time for both breaks and improvisation, so that when the Scout faced difficulties like an unexpected break in the wood of the lawn bench, they had the capacity to manage a solution.

Colton is now looking at high school options and hopes to find a school that offers a robust 3D-modeling program and a strong STEM field specialization, especially in engineering. For now, he spends his time working with his own 3D printer and in his father’s woodshop, where he creates all manner of projects, “turning what’s in my head into real life in just a few hours.”

To all Scouts looking to be Eagles, Colton advises, “take a deep breath and plan everything. Don’t rush into it. Make sure everything is planned out properly. Check over every detail, think about every detail, and make sure everything will come out right. Then when you are executing what you planned, everything will come out nicely, and you’ll save yourself a lot of time.”                     

Maximilian K. of Troop 1154, Ashburn, VA, joined Scouts as a Cub Scout, spurred on by his parents to participate in such a “positive program” in their community. Never, however, did he think he’d make Eagle. “My family didn’t really want me to stick with Scouting this long, just because it was such a commitment for them… I never saw myself getting Eagle at first, but as I kept going through it, my parents started to see how good Scouting was for me.” Now, with his parent’s assistance and backing, the prospective Eagle Scout has finished his project.

Maximilian knew from the beginning that he wanted to focus on helping animals. He reached out to a local animal shelter and learned that the shelter was moving to a much larger facility; this required an overhaul of their food storage system. In the existing storage system, a lot of food would expire before it could be used, wasting money and space. Working with his dad, an engineer, Maximilian set to work designing a solution. He created a system with unique lane structures from scratch, where cans of pet food would be placed in the top, and, line up as they gradually rolled to the bottom. The three structures he would install in the shelter – two dedicated dog units and one cat unit – held thirty and sixty lanes respectively, with each lane allowing for around thirty cans at any time. “They’re so much bigger than anything else, there are a lot of smaller designs like this, but we need it so large that you can’t find anything like them online.”

The lane size brought difficulties, however, because they were too large to assemble anywhere but on-site, meaning little testing could occur prior to assembly. Additionally, the construction itself proved difficult, as the thickness of the wood coupled with the project size made hammering nails in and gluing boards together a challenge. But, using the EDGE method, Maximilian taught his fellow Scouts how to assemble and work with the storage units, overcoming these hurdles without incident. Maximilian remembered the sense of nervousness and triumph around the construction, “I didn’t know how it would go, the design was completely on us. When we brought over Scouts, it was the first time we really built it. We were really worried if it would hold all together or things would meet the deadline. The moment after we finished, and nothing fell apart, was definitely the best part of the experience.” Now, the units serve as the core of the shelter’s food storage, ensuring nothing is wasted and all food is put to use.

Looking forward, Maximilian is about to age out of Scouts BSA, but he has no intention of leaving his troop behind. “The thing that was most fun about Scouting was my friends. It was them that pushed me forward to go and become Eagle… I know I’ll be friends with them for a long time.” He looks to continue helping his troop at upcoming food drives and wishes to remain an active presence in the community. As for his career, Maximilian has set his eyes on becoming a lawyer, like his mother, and is seeking the college that can give him the best pre-law experience possible.

For all prospective Eagles, Maximilian had this to say: “Immediately start your project when you become Life. It’s one of those things that’s a lot bigger than it seems. Perseverance is key, if you want to get Eagle and do anything in Scouting, you’ve got to persevere. If you want to get anywhere in Scouting, you just got to push through the rough stuff and get where you want to be.”

Ryan C. of Troop 1882 of Haymarket, Virginia, didn’t think he’d ever reach Life Scout, much less try for Eagle. Taking a “fun and laid-back” attitude towards Scouting, he was always more concerned with the journey and finding new experiences than rank. Yet, through some friendly pushing from his fellow Scouts, and the competitive realization that he would be the only non-Eagle of his five-man patrol, he triumphed. Now, after more than 230 hours of work spent learning, assembling, and budgeting, his Eagle Project is completed.

Prior to his project, Ryan had worked many summers as a sous chef for the Warrior Retreat at Bull Run, the leading program of the Willing Warriors organization, a group that offers vacations and reprieve for wounded or ill veterans. To honor these veterans and their families, Ryan dedicated his Eagle Project to replacing the old playhouse at the Retreat, itself a former Eagle Project, which had become run down with age. Seeking to make his own mark, Ryan planned to make the new playhouse larger and better than it had been before.

Larger isn’t easier, however, and Ryan soon found his greatest issues were logistics and finance. Ryan wanted to build the playhouse completely from scratch, avoiding things like kits, and required large amounts of lumber to fulfill his sought expansion. Even after thrifty budgeting, Ryan’s predicted expenses were around $1,200 dollars. Ryan called on his community for support, setting up a GoFundMe campaign that proved so successful he raised $500 beyond what he needed; this extra was donated to the Willing Warriors. With his lumber secure “the hard part” was done, allowing Ryan to begin constructing the shed. 

Over the course of two weeks, Ryan built a project he was truly proud of. The first week was spent building a skeleton for the new playhouse with his family, and the second was spent roofing, tiling, and filling it out with Scouts from his troop, “There’s obviously a great feeling of accomplishment as you’re building it and seeing it all come together. But the greatest feeling was when I went back to do my post meetings with the Eagle Coordinator. One of the best things she said was that, when they were walking there to review it, there were already muddy footprints. A veteran had arrived, and his toddlers went right to the playhouse. From the beginning, even before the paperwork was signed, people loved it.”

Looking forward, Ryan hopes to study Computer Science and Cyber Security at Virginia Tech, pursuing his interest in the sciences. As for advice to prospective Eagles and Scouts, Ryan said: “It’s never too late to start doing anything in Scouting, no matter how new it is to you or how long you’ve been doing it. It’s never too late to start your trek to Eagle, and you should always try new stuff and try new things. Don’t focus on ranks, but on making the most out of your Scouting experience… A lot of people think Eagle is just a rank, like a college degree that you just mount on the wall. But I know now that an Eagle Scout is really a name and placeholder for all the work that you’ve put in to become it. It’s not just a title, but the time and work that you’ve spent to attain it.”