Eagle of the Week

Annabelle L from Difficult Run’s Troop 55G had her Eagle Scout project featured in the Fairfax County Park Foundation Parktakes Winter 2025 magazine!

Working with the Invasive Management Area (IMA) Volunteer Program, she rescued trees, removed invasive plants, and showed phenomenal leadership with her volunteers.

Read the full article: https://fxparks.org/e-parktakes.html

Scouts BSA Troop 58’s Grant K. painted a large mural of different explorers throughout history on a wall at the elementary school he attended: Newton-Lee Elementary School. The reason for the mural’s design is that Newton-Lee’s mascot is a compass, and the slogan is “We are Newton-Lee Explorers on a voyage to success.”

Another Scout from a different Troop who originally considered doing this mural as his Eagle project posted a survey to their fellow teachers asking which important historical explorers they would prefer to be on the wall. Grant used those historical figures selected from the survey.

With this mural featuring explorers from many different fields, backgrounds, and time periods, Grant is confident that it will help promote diversity and help students remember to explore their personal interests through brave and creative ways.

The mural is located outside the Exploratorium room, which is dedicated to exploration and encourages innovation and creativity. It took five days to paint since Grant and his group had to paint on days when the school staff was available but after hours so they didn’t disrupt the students and teachers.

After a total of 170 hours worked on this project, which includes meetings, planning, sketching, and painting, Grant completed his Eagle Scout project in early April 2024 and his Eagle Board of Review on June 3, 2024.

For his Eagle Scout project, Davis J from Troop 654 decided to help a local nonprofit focusing on food insecurity for at-risk populations better provide essential services by assessing and building a system to help them better understand their physical infrastructure.

Be the Good Project was founded in 2020 to provide food for those facing food insecurity in parts of Virginia, The District of Columbia, and Maryland. One of their programs is 25 Free Little Food Pantries distributed across 238 square miles, providing 24/7 access to food staples for those in need.

While Be the Good Project has dedicated volunteers who help keep these pantries stocked, they do not completely understand the physical status of the Free Little Food Pantries, some of which had been emplaced as long as three years ago.

Davis developed an assessment tool using a Google Form that asked volunteers to inspect a Free Little Food Pantry. His form asked questions like what the status of the paint was, whether there were holes in the roof, whether the shelves were in working order, and what the area around the pantry was like (the pantry’s accessibility).

This form then auto-populates a Google Sheet that captures the physical data about the pantries. The spreadsheet is then sortable, allowing Be the Good Project to sort the pantries by maintenance status and need for repair. This allows Be the Good to prioritize what pantries they want or need to repair with their network of volunteers, allowing them to continue their mission of providing food to those in need within the local community.

Volunteers (in groups of 2-3) from his Troop, his high school sports team, and friends in his neighborhood helped survey the 25 locations on a rolling basis over two weeks. This allowed the volunteers to complete the survey at a time that was convenient for them while simultaneously making sure all surveys were completed in a timely manner. The surveys, which included pictures of each site, were completely automated, so the only tool that his volunteers needed were their mobile phones. Each survey took about five minutes to complete, but the drive time varied because some locations were 50 minutes away.

This project took 101 hours to complete, starting July 22, 2024, to August 25, 2024. Davis completed his Eagle Board of Review on October 2, 2024.

“I really enjoyed doing this project as it allowed me to help a great local nonprofit,” Davis remarked. “The project will also have a lasting impact in my local area by helping Be the Good more efficiently provide food to those dealing with food insecurity.”

For his Eagle Scout project, Eric A. and his fellow Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 572 worked to revitalize the outdoor patio/firepit area behind the Sterling Volunteer Fire Company, Station 618 in Sterling, VA.

Under Eric’s leadership, the Scouts first cleared the area of debris and overgrown vegetation. They then dug up the area to place down the new underlayment, installed edging and spread the gravel. New benches and Adirondack chairs were built, stained, and weatherproofed for seating. Solar accent lighting was also added for evening use.

The Sterling Volunteer Fire Company and Sterling Volunteer Rescue Squad were very appreciative of the support and hard work of Eric and his dedicated team of Scouts. The newly restored area will provide a space for the volunteers to congregate, rest, and recharge for years to come.

My name is Zane J, and I am an Eagle Scout from Troop 345 in the Wolf Trap District. I started the Distinguished Conservation Service Award (DCSA) to help the environment and the community. 

I led a forestation and range management project in Glyndon Park in Vienna, VA. I noticed that as the park was developed over time, many trees and plant life were removed as a consequence. I also noticed the park has a significant number of older trees nearing their life span, and there were not many younger trees. Over time, the loss of trees harms the plants, animals, and overall ecosystem, and the park could benefit from having the next generation of plants installed. The first step I took was to plant native 136 native plants in Glyndon Park to bring younger native plants to the park. Planting new native species is crucial as they are better adapted to local conditions and can create a more diverse and resilient ecosystem. By increasing native plants in the area, I hope to bring more native birds, bees, butterflies, and overall more wildlife, which in turn will have a major benefit to the park’s health. 

However, planting native species was only the first step in park restoration, and the second part involved removing invasive species.  It is a necessary part of this project to help the native plants thrive. Invasive species are known to outcompete native plants for resources, which can disrupt the balance of ecosystems and pose a serious threat to all wildlife within them. Removing invasive species at Glyndon Park will help ensure the park’s newly planted native species thrive in the future. Some of the invasive species removed that threatened native wildlife included English ivy, periwinkle, leatherleaf mahonia, wineberry, creeping euonymus, autumn olive, Japanese holly, Japanese honeysuckle,  and barberry. I partnered with the local community, including schools, Scouts BSA, Girl Scouts, Nature Specialist Club, and the Town of Vienna. I worked with over 50 volunteers and this project had over 200 volunteer hours. Additionally, I educated over 140 people on the importance of forestation and range management.  

The Scouting America’s DCSA program honors Scouts who carry out significant conservation projects with more rigorous requirements than a Scout BSA Eagle Scout project.  To earn the award, Scouts must complete two supersize Scout environmentally-related projects.  It requires the Scout to conduct in-depth research of a conservation issue; determine a solution; write a report; plan, execute, and lead a project; educate the community outreach; write final project reports; present their projects and findings before a conservation committee, and finally, earn seven conservation type merit badges.

My first conservation project focused on recycling tennis balls, and it was a success. Over 10,000 tennis balls were recycled, and the program I set up at Fairfax Racket Club continues to this day. I hope to inspire others to make a difference in their communities and positively impact the world.