Eagle Scout

One day I walked my dog down this path in Rock Spring Park, and I was getting extremely frustrated with the path. It had rained recently, and the path had become more like a small muddy river than a path. And that’s when I got the idea that I could perhaps fix this path for my Eagle Scout Project.

First, I reached out to my fellow Scouts within my troop for help with repairing this path. They agreed to help, which made the project go smoothly thanks to all their hard work. When working, I found the most challenging part of this project was probably getting it all organized beforehand and during the actual work. But once it was all organized, fixing the path was smooth sailing from there.

My favorite aspect was probably seeing the finished product and how surprisingly fast it all happened. I learned a lot about planning out projects, mostly because I need to anticipate what might be required. I was also able to learn more about the managing side of leadership. As a leader, I’ve realized it’s more about guiding the people you lead and directing the labor they do, rather than doing all the work myself.

In 2014, I graduated from Arcola Elementary School. Arcola means a lot to me; it’s where I created some of my earliest and most cherished memories, so I wanted to give back to my former school. I recall there are multiple courtyards located around the building. Teachers like to use those courtyards for specific, hands-on lessons. However, the courtyard on the open-ended, left-wing of the building was a mess and unusable. So after talking with the principal, I devised a plan to clear out space and construct four picnic tables for the classes to use.

First, I created a group chat with nine veteran Scouts in my Troop, whom I trust, to assist me in this project. I wanted to keep the project simple and complete it as quickly and efficiently as possible. I communicated with my volunteers when and where the project was taking place and what I needed them to bring. Since it was summer, I reminded them to beware of the heat and reminded them to wear sunscreen and stay hydrated as we created the picnic tables. By some luck, we ended up with excess funds which meant we could accommodate some last-minute touch-ups around the courtyard. And we managed to complete the construction portion of this project within five hours.

I felt I learned a lot about leadership throughout the project, like how to keep people engaged and when to step in and help others. It was very satisfying and cool to watch my project come together so well and know that my hard work had paid off.

For my Eagle project, I built a work table and three planting beds for a local nursery called Earth Sangha. The Wild Plant Nursery is a resource for ecological restoration in the greater Washington, DC area. I chose this project because taking care of the environment is important to me. I had volunteered here before and wanted to help them out.

For the first part of my project, I built a work table. I got help from Michael’s Woodshop and Mr. Dave Schneeman to finalize blueprints. Scouts from Troops 1533G & 1533B came out to Camp Snyder and Michael’s Woodshop to help build it. The Wood Shop has a lot of tools, and Mr. Schneeman’s guidance was very helpful. The building because we had plenty of volunteers (18) and my blueprints worked great.

On our second weekend, we went to Earth Sangha. First, we cleared out the old work table and installed the new one. We removed the old planting beds and installed new ones. There were many volunteers (29), so our seven-hour workday became a five hour day, and we were able to install an extra planting bed.

My project taught me a lot about leadership. I used some of the skills I learned as my troop’s instructor and Troop Guide. I also had to learn how to recruit people and how to keep everyone busy. Now that my project is done, I am glad it went so well… it was also a lot of fun.

 

Robert C. of Troop 1916 in McLean, VA, has always enjoyed his time at Potomac Outlook Park. As a kid, he visited the park frequently with his family and as a Scout, he completed many service projects there with his Troop, so the park holds a lot of meaning for him. When Robert heard that the park was looking to replace a decaying old bridge, Robert knew what he had to do. For his Eagle Scout Project, he decided that he would replace the bridge.

First, he met with the park staff to figure out what they needed and execute the plan. The bridge was on one of the park’s more popular hiking trails and was decaying to the point it was too narrow to walk on. Robert found that most of his project revolved around planning the project, creating a timeline, and a brand new design. But once Robert finalized his plans, he and his volunteers got to work on replacing the old bridge with a new one.

By the end of this project, Robert was glad to have seen the bridge completed and to have seen his volunteers so eager to work on it. He felt that he even grew a lot as a leader. Robert said, “Personally, I strengthened my leadership skills by guiding my Troop. I also learned the positive impact that my Troop and I can have on our community. But most of all, I saw first-hand that if you put in a lot of serious work in the planning stages, making sure to think of every possible hurdle and how to fix anything that could come up, then the execution stage will work much better.”