Senior Garrett Hemphill chose to work on McCallum’s baseball field for his Eagle Scout Project. He renovated the dugout by laying out a concrete slab and building a new bench. The project helped him learn social skills and leadership skills.
“I learned how to organize a big project because I had to deal with a construction contractor,” Hemphill said.
After years of working on projects, meetings and earning merit badges in Boy Scouts, juniors and seniors are able to become Eagle Scouts.
“It’s always the main goal,” Hemphill said. “It’s always what kept me going through high school. It’s definitely worth it.”
Each Boy Scout chooses an Eagle Scout project to benefit his community. Projects of Eagle Scouts ranged from renovating church playgrounds to working with Animal Trustees of Austin. Junior Brent Chandler worked with Animal Trustees of Austin by removing a flower bed and tree stump for them as well as building benches and two Mobil storage shelves.
“I picked Animal Trustees of Austin because I love animals,” Chandler said. “It is a great nonprofit organization and I couldn’t find a better organization to work with.”
Through the experience of becoming an Eagle Scout, junior Harrison Brown said he learned about working with people, respecting authority and how to manage time well.
“It’s taught me a lot of good life lessons,” Brown said. “It changed me as a person. It taught me about working hard and leadership, and it also looks good for college, which is a good plus.”
Chandler said he learned the importance of being a good leader, planning and being flexible when things don’t go as planned.
“For the most part it went pretty smoothly,” he said. “We didn’t estimate the tree stump being the size that it was. It was probably about 500 pounds, but luckily there was a Syntax Foundation repair shop just across the street, and they had a Bobcat put it in my truck.”
Even though being a Boy Scout ends at age 18, being an Eagle Scout can be helpful when applying for college and when looking for a job.
“I think it has helped me already,” Hemphill said. “I got a scholarship to college, and for future job interviews, people will just have respect.”
