When senior Braden Roeder was a freshman, he sat on the floor in the hallway at lunchtime. He didn’t like it.

Roeder has been part of the Boy Scouts for 12 years, and one of the requirements for Roeder to advance in the program is the Eagle Scout project. When it came time to choose his project, he decided to help improve McCallum.

“When I started thinking about my Eagle Scout project, my first thought was how can I make a space for people like me, cause a lot of people are sitting on the floor or going off-campus,” Roeder said.

Roeder tried sitting all over campus, but couldn’t find somewhere he enjoyed eating.

“I’ve eaten in the cafeteria a couple times,” he said, “I’ve eaten in people’s classrooms a couple times. The cafeteria just, it feels so gloomy. I don’t know why, maybe it’s the lighting. And people’s classrooms, some students, including myself, find it awkward to be the only people in a classroom with a teacher.”

The new picnic tables are only one part of the courtyard renewal. Roeder wanted people to be able to enjoy the courtyard, so he made several improvements.

“We added mulch around the plants and trimmed back a lot of the dead stuff,” he said.

Students have been enjoying the courtyard thanks to Roeder. Olivia Falcon, a junior, said that she likes eating outside.

“It’s kind of hot right now, but it’s relaxing to be outside after being inside all day,” Falcon said.

Roeder’s Eagle Scout project was a long time coming. He joined Boy Scouts in first grade, as a Cub Scout. Since then, he’s been working towards the Eagle Scout rank.

“I’m not quite there yet, he said. “I still have to do an interview. I’m very close.”

Roeder began working on this project when Mr. Garrison was principal. Two principals later, Ms. Griffith was more than happy to approve his project.

“Our outdoor spaces were really highlighted last year,” Ms. Griffith said. “We had two teachers that were teaching strictly in the English courtyard last year. Then Braeden came to us and said he’d really like to do his Eagle Scout project by bringing in some more seating to make this a more viable place for lunch and also permanent seating for teaching.”

Scouts have to take the lead on their projects themselves, including organizing, fundraising and anything else they might need to do. This made Griffith’s job easy.

“I didn’t have to do much at all,” she said, “except saying we approve!”