Brandon Searles, 16, renovated Girl Scout Camp Sacajawea as part of his requirements to earn the Eagle Scout rank
Brandon Searles, 16, joined the Cub Scouts 11 years ago with one of his best friends. As a junior, Searles is completing his Eagle Scout service project, one of the last steps in earning the final rank.
Approximately 50 people showed up to help Searles with his renovation of Camp Sacajawea, a Girl Scout camp in Newfield, his mom Anita said.
On a trip with his father, to help his sister and her fellow Girls Scouts create fire at the camp, Searles said he was inspired when he saw the rundown condition of the site. Searles’ service project consisted of building eight picnic tables, four benches, cleaning the campsites, planting flowers, fixing signs and painting cabins.
“A lot of the Boy Scout camps are really nice, and I would feel bad if I was camping there,” Searles said. “I really wouldn’t have enjoyed it, so I wanted to do something to fix it up a little bit. Not a lot of Boy Scouts help out the Girl Scouts, so it’s nice to do this for them.”
As a member of Troop 57, Searles was recently named senior patrol leader, responsible for overall operation of the troop and troop activities. Since those 18 and older are not able to be a Boy Scout, Searles said he looks forward to working with his troop and staying involved with helping the younger members for the next two years while he can.
Searles said he continued with Boy Scouts because of the valued friendships, memories and knowledge he’s gained through the program.
“I’d encourage others to join Boy Scouts because you learn about a lot of different things and you make tons of friends,” Searles said. “A lot of my best friends were made through Boy Scouts, you make a lot of memories from camping trips and summer camp, community service projects are great for helping out, and it’s really fun. Boy Scouts is like a dying thing, not a lot of people are doing it anymore, but I definitely recommend it to kids.”
According to Boy Scouts of America, the requirements to receive the Eagle Scout rank include: a Boy Scout must be active in their troop for at least six months as a Life Scout, the rank preceding Eagle Scout; demonstrate “Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath and Scout Law;” earn 21 merit badges; serve actively in the troop for six months as one of numerous leadership positions; plan, develop and lead a service project; participate in a Scoutmaster conference; and successfully complete a board of review for the Eagle Scout rank.
Searles’ project was expected to finish last weekend, and he will move forward to receiving his badge and attending the board of review this summer.
“I finally accomplished everything that I’ve been building up to these 11 years in Boy Scouts, and I can use everything I learned in the future for jobs and college,” Searles said on his upcoming achievement.
