Becoming an Eagle Scout requires numerous years of constant hard work and effort. Learning skills like rock climbing, boating, personal finance, and fingerprinting are part of what Eagle Scouts accomplish, yet developing a sense of community and a strong work ethic are also important, Eagle Scout sophomore Ethan Kane said.
Eagle Scouts, the highest level of Boy Scouts, is a milestone and requires a great time commitment and leadership to the program, Kane said. To become an Eagle Scout, members are required to be active in a troop as a Life Scout for six months, achieve 21 merit badges, and complete an impactful community service project. Kane became an Eagle Scout at the end of 8th grade While striving for the Eagle Scout rank, Kane gained a multitude of skills and experiences.
“I learned to work hard and organize myself,” Kane said. “[I learned] how to be a leader and the importance of having people that have your back. [Becoming an Eagle Scout] was very much a community thing [with] being one with the group.”
In his pursuit of the esteemed rank, Kane took away a variety of lessons and memorable experiences. From his initial involvement in Cub Scouts, Kane’s Scouting adventure has been filled with significant milestones, including attending Makajawan Boy Scout Camp in Wisconsin and earning a diverse array of merit badges, such as water sports, Kane explained.
“My goal from the start was [to become an] Eagle [Scout],” Kane said. “But aside from that, I want to stay in it to help the next people. It has been hard, but that’s the biggest thing: staying around, helping out, and keeping [on] pushing the newer [scouts to] get their own goals fulfilled.”
However, the most challenging aspect of Kane’s Eagle Scout journey was his ambitious project in which he planned, constructed, and installed four little libraries in schools across Chicago. Similarly, Eagle Scout sophomore Ethan Pollack, who achieved the rank in May 2022, echoed Kane’s views regarding the importance of completing his Eagle Scout project.
“[The Eagle Scouts project is] a compilation of everything you have worked up to this point coming together,” Pollack said.
Pollack undertook his Eagle Scout project at Wagner Farm in Glenview. With the aid of a crew he assembled, Pollack constructed new benches for Wagner Farm’s picnic area.
Beyond the community fostered within troops, Scouting comprises a vast community established across the United States. Last summer, Pollack participated in a National Jamboree in West Virginia, where 14,000 other scouts gathered together. There, Pollack interacted with individuals from all over the country, united by their shared involvement in scouting. From experiences like these, Pollack gained numerous positive takeaways from his time in Scouts.
“Without [Eagle Scouts], I would know a lot less,” Pollack said. “I have a lot of friends from scouting now. [There are] a lot of experiences I would have missed out on [and] I probably would have been very bored for a long time.”
Once they achieve their rank, Eagle Scouts then mentor and guide the younger generation of Boy Scouts in their troop, imparting valuable lessons and experiences that resonate for a lifetime, Scout Master David Schwartzberg explained.
For Schwartzberg, the greatest takeaway from Scouts was observing the troop that he once knew as first graders in Cub Scouts grow and evolve through the ranks to reach Eagle Scouts.
“After they graduate high school and go off to college, I know that [what] they learned in Scouting is going to help make their future more successful and have a positive impact in their community,” Schwartzberg said.
