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It was more than 100 years ago when Arthur Eldred of New York earned the nation’s first Eagle Scout Award. Since the Boy Scouts of America first awarded the merit in 1912, more than 2 million young men have achieved the Boy Scouts of America’s highest rank.
All high school students from Beaumont, Casey Broussard (17, Monsignor Kelly High School), William Bryan (19, Kelly), Michael Drago (18, West Brook High School), Gates Jenkins (18, Kelly), Gage Lawdermilk (18, Kelly), Noah Herink (18, Kelly), Trenton Herink (18, Kelly) and Sam Maloney (18, Kelly) were presented by the Eagle Scout Court of Honor from Troop 85 during a recent ceremony at the Downtown Event Centre on Jan. 28.
For a Scout to become an Eagle Scout, each is required to accumulate at least 21 merit badges and, of those 21 badges, 14 must come from a list of Eagle-required merit badges such as First Aid, Citizenships in the Community, Nation, Society and World, as well as Communication, Cooking, Personal Fitness, Personal Management, Family Life, Emergency Preparedness, Lifesaving, Environmental Science, Sustainability, Cycling, Hiking and Swimming.
Eagle Scouts must also demonstrate a distinct desire, dedication, and determination representative of many years of dedicated effort and the successful completion of a long process that started when the young man became a Boy Scout.
“I joined Boys Scouts in the fifth grade,” said Jenkins, who watched his father Will and uncle, Michael, reach Eagle Scout status. “This is a huge honor. It shows all the hard work I’ve done over the last eight years. I’ve been able to grow as a person, become more responsible and even be aware of the environment around us.”
Broussard also joined the Boy Scout ranks in the fifth grade.
“All of my friends were joining, and it turned out to be a great thing,” said Broussard. “It has helped me expand my knowledge, so this is a big honor. All your hard work cumulates together. Heading off to college, I would like to study sustainability and continue to help people in this world.”
For twin brothers Noah and Trenton Herink, their Scout journey began much earlier as Cub Scouts.
“This has been an amazing experience,” said Noah Herink. “It took a lot to get here, so obviously I’m not going to be modest how proud I am. It has helped me out in so many different areas such as socially and academically.”
Trenton added there was some competition with Noah, but both were always working hard.
“You can’t achieve Eagle Scout by doing the bare minimums,” said Trenton Herink, who aspires to study agricultural business and eventually take over a farm in Nebraska, which is owned by his grandfather, Jerome Herink. “Leadership skills and you learn what it takes to become a man. Boy Scouts is a great way to do that because you are surrounded by so many respectable men.”
According to the Boy Scouts of America, BSA provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.” The Scouting organization is composed of more than 1 million youth members between the ages of 5 and 21 and more than 628,000 volunteers in local councils throughout the United States and its territories.
Since its inception in 1910, more than 130 million young men and women have participated in the BSA’s youth programs. More than 35 million adult volunteers have helped carry out the BSA’s mission, which is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Scout Law.
In the words of the Eagle Scout Promise, “Eagles do their best each day to make their training an example, their rank and their influence, count strongly for better Scouting and for better citizenship in their troop, in their community, and in their contacts with other people. To this they pledge their sacred honor.”