Andrew Hevey
Troop number and community:
Troop 39, Summit
Month and year you earned your eagle:
2009
I created a Sunrise Trail at the University of Rhode Island Alton Jones campus. I have added a bench to the top and a trailhead marker, and plan on creating other signs so it may double as an educational trail.
What are some highlights of your Scouting experience?
Camping and working at Yawgoog, hiking and canoeing in Maine, the Century bike ride, White Stag NYLT training, year of leadership as SPL.
Scouting provides an opportunity to interact with the outside world that many kids otherwise wouldn't receive. It allows kids to find out about real leadership in an environment that doesn't exist anywhere else – student council, clubs, and most other things don't compare. Perhaps most importantly, Scouting gives consistent messages about character and a constant moral compass for those who are involved, and this reaches across social class, race, or other boundaries. Scouting taught me to develop my own character, and without it, I would only be the shape of what others made me.
Matthew Marcella
Troop number and community:
Troop 11, Coventry
Month and year you earned your eagle:
April 2007
I restored a revolutionary artillery piece at the General Nathanael Greene Homestead as well as cleaning up the grounds, spreading mulch on a road that would eventually lead to a back parking lot; cleaned the family cemetery; and built a Cheval de Frise, which is a Revolutionary-era blockade.
What are some highlights of your Scouting experience?
Serving as the SPL for my troop and gaining valuable lessons. Getting the chance to attend White Stag and serve on staff the following year. Attending camporees at West Point Military Academy, and traveling to Florida Sea Base. Also, finding a passion that I truly love, the outdoors.
Scouting has shown me how to be an effective leader and to be prepared for anything that life throws at me. It has taught me how to react in stressful situations and how to manage time effectively. It has also taught me that I can achieve anything I put my mind to no matter what obstacles I face. The Scouting movement is important to America because it has been producing quality citizens and leaders for this country for 100 years. Some of these leaders have changed the way man thinks about certain things. Scouting has changed the lives of millions of boys for the better, and should continue doing so for hundreds of more years.