Several Salida High School Students participate in Scouting America. Three juniors, Amato Halenda, Sawyer Pack, and Zeke Wilcox have all earned the highest honor in SA, becoming an Eagle Scout. This is the pinnacle of SA. Only six percent of scouts receive this honor.
The process of becoming an Eagle Scout is no easy feat. It includes being active in your unit; showing scout spirit; completing 21 merit badges; holding a position of responsibility for at least six months; planning, developing, and providing leadership for a service project; participating in a Scoutmaster conference; and passing the board of review.
Scouting America has been a part of these juniors’ lives since middle school. Halenda was inspired to join by his neighbors after they told him about the outdoor opportunities the scouts provide.
“They were telling me about it and it seemed like something right up my alley, so I started going to a few campouts before I was even allowed to join [ …] and then as soon as I could, I joined because they were super fun,” Halenda said.
Wilcox had learned about the scouts from his older brother who was also an Eagle Scout, and he wanted to join because of the leadership opportunities. Pack joined because of influence from his parents and friends who had already joined.
Halenda began his Eagle Project at the beginning of last year. His project consisted of installing a safety and etiquette sign for the scout river wave. Halenda was inspired to create this sign when he saw people using the wave incorrectly and unsafely.
“I wanted a resource for people who may not be experienced with the culture,” said Halenda.
After talking with the city, Halenda also put in ADA accessible wheelchair pads along the river. Halenda worked with Ovierre Industries, a sign company here in Salida, as well as Hardrock concrete company. These companies worked in relation with Halenda to pour concrete and excavate dirt. Halenda hopes people will be able to have fun on the wave while still being safe. He wants people to feel more included in the community.
“It’s giving back to something that I got so much out of: the riverwave,” said Halenda.
Pack started his Eagle Project about six months ago. For his project, he built a GaGa ball pit at the Crest Academy here in Salida. He saw that students at Crest Academy were lacking options for activities and wanted to give them something fun and safe to do. He talked to staff over at Crest Academy and started to plan and organize materials. Crest offered to pay for the materials and construction of the GaGa ball pit, with lumber donated by local company, Hylton Lumber.
“I went to the Crest, and, during my time there, GaGa ball was really popular. Since they’ve moved into a new school, I wanted to give kids an opportunity to develop a love for GaGa Ball […] like I did in middle school. They like it, I’ve heard,” said Pack.
Wilcox began his Eagle project at the beginning of last year. He built a shade structure for the Southwest Conservation Corps. He got the idea after he noticed that the middle and high school students helping out over at SCC didn’t have a designated place to eat lunch.
“It’s a gathering place, you could say. It gets you out of the sun which is nice as well during these hot summer days,” said Wilcox.
The hardest part of this process was finding a beneficiary. In this case, Dylan Lang offered up a grant that needed to be used by the end of the year. After that, Wilcox was able to get his project rolling. Wilcox is glad he got more experience in leadership and is grateful for the connections he made along the way.
All three of the juniors agree that being a scout has taught them community involvement, outdoor skills, and shown them how to be an effective leader. They hope to see the skills they learned through the course of these projects matriculate into their adult lives.
