Some Eagle Scout candidates find ways to combine their projects to help boost the impact for their communities. Two Scouts in San Marcos, Texas, did exactly that when they combined their projects over the course of several months to help create a learning garden for a local elementary school.
The San Marcos Record and the San Marcos ISD News each shared articles about how two Scouts each took a phase of the development of the learning garden as part of their Eagle Scout projects.
Scout Daniel P. started work on the learning garden during 2015 and completed projects including a fenced chicken yard and a vegetable garden where students could grow more than 80 types of vegetables.
In the late winter of 2015, Garrett F., another Scout picked up where Daniel left off and focused his Eagle Scout project on continuing the work Daniel had started in the garden. This additional phase of the project included construction of a compost bin, placement of eight “tiny libraries,” sanding and painting of the picnic tables, and the installation of three rainwater barrels.
Overall, the Eagle Scout projects have established a beautiful space where the local schoolchildren can learn about a variety of gardening subjects. It gives their teachers an opportunity to show them real-world examples of things they would otherwise have to learn about without leaving a classroom.
“San Marcos is lucky to have such dedicated young men like Garrett and Daniel who have taken time to pull resources together and improve outdoor spaces for children in their community,” said Instructional Coach Maria Thompson. “May they be examples to all of us.”
“We all look forward to many visits to the central courtyard where teachers can read books out-loud, students can write inspirational poetry, calculate Math problems using chalk on the sidewalks, and draw observations into their Science notebooks while listening to chickens scratching the earth nearby,” said Lari Locke, a teacher whose classes will benefit from the learning garden.
To learn more about this project, read the full articles in The San Marcos Record and the San Marcos ISD News.
To learn more about how Eagle Scouts help improve their communities, read the Baylor University Study, “Eagle Scouts: Merit Beyond the Badge.”
