Swooping in to provide service
Four Brahmas give back to their community through Eagle Scout projects.
Junior Kevin Huang, along with 30 members from his troop, painted a world map in the lunch area at Evergreen Elementary School for his Eagle project.
Giving back to their community has earned several Diamond Bar High School students who are part of the Boys Scouts the prestigious Eagle Scout rank.
Eagle Scout is the highest rank a Boys Scout can achieve in the program, with only four percent of members accomplishing this.
To earn this rank, Boy Scouts must earn at least 21 merit badges, hold a leadership position, complete an interview and put together a service project.
Those who are able to attain the rank carry it for life.
For his project, junior Joshua Chin, a member of Troop 737, built Diamond Bar High School’s logo out of stone, rebar (steel bars) and cement on the slope between the 500 building and baseball fields and planted ground cover plants to decorate the slope.
Chin found out he received the Eagle Scout rank in March 2018. For his Eagle Scout service project, he decided to replace the ground cover after speaking with district officials who wanted to renovate the slope’s appearance, and one of his Eagle mentors suggested he add the logo.
“I was kind of speechless at first because I didn’t quite know what to say, but…it just felt good to accomplish something really big,” Chin said.
Junior Jonathan Tan, who is a part of Troop 777, restored the plywood shelters that had been constructed from a previous project.
These shelters helped the concert bands’ and orchestras’ performance by allowing the performers’ sound to bounce back to the audience.
The shelters are also known as the “band shells,” which are placed at the back of the school’s theater during musical performances.
He replaced the wood and repainted the shelters that had begun to deteriorate from the weather, and purchased and established a metal carport to keep the shelters dry when it rains.
Tan also repainted the sign on Pathfinder Road in front of DBHS.
He started in Cub Scouts in first grade and remained involved in Boy Scouts.
“I was very relieved because I had spent 10 years of my life doing this activity and…[it] made me very grateful for the experiences I had,” Tan said.
In July 2018, Troop 730 member Kevin Huang painted a world map with around 30 of his troop members on the pavement of the lunch area at Evergreen Elementary School.
The junior decided to do this project because he felt like he belonged at Evergreen after he started going to school there.
He transferred because he said he was bullied in first grade at Blandford Elementary School in Rowland Heights.
He completed his project in July 2018 and hopes to receive his Eagle Scout rank this spring.
“I didn’t really know how to feel…It’s just a favor I did for my old elementary school,” Hwang said.
Senior Steven Park decided to repaint the fences at the Eun Sun Presbyterian Church in Rowland because his troop’s meetings are frequently held there and he wanted to repay the church.
The Troop 755 member, who was recognized as an Eagle Scout in November 2018, was previously in Cub Scouts in third grade and decided to join Boys Scouts to fuel his desire to travel to international locations.
“Being able to finally achieve the Eagle Scout rank was just a huge milestone that I feel I finally completed and all that weight has been lifted from my shoulders,” Park said.
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