Soaring Eagle

In a typical school system, many people are aware of the outstanding young students who excel in their grades or in their academics. We reward them with all "A" Honor Roll or Dean's list. We have the National Honor Society or the National Technical Honor Society. The athletes are rewarded with All State or All District Honors and of course the championship trophies if so earned. I think this is a great honor that these students deserve and I always look forward to reading the paper and seeing the accomplishments of all the students in this area. However, sometimes there are accomplishments that the student works hard for but often gets overlooked. This could be for various reasons but mainly because it is not school related and it is something they do outside of any school activities. Today I would like to highlight one such student and the awesome accomplishment that he just attained.

Alex Burgei, a senior in Industrial Mechanics who is from Ottoville High School, just earned his Eagle badge as a boy scout. For those of you that are not aware of how someone attains this honor, I will list a few of the requirements. The rank of Eagle Scout may be earned by Boy Scout who has been a Life Scout for at least six months, has earned a minimum of 21 merit badges, has demonstrated Scout Spirit, and has demonstrated leadership with his troop. Additionally he must plan, develop and lead a service project - the Eagle Project - that demonstrates both leadership and a commitment to duty. After all the requirements are met, he must complete an Eagle Scout board of review. The Eagle Project is a chance for the Scout to demonstrate leadership of others while performing a project for the benefit of any religious institution, any school or his community. The project may not benefit the Boy Scouts of America or be solely a fund raising project.

The project that Alex did was for the Ottoville community. He had an "Ottoville Community Park" sign installed at the park on Church St. For this project, Alex had to raise the money for the sign and all the material needed. He had to get approval from the Scouting organization and also from the community. He then had the sign made, installed the curbing, stone and lighting. As you can see by the picture, it is a very professional job and one that the community is proud of. I am proud of Alex for all the hard work he put into this project but also all the work he has put in over the years of being a Boy Scout. Alex is one of those special students that when you meet him, you instantly like him. He is kind, helpful, courteous to the staff and to all the other students. Congratulations Alex and I would also like to congratulate all our past students who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout. All of you are in a special group and you should be proud of your accomplishments.