Projects that soar

From the pergola and benches at Paine Elementary School to the swing and arbor at Cosby Lake, Eagle Scout projects are as common to local landscape as crepe myrtles and magnolias.  

“Scouting is very involved in the community. People don’t realize how many structures were built by boys working toward their Eagle status,” said Trey Finley, leader of Troop 219. 

A number of members of local troops have recently put their mark on the area through their finished projects.

Eagle candidate projects are required to benefit a nonprofit, such as a community, church or school. Projects are also intended to be a long-term benefit to the organization for which they’re developed. With support from a project coach, Eagle candidates are responsible for creating a budget, getting all necessary approvals for the project, raising funds and acquiring the materials needed for the project. 

When the project begins, the Eagle candidate supervises youth and adult volunteers, while also assuring the project is done according to the satisfaction of the beneficiary. 

“For me, that was one of the biggest things I gained from the experience. I’d had leadership opportunities with peers, but to be 15 years old and overseeing adults was a huge experience,” Jameson Brown said. 

Now a sophomore nursing student at UAB, Brown built his Eagle project, which provided additional seating and trash can retainers at Kiwanis Park in Trussville, in March 2015. He also refurbished existing picnic tables in the park, which were originally constructed as an Eagle candidate project over a decade earlier.  

Jack Kyzer found inspiration for his Eagle candidate project at Trussville’s soccer fields. 

“When I was little, I played at those fields. Occasionally, they would have benches to sit on, but they would get stolen. So for my project, we made new ones and chained them in with concrete,” Kyzer said. 

After graduating from Hewitt Trussville High School in 2016, Kyzer enlisted in the U.S. Navy. “Scouts definitely helped prepare me for the Navy with the leadership aspect and the whole team mentality,” he said. 

“It benefited him hugely,” Kyzer’s mom, Staci, said of the project experience. “It helped him get organized and decide what was important and what wasn’t worth arguing over.”

Hewitt Trussville High School graduate Desi Gillespie’s mom is a nurse practitioner of neurology at Children’s Hospital. She had expressed the challenges of entertaining older kids during the 90 minutes required to connect a multitude of electrodes necessary for EEG testing. 

“Younger kids can watch Disney movies, but it’s hard to keep older kids entertained. I had gotten really interested in recording music around that time, so I covered popular music and we recorded about 20 songs,” Gillespie said 

Through a benefit concert organized at his church, Gillespie raised over $1,000. He used the funds to purchase mp3 players, disposable headphones and a $500 donation for ongoing maintenance — all of which he donated to the neurology department at Children’s Hospital.  

Now a sophomore at the University of Alabama, music production is Gillespie’s minor. “You can’t really learn by reading the manual for the equipment. So getting to make the songs was a great cumulative experience where I learned a lot about music production,” he said. 

Clay-Chalkville High School junior Zac Jones attained Eagle status in fall 2018 after installing trash receptacles at Cosby Lake. “I was walking around there with my grandmother one day, and there was nowhere to throw away my drink. It kind of became a joke, but when it was time to choose my Eagle project, I decided to do something about it,” Jones said.  

“I went back to check on them a couple weeks after putting them out there and I noticed that there was a bunch of trash in them. So I was pretty proud.”

Brendan Bryan is a junior homeschool student who leaned on his passion for history when determining his project. Completed in early 2018, he constructed an information kiosk at the entrance of Red Hill Cemetery in Pinson for his Eagle project.  

“I love history and I got to meet with Steven Baird, head of the Pinson Historical Society, to help me with the project. [Pinson] Mayor [Hoyt] Sanders congratulated me on the project and told me that his actual ancestors are buried in the cemetery,” Bryan said. 

“Moving up through the leadershipranks, you learn a lot of skills in a safe, controlled environment. Doing my project taught me that you can only do so much by yourself. It’s not all you. It’s everyone around you working together. Keep everything flowing and moving is a really important skill I’ve learned.”

Isaac Puckett is a homeschooled seventh-grader whose Eagle candidate project is to develop unused city property in Springville into a dog park. The half-acre lot is located across from the splash pad within Big Springs Park. Final approval from city officials and weather permitting, Puckett anticipates the park to be ready for public and canine enjoyment by the end of March. 

The estimated $8,000 in material costs will come through fundraising and donations, which can be contributed via bispringsdogpark.com. Funds exceeding the basic project needs will be used to purchase additional amenities for the park.  

“I really hope it helps people who want to go over to Springville and have fun with their dogs,” Puckett said.

These Eagle ranked young men are not the only ones who express learning through the process. 

 “These kids teach me about perseverance and not getting distracted. The kids that make Eagle rank are the ones that have so much going on in their lives. They play sports, have jobs, do well in school and manage to get it all done. They’ve taught me how to be a better finisher and see things through to the end,” Troop 216 Scoutmaster Matt Brown said. 

Jeremy Horton has volunteered with Troop 124 for approximately five years and echoed Brown’s sentiments. “These kids teach me so much. The biggest thing is not to underestimate what they’re able to do. They blow me away with what they can do,” he said.

Over the next several months, locals can anticipate enjoying the fruits of nearly two dozen Eagle candidate projects in Trussville and surrounding areas. In addition to Puckett’s dog park in Springville, other projects in various stages of completion include construction of additional seating and enhancements to Trussville Dog Park, playground additions at a local church, a delivery access ramp being built for a nonprofit, an outdoor classroom in Clay and more.