Eagle Scout Service Projects encourage aspiring Eagle Scouts to research the needs of their communities and contribute where it counts.
When Caleb Brown, rising junior at East Henderson High, set out on his project, he pinpointed a specific community dear to his heart – the students of Atkinson Elementary.
A former Atkinson Elementary student himself, Brown designed and constructed outside classroom benches for the current Cougars as his Eagle Scout Service Project for Boy Scout Troop 611 of Hendersonville.
“We went outside and took pictures before we actually did the project,” Brown said.
Initially, Brown said he designed the benches in an amphitheater-style arrangement, with two rows of shorter benches flanking a longer center row of benches. But that particular design would have made it difficult for Billy – who’s performed maintenance work at Atkinson since Brown was a student – to mow the grass between the benches.
Brown redesigned the arrangement and settled on two rows of three long benches with enough room between (55 inches, to be exact) for Billy to maneuver a lawnmower.
“It took about four months from start to finish,” Brown said, explaining that he began the design phase in April and began construction about two weeks ago.
Cason Building Supply donated the concrete and gravel, Eaton Woodshop donated lumber, and Home Depot cut and donated wood posts and a store gift card for the project, Brown said.
Brown’s father, Ricky Brown, said the timeline of the project was interrupted when Caleb’s previously scheduled chest surgery got postponed. Ricky said his son was supposed to undergo chest surgery in July, after which point he wouldn’t be able to do any heavy lifting or building. So Caleb Brown designed the benches and stockpiled donated materials in preparation to build the outdoor classroom before his surgery.
The July surgery was then postponed multiple times and, “It’s been stop and go, stop and go,” said Ricky Brown.
With Caleb Brown’s surgery now scheduled for Aug. 25, “We had to rush the last few weeks,” Ricky Brown said. “It went into turbo drive.”
Now complete, the benches – painted Atkinson blue – seat about 32 students and a teacher or other adult, said Caleb Brown.
“The cool thing about this project is that it’s going to be there for all our students,” Principal Mark Page said.
He envisions teachers taking their classes outside for nature lessons or for reading, and can see guidance counselors or other presenters using the outdoor classroom.
“As a former Eagle Scout, I know the importance of scouting in our community,” Page said, thanking Caleb Brown for his hard work. “It grows our youth into future leaders.”
(Article written by Molly McGowan Gorsuch, HCPS Public Information Officer.)