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Community
EAGLE SCOUT
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end result, though, was that both males and females in the troop all worked to achieve each of the badges required to earn the honor of Eagle Scout.
For her final Eagle Scout project, Izzy reflected on her experiences as a summer camp counselor at Tapply-Thompson Community Center. There, she saw children who didn’t have healthy foods packed for the day and realized they might not have what they needed to return to school.
“Going back to school can be expensive for families- new clothes, new shoes, and all of that. I thought I could at least take some of the pressure off them by providing the supplies they need for school,” she said.
Izzy had earned a lot of money through fundraising cam- paigns in scouting, and she was able to apply some of that to her Eagle Scout project. She ordered
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September 2024
many items online in bulk and reached out to her family, friends, and local businesses to help with other “Back-to-School” supplies every student needs at the start of the school year. She even re- ceived some donations from Kel- lie Jenkins, Guidance Councilor at Newfound Memorial Middle School.
“When I was younger, I re- member everyone having new things they wanted to show their friends when school started, and I know how important that was to us. I wanted to give others a chance to have things to be proud of and show them to their friends, too,” said Izzy.
Gathering everything together, in August, Izzy’s family and
friends set up a Back-to-School venue at the community center for students in grades K-5. The boys and girls were invited to walk from table to table, where Izzy’s family and friends helped them pick out backpacks, pen- cils, crayons, markers, glue sticks, notebooks, and all sorts of rain- bow-colored items they would need for the new school year. After those decisions were made, they joined Izzy at a crafting table where they could personal- ize their notebooks with colorful stickers and other decorations.
“Thank you for this project,” one mother said as her children finished their decorations. “We’re new to this area and I know it’s going to be a great year here for my kids now.”
In fact, she was not alone in receiving praise from her par- ents. From Spider-Man to back- packs in all colors, each child found one that made them smile. Second-grader Brailyn and her first-grade brother Xavior were among the many who were ex- cited about the supplies they re- ceived that day.
“What do I like about this? Ev- erything!” exclaimed Brailyn as she held up her new bright pink backpack.
Izzy was pleased to see the excited faces and hear the com- pliments from both parents and students. While she loves photog- raphy and is considering pursuing that career, she also has a deep love for children.
“I don’t know if I’ll go into ed- ucation (after high school), but I love kids, which is why I did this,” she said.
Izzy will now make her final presentation to the council in a few weeks and looks forward to becoming the first member of Scout Troop 59G to earn an Eagle Scout badge. She may not be the only one for long, though, as currently four other girls in the troop are working toward the same distinguished achievement.
Leftover supplies will be do- nated to the elementary schools in the Newfound Area School District to give to any other stu- dents they find in need of them.
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