Members of Troop 708 in Castro Valley, juniors Brandon Khuu and Brendan O’Keefe have earned the rank of Eagle Scout and will be recognized at an Eagle Court of Honor on June 1. The pair began their scouting journey together in 2010 as Cub Scouts in Pack 556 in San Leandro.
For his Eagle project, Brandon planned and built a 36-foot by 12-foot tennis backboard at Merritt College, where players can practice their strokes and serves. The project, which took two months to complete, required 300 man hours for planning, fundraising, securing supplies and building. The backboard is used by the O’Dowd tennis team, which practices at Merritt College, as well as community members.
Brendan led the building of an outdoor classroom amphitheater at San Leandro’s Assumption School for his Eagle project. The enterprise involved digging into the hillside and forming a two-tiered seating area, as well as digging and forming a walking pathway leading to a circular area opening up to the amphitheater. He also constructed and installed eight benches, fitting a 36 student class. The entire project took over 350 volunteer hours for planning, fundraising, obtaining supplies and building.