This school year, our community has been proud to celebrate Jack Gros ’23 and Ryan Okada ’21 for earning the distinction of Eagle Scout. Now five more exceptional Dragons join their ranks. The Eagle Scout is the highest achievement in the Boy Scouts of America. Over the last one hundred years, only 4% of Boy Scouts earn the Eagle. The award comes from not only securing at least 21 merit badges, but also leading an extensive service project.
Many congratulations to Owen Bratton ’21, Matt Desler ’21, Dylan Frith ’21, Harrison Frith ’21 and Pearce Medford ’21, all seniors who have demonstrated outstanding leadership in developing and executing much-needed service projects to benefit their communities. O’Dowd is blessed to have such high-achieving, committed students in our classrooms!
Owen Bratton ’21 led a team, including his great uncle John Langen (O’Dowd class of 1960) and six fellow troop members, to build “buddy benches” and a podium for Burckhalter Elementary School. The school principal reported that the school yard didn’t have many places to sit. Owen responded to that need by building benches for students to use, which the school was able to install.
Matt Desler ‘21, member of Troop 6 Piedmont Council, led a major refurbishment of outdoor space adjacent to Corpus Christi’s Parish Center. The space was previously unusable and Father Leo Edgerly was eager to transform it for outdoor gatherings and contemplation. Matt coordinated the entire project, including distanced volunteers, to construct a storage shed and outdoor landscaping. His Eagle Project has been helpful to a variety of parish and school meetings, ministries and activities.
Dylan Frith ’21, member of Piedmont Council Troop 100, wrote, directed, and produced a Building Healthy Habits educational video for young teens. He chose this project because he knows middle school is a time when young teens start to take more responsibility for their health. Dylan’s Building Healthy Habits video gives fun and engaging information about the consequences of bad habits, and guidance for establishing good habits. The video has been posted on the website of several OUSD middle schools, including his alma mater Montera Middle School.
Harrison Frith ’21, member of Piedmont Council Troop 100, organized a team to build Barn Owl and Bluebird boxes for the wetlands of Point Molate Beach Park Area. Because Barn Owls and Bluebirds hunt rodents and other pests, these boxes create a safe haven for the birds to live and produce an environmentally friendly way to control rodent and pest populations, without harmful chemicals that disrupt the food chain and pollute the watersheds. The materials were donated from Wholly H2O, a local non-profit organization.
Pearce Medford ’21 has been a member of Troop 203 since 2014. For his Eagle Project, Pearce designed and built a trash/recycling bin enclosure for St. John’s Episcopal Church in Oakland. The church hosts many community groups and also provides space to organizations that make food and gather supplies for homeless and low-income individuals and families. However, they have not had the budget for capital improvements. Pearce’s Eagle Project helped the church better organize waste, so it can continue to serve all the programs that use its building.