Multiple Revere High School students in Troop 385 have received or are working to receive their Eagle Scout Badges of honor, the highest Boy Scouting honor.

Of the 45 boys in Troop 385, two have worked hard and completed all requirements to receive their Eagle Scout Badges of honor. Cameron Crouse and senior CJ Heckel are Eagles and junior Eric Dye continues to work for his as well.

Both Crouse and Heckel started their scouting career in the first grade as Cub Scouts. Heckel transitioned to become a Boy Scout in March of 2011. Heckel has been a part of Scouts for eleven and a half years, and he earned his Eagle in December of 2015.

“I have been involved with scouting for roughly eleven and a half years… I’ve always stayed active in the program” Heckel said.

Junior Eric Dye is also a part of Troop 385 and is working to attain his Eagle just like Crouse and Heckel. He joined scouting in second grade. He plans to earn his Eagle within a month or two.

On The Boy Scouts of America Website, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) describes the rank of Eagle Scout as “the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program.”

To become an Eagle, candidates must achieve more than just wanting to be one. They must serve at least six months in a leadership position and be Senior Patrol Leader at least once, which all three boys have completed. Prospective Eagle Scouts also must earn at least twenty-one merit badges including thirteen of either camping, cooking, swimming, hiking, or cycling. Along with these things, they must learn the basically equipped skills of fire-building, knot tying, cooking and cleaning skills. As well as these things, candidates must have a certain number of community hours. Lastly, they must start and complete their own Eagle project, a project that benefits a non-profit community organization. They serve as manager of their project.

Heckel elaborated on what being an Eagle Scout means to him.

“Being an Eagle Scout is a very special thing. It is something that sets you apart from most people because roughly only two to four percent of boys that ever join scouting make the rank of Eagle”, Heckel said.  

Adding to this, Heckel spoke about the kind of character that Eagle Scout also shows.

“Eagle Scouts says a lot about your character as a person, too. It shows that you are hard-working, perseverant, and loyal to a cause,” Heckel said.

For his own Eagle project, Crouse started an annual lacrosse camp for young kids. He had around eighteen helpers including some of his lacrosse teammates. Heckel built four trap house doors and painted a pavilion for North Lawrence Fish and Game club. This took him six months. Dye added on to the well known Snack Shack on the opposite side of the football stadium closest to the marching bands seating area.  

“I worked about 217 combined hours on my project, and it took up almost every weekend in August. About twenty people worked with me, and they were all from Revere,” Dye said.

The boys said they faced many problems when becoming Eagles, including time management and the ability to find the right nuts and bolts to use for their projects. Crouse described how he overcame these hardships.

“It was hard to do advancements, and I got discouraged, but I just thought ‘What would an Eagle Scout do and how would he solve this problem?’” Crouse said.

Eagle Scout is an honor all of the boys said they will never forget. All three boys agree that they can use the skills they learned in Boy Scouts for the rest of their lives.