For his Eagle Project, Jon decided to raise awareness of the need for the emergency preparedness. He partnered with the San Ramon Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to arrange an emergency preparedness fair. San Ramon CERT is an autonomous special district of the San Ramon Valley Fire District. CERT empowers residents by providing training in various aspects of the Emergency Preparedness. This eagle project aims to raise awareness of the need for emergency preparedness in the community, with the hopes that the community develops its own plan in the case of an emergency, and provides them with necessary resources and information. It will consist of 3 parts; a website made by scouts that has the necessary information important to the community, The website (see QR code below) will provide the essential information needed for an emergency, for example, the evacuation plan and route, and meeting points. The plan of this project is to inform. To do this, one part of the project is going door to door to 157 homes. And for the door-to-door interaction to be longer-lasting, a pamphlet (see bottom of this page) will be provided to families. The pamphlet will consist of an emergency checklist, the date of the fair as well as information, questions, and graphics that might make families want to attend the fair, and finally, the actual Community Emergency Preparedness Fair. Skills will be taught and demonstrated. Important skills such as Hands only CPR, the correct use of fire extinguisher and outdoor cooking were demonstrated at the Emergency Preparedness Fair. He decided to arrange a total of 6 stations to demonstrate these important skills. He assembled a team of scouts that included both senior and younger scouts. Using EDGE method, Jon trained the senior scouts in the required skills. Older Scouts then trained the younger scouts responsible for demonstrating these skills to the residents who visited the fair. Over 50% of the residents attended the fair and took advantage of the learning opportunity to prepare their own emergency plan. The Emergency Preparedness Fair showcased the following: 1. Hands only CPR 2. Fire extinguisher demonstration 3. Wildfire preparedness 4. First aid kit 5. Go-bag/ 10 essentials The goal of this project is to hopefully have the Cedarwood Loop community to create their own emergency preparedness plan, the project will inform them about the need to do so, but will not create the plan for them. Leadership is made up of social qualities: integrity, the ability to delegate, influence, etc., but it is also made up of personal qualities such as having great time management. My time management has always been a skill that comes to mind first when I think of things that I need to improve on. For quite some time, I was not sure what was the right way to go about improving it. However, my eagle project has shown me that little things can make all the difference, such as simply starting the planning stage earlier, giving myself more time than I expect to need. This way, in the worst possible situation, I’ll have more time to plan on my hands. Time management is a skill that I would love-and am continuing-to hone in on throughout my life.

On 11/21/21, Suryansh Gupta and a group of scouts went to Wagner Ranch Nature Area. There was a newly built shed that was at risk of being damaged by water, and it was in need of a solution that would make it possible for it not to clog as well. Suryansh and his team of scouts decided to combat this by building a drainage system. This took many steps, but to ensure the new shed would not be easily damaged, it was necessary. Scouts started by digging trenches around the shed for pipes to go under. The pipes needed to go under the soil, and they needed to dig up quite far. After digging the trenches, scouts laid down pipes in the trenches. To combat the problem of the pipes being clogged with dirt, they wrapped them in weed blocker. Once the pipes were fully installed, they were covered with dirt once again. They also added mulch on top, so it would have an improved look as well. The project went really well with the scouts who participated enjoyed it. The project was complex and had a lot of thought put into it, but it all paid off with how well it came out. With this project completed, the new shed at Wagner Ranch is protected from water damage.

Saahil Manekar led a group of scouts to clear and clean up trails at Wagner Ranch Conservation Area in Orinda, CA. Many trails and pathways at the site were obstructed by branches and were not easy to walk through. To fix this issue, scouts cut overhanging branches from trees to clear up the paths. Paths all around the area were covered by overhanging bushes as well, which were also trimmed. Many different tools including saws and shears were used to trim plants. The week before the project, there was a lot of rain all over the bay area. This led to water carrying the material a path was made with and depositing it in a different location. This trail was damaged, and things like strollers and wheelchairs could no longer use it. Luckily, this conversation project was right in time, and added an extra thing to fix. With the hard work of the scouts at the conservation project, they were able to restore parts of the pathway. Overall, this conservation project was a huge success. Even with more work than expected, the scouts were able to restore multiple paths. The project was fun and engaging for all scouts that attended.

Shreyas wanted to give back to the community area in need and found out about Shore Acres Elementary School in Bay Point, CA. After visiting the school, Shreyas noticed the outdoor blacktop had no equipment for students to use. There was nowhere for students to set down their snacks, lunches or classroom materials. He decided to design and build four tables for the preschool and kindergarten classes. The tables would allow students to take their food outside to eat, and allow teachers to extend classroom learning and activities outside. Each table would be 3′ x 6′ allowing up to four students to stand on each side,to accommodate up to 32 students. His project was executed in three days. With the help of scouts, volunteers and use of clear instruction materials helped to sand, stain and build the tables smoothly with some bumps. The beneficiary is happy to have the tables ready and delivered during the summer. They are excited to have the new tables available for use during in-person learning this school year.

Vrushank Prakash decided to help the Bella Vista Elementary School music program, which is a relatively new school in the SRVUSD district. The BVES music program did not get adequate funds to manage the storage of equipment. There were instruments lying all over the floor. There was barely enough space for students to freely practice their music, which decreased effective collaboration. To solve this problem, Vrushank and a group of scouts built 2 instrument cabinets: one to store violins, trumpets, saxophones, etc., and one to store xylophones. This project lasted over the course of 2 days. On 8/28/21, they sanded the wood pieces and assembled the cabinets. On 8/29/21, they painted the cabinets and made the final touches. The cabinet that held the string and wind instruments was 5 feet tall, 1 1/2 feet deep, and 4 feet wide. The cabinet that held percussion equipment was 3 feet tall, 1 1/2 feet deep, and 5 feet wide. The panels were joined together using pocket holes, which required a special pocket hole jig. Corner clamps helped secure the joints so that workers could easily drill holes and place screws. Overall, the cabinets turned out great and the BVES music director is thankful for them. The cabinets were sturdy enough to hold all the instruments.

Adarsh Sheth wanted to give back to a life-changing, gardening non-profit that he had already worked with during his scouting journey. He built a 14′ (length) x 4′ (width) x 3′ (height) greenhouse bench for the Little Greenhouse at Fertile Groundworks. The beneficiary uses this bench to grow seedlings, which will grow into full plants, harvested for fresh fruits and vegetables, and donated to local food pantries to provide homeless and low-income families with free food. Day 1 of his project (7/24/2021) consisted of sanding and the start of construction, while Day 2 (8/7/2021) finished assembly and added a coat of polyurethane (for waterproofing and sun protection). The main problem with the previous bench was its old age and non-resistance to rodents, especially mice. The Redwood Lumber (donated by Golden State Lumber) used in his project had a denser characteristic, which allowed for longer preservation of the wood from exposure to the sun, water, and rodents. The polyurethane strengthened its immunity against UV rays and water. In terms of construction, the several hundred-pound bench had to be able to carry a tremendous amount of weight, which was why the 2×4’s and 4×4’s had to have a sufficient number of screws strategically placed to provide the best structural integrity. Several modifications of the frame and legs were made to allow for a structurally sound bench. The beneficiary loved the end product of the successful project, and will plan on using the CAD plans to replicate the project around their property!

Vignesh Senthilkumar wanted to improve safety for seniors as the previous cabinets in the Hayward Senior Center were worn out and not functional. Though he did not have any personal connections with the Hayward Senior Center, he knew that they did not have sufficient funds to provide for non-essential items. One of their cabinets, which stored bingo boards, had issues while moving it as boards would fall out. To replace this, he built a cabinet without metal rods and a well thought of design to ensure boards would not fall out. In addition, he built another cabinet to store gifts and goods for the Senior Center’s boutique shop. Vignesh wanted to make sure that his bingo board cabinet had the most efficient and effective design possible as it was made to stop the boards from falling out. With his team of Scouts, he managed to fulfill this goal and make sure that no boards would fall out of the cubbies. They also added a sturdy door, so the door would not swing open. In conclusion, it was a very successful project to help the Hayward Senior Center and it went smoothly even with some bumps!

On April 2nd, Vikram Ravi led a group of Scouts to perform a service project at Fertile Groundworks, a non-profit organization focused on sustainable and organic methods of gardening and food production. Initially, they were supposed to insert rainwater collection pipes on a greenhouse. The water collected would then be used for crop irrigation in the vicinity. According to Vikram, this project would be difficult and tough work, but ultimately rewarding and fun. Unfortunately, these plans had to be scrapped, as a group of volunteers that was supposed to bring in the materials for the pipes did not show up. Instead, they observed that Ms. Brenda Kusler, the Executive Director of Fertile Groundworks, had been very busy all week with planning a process for future vegetable deliveries, so they decided to help her with that. The Scouts recieved a list of plants that they would have to locate. They packaged those plants to be sent out. According to Vikram, “This took a learning curve as we had no idea what a lot of the plants were, but we ended up getting into the flow of things and had a pretty successful outing.” All in all it seems like the service project was not only a success but also rewarding and fun!