Eagle Projects

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Rishi Gopalasetty’s Eagle Project at Wagner Ranch

On September 24th, 2023, Rishi Gopalasetty led a group of scouts to the completion of his eagle project. The eagle project entailed building a bench for the late Mr. Steve Gentry, an Orinda Beekeeper as well as the founder of Wagner Ranch Nature reserve (the beneficiary). This project was very important to Wagner Ranch as Mr. Gentry was one of the founders and has had a huge impact on those involved with the nature reserve.   The bench has dimensions of 2×4 feet and is made of redwood as per the beneficiaries request. There was one group working on building the seat and the legs and another group working on the backrest.   First, the seat was made, then the legs were attached.                                             Then the scouts worked on the backrest. The backrest was especially hard because of the way it was designed. It was hard because they had to drill through the top piece of wood to screw the pieces of wood attached to the bottom.     Next, all they had to do was attach the two parts and polish the wood so it wouldn’t be rough and it would have a nice color.   Now all the students and people at Wagner Ranch will have something to remember Steve Gentry by, and I’m sure they will enjoy this bench for a very long time.  

Adarsh Danda’s Eagle Project at Coyote Creek

On 12/3/22 Adarsh Danda led a eagle project at Coyote Creek elementary school. His eagle project entailed making four 4’x8′ stages to enhance Coyote Creek’s performance arts department. On Day 1, Adarsh led his team and they marked and drilled all of the wood needed to make the stages. This was the part that took the most amount of time as there was a lot of wood that needed to be marked and drilled. They also had to make sure the measurements were accurate otherwise the stages wouldn’t turn out good.                                               On Day 2, Adarsh and his team finished up the drilling and started to paint. They painted the stages black. This stage also took a while because the stages are quite long and wide and it’s hard paint in the middle of the plank.                             On Day 3, Adarsh and the scouts went to Coyote Creek Elementary School to install the stages. Now Coyote Creek students get to use and enjoy these stages everyday, and I’m sure Coyote Creek students will enjoy them for many years to come.                                                        

Pranav Nimmagadda’s Eagle Project At Wagner Ranch

Pranav’s Eagle Project, the Outdoor Classroom, was the construction and installation of seven benches at Wagner Ranch Nature Area, Orinda, CA The students of Wagner Ranch Elementary School desperately needed a brand new set of benches, as the old one had been in use for the past 40 years, and was severely rotten, falling apart, and too short in height. Pranav solved these problems with the installation of benches that would likely outlast the previous set, using higher quality wood, screws, structures, and stain coats. On Day One at Pranav’s house, scouts sanded wood, and drilled 10″ holes into the bottom of each bench leg in order for iron rods to connect the bench to the ground. This would allow each bench to stay put in the ground. After lunch, scouts applied linseed oil (a type of varnish) to the plank part of each bench, and also applied stain coats to the part of the bench legs that would be in contact with the ground to prevent wood decay. On Day Two at Wagner Ranch Nature Area, scouts began by clearing the bench site by removing the seven current benches, and then using rakes to clear the area of loose leaves. Next, one team worked on screwing two bench legs to the bench plank, while the other team set up the Outdoor Classroom Area such that the benches would be in an equal “7-sided circle” using the third bench leg. Lastly, they put it all together, accurately measuring the distance between screws using the pre made plan, and took some pictures. The students at Wagner Ranch will continue to enjoy the benches while learning about biology, Native American history, and ecology for decades from now.  

Vikram Ravi’s Eagle project to honor Veterans at the Lafayette Cemetery

The path that led Vikram Ravi to his Eagle Project was very simple, he knew he wanted to honor veterans in some way and be unique, and he knew he didn’t want to physically build something. With these two criteria in mind, he reached out to the Local Veterans Cemetery (The Lafayette Cemetery) to see where he could help out. After a tour, the Lafayette Cemetery’s Director told him that the Cemetery had two problems: first, it was very hard for visitors to find graves of veterans, and that many veterans didn’t have proper grave markers to indicate that that person had fought in a war. Those that actually had a marker usually only had a small and unrecognizable copper stick due to the cemetery not being able to fund anything more. For the first part of the project, he decided to use a tool called MapMe to make an interactive map where users could easily find exactly where the graves of veterans were located. To make the directions precise, Day 1 of his Eagle Project was spent carefully finding all of more than 200 graves at the cemetery and noting down their longitude and latitude. This was an exceptionally grueling process as a lot of these graves were in obscure spots and weren’t properly marked so finding them was a challenge. Once the scouts were able to complete this process, we moved on to Day 2 of the Project which was to input all this data into the MapMe tool in order to actually make the website. They added the: Name, Birth/Death/Burial Date, Branch, and Wars Fought for each veteran. The tool also allowed us to mark each grave down to the inch- letting users accurately find their loved ones with just a quick search.  Due to the sheer amount of numbers to input, this was rigorous that took over 6 hours to complete. The map itself has been used by Wreaths Across America members to easily locate veterans and place wreaths on their graves. For Day 3 of his Eagle Project, they had to order grave markers and flags for each of the veterans and place them beside their burial locations. The goal of these markers was to honor the sacrifices these heroes made for their country by showing that a specific grave belonged to a veteran.  Since the cost was coming out to around $4000, he had to crowdfund the money. He decided to use Gofundme as a means to collect the cash,  and after over 2 months of complications in setting up the site, he was finally able to start fundraising. He reached out to his friends, family, troop, city officials, and social media sites like Nextdoor in order to raise funds, and thanks to great help from the community, they were able to successfully reach our $4000 goal in just under a week. Once he had the cash on hand, we ordered the grave markers and flags and shipped them to the cemetery directly to prepare for Day 3. On this day, the scouts placed the grave markers at each grave belonging to a veteran and put an American Flag on the back. Since our map was recently completed, the Scouts were able to quickly find the burial sites easier and more quicker than on Day 1. When they were finished, it was truly wonderful to see the entire cemetery flooded with American flags and Markers, as they were able to honor many who had not received that respect in their lifetime. Vikram is extremely grateful for his troop and community coming together and supporting him on this project, and he hopes this was able to produce a fitting product. The eagle project was completed in time for Veteran’s Day and it was an honor to see all the happy families come to thank Vikram Ravi for having executed this project. The Wreaths Across America event was held on December 18th at the Lafayette Cemetery and Vikram Ravi was honored by the Cemetary Director, the Mayor of Lafayette, and the Veteran’s families.

Prabhnoor Sodhi’s Eagle Project

Prabhnoor Sodhi’s project was to build a picnic table for the Tri-Valley Sikh Center. The Sikh Center serves free meals to guests, and due to their recent growth and safety precautions due to the pandemic, they have had to serve food outdoors. They did not have much seating for people to sit and eat, and they will heavily benefit from new seating and tables. Also, their current tables are only built for standing, making them inaccessible for many seniors and children. They are also not fully weatherproof and are unable to withstand extreme conditions. The table is able to seat 6-8 people. Not only will people be able to sit and eat together, but this project will also pave the way for many other service projects at this location in the future. Throughout my project, we faced a few challenges, such as the heat, but the shade that we had planned to put up worked well. The construction of the table itself was also a little challenging, but we were able to overcome the challenges due to our extensive planning. For example, we attempted to glue the angled joints together, but since it didn’t work due to the stain, we compensated by adding more screws. Another challenge we faced was that the bolts were too long and were sticking out, being a hazard. We solved this problem by using a hand saw to cut off the excess screw and then filing it down. Overall, however, the project went great, everything went according to plan, and the beneficiary was extremely grateful for the end product.

Tyler Dee’s Eagle Project at Marylin Avenue Elementary School

Tyler Dee’s eagle project was to help the school garden for the Marylin Avenue Elementary School. The garden is used by the special education class and needed some adjustments to better accommodate disabled kids, especially those in wheelchairs. During the project, scouts built a new raised garden bed that would be easily accessible by wheelchair, removed 6 old garden beds, and laid/compacted over 20 tons of decomposed granite in order to pave a smoother trail for accessibility. The workload was more difficult than anticipated for both workdays, but after a lunchtime pep talk, scouts were able to get the job done. The final product looked great, and the school said the project also may serve as the foundation for future eagle projects.

Arnav Gupta’s Eagle Project at Live Oak Elementary School

On May 21st, 2022, Arnav Gupta led a landscaping event at Live Oak Elementary School. He and the scouts who came with him had a goal to beautify the area for the teachers and students at the school. There was a dirty area, about 130 feet, full of weeds and patches of holes next to the kindergarten area. The scouts weeded the area, put in new layers of topsoil, and dug through the topsoil putting in pavers. Once they had done this, the team made a square formation of pavers, each one about 4 inches deep. Once the pavers and the topsoil were put in, the scouts dug a hole in each square formation and put in the geraniums. The completed area looked very beautiful. In the end, Arnav and his team managed to weed, re-soil, and add new plants to the barren area. They used 60 pavers and 24 bags of topsoil. His project benefited the children and teachers at the school and the community around them.

Jonathan Tan Eagle Project Troop 888

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.

Shreyas Kukanur builds outdoor tables for Shore Acres Elementary School

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 Builds Cabinets for Bella Vista Elementary School

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 Builds Greenhouse Bench for Fertile Groundworks

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 Builds Cabinets for the Hayward Senior Center

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!

Sarim Mundres Builds Outdoor Library for the Ilm Tree School

Sarim Mundres wanted to give back to Ilm Tree, a non-profit charter school that his family was associated with for years. He reached out to them and realized that there was a need for an outdoor library where children can read books during recess. The library would also enable teachers to have outdoor reading time with their students. The first day (2/8/20) of the project was focused on the construction of the library itself. Scouts built the library from plywood, and then painted the exterior of it. The following day was dedicated to installing the library at the school itself. Sarim consulted multiple individuals about possible modifications to the design to ensure the library was sturdy – because a poor foundation could risk the structure falling when children were nearby. He and his team of Scouts rested the library on top of two posts, and then cemented the library posts 18 inches into the ground. In addition, to protect the books inside from bad weather, waterproof weather stripping was added to the interior of the library. Overall, there weren’t any major issues, and the project was a success!

Aniket Sheth Builds Cabinets for his Local Jain Temple

  Aniket Sheth’s Eagle Project required him to construct a 65″ x 30″ x 12″ cabinet set for the Jain Center of Northern California Temple in Milpitas, CA. Its main purpose was to increase the storage space in the Puja room, while also reducing foot traffic in and out of the small room. His project was executed in three parts: the first day was dedicated to painting the cabinets, the second day was dedicated to constructing the cabinets, and the third day was dedicated to installing the cabinets at the JCNC temple. Battling the challenges of COVID-19 regulations, beneficiary changes, and construction errors during the project, Aniket was able to overcome these challenges with effective planning and preparation. Overall, the scouts worked efficiently, and the project was well executed despite these challenges.

Archit Gupta’s Eagle project contributes to local Hindu temple

Archit Gupta wanted to improve the conditions of his Hindu temple, as it represents important religious and cultural values to his family and the local Indian community. Since the temple is rather small and underfunded, Archit decided to build a storage shelf in order to organize materials in a presentable manner and make the work of the temple’s priests easier to carry out. The name of the temple is Sri Sai Datta Temple and Cultural Center.   Overall, the project went smoothly, and despite running into some issues with assembly instructions, the scouts and Archit were able to improvise and complete the project successfully.  

Eagle Scout builds shelves for nearby animal shelter

Manyu Kamran was inspired to make a shelf and help organize the Hayward Animal Shelter by his passion for animals. He has always loved animals and wanted to help those in need. The shelf Manyu was planning to make would be 5 feet tall, 6 feet wide, and 2 feet in depth. The project was split into two days, one for painting and sanding the shelf, and the other for construction.   Everything went well and the scouts worked efficiently. Manyu faced some challenges and he learned to be more prepared for any situation that may arise. There was also a third day where Manyu and a few other scouts from a different troop transported the shelf and helped organize their dog play area entirely. This shelter is underfunded and understaffed, and this project helped them stay organized. Overall, the project was a great success.  

Eagle Scout builds benches for Meadow Homes Elementary

Rohan’s Eagle Project was to build 4 slatted wooden benches that were going to be given to Meadow Homes Elementary School in Concord. He found out about the school since it was Coyote Creek’s sister school. The problem that they had was that they didn’t have benches for the students to sit on during lunch. He worked with the principal of the school to make sure his project went successfully. The only issue that Rohan had run into was a lack of older scouts to help him as he had numerous power tools that could only be operated by scouts who are 14 years of age or older. Overall the project went very smoothly. The instructions were clear, the work was done on time, and the benches turned out well. They were also later installed at the school by screwing them into the blacktop.

Nicholas Ryu Eagle Project Troop 888

Nicholas Ryu’s Eagle Project took on the task of building bookshelves for Mrs. Dotson, a second grade teacher at Rancho Romero Elementary School. These shelves would not only replace her old bookshelves that were very run down, but also help create a nice enclosed reading space for the students as well as brighten up the room. The day of my Eagle Project was a construction day where scouts were split up into groups each with their own responsibility of either constructing the shelves, sanding the shelves, or applying finish to the shelves. I was then able to deliver the shelves to a very excited and pleased Mrs. Dotson the following week.

Hans Dong Eagle Project Troop 888

Hans Dong’s Eagle Project was to build two planter boxes for the fairly new Bella Vista Elementary School. The Boxes were 81 inches long, 30 inches wide, and 22 inches tall. The idea was initially proposed by Hans Dong as he realized that many other schools had planter boxes that were used for the science curriculum and knowing that Bella Vista was fairly new, he would be able to provide them with certain resources they didn’t already have. In the end, the planter boxes were made from redwood and were stained thoroughly to ensure that they would be able to last in the soil conditions. After on-site execution, the end product was a huge success and the principal was pleased.

Jonathan Cheung Eagle Project Troop 888

Jonathan Cheung’s Eagle Service Project was to construct a stage background for the evangelistic musical performance hosted by the Children’s Ministry of River of Life Christian Church. The event took place on May 19 and 20 in 2017. The main characters of the performance were insects, so “Giant Grass’ was needed as the stage background. The overall width of the background is 24 feet and the height is approximately 7 feet. Six individual plywood panels were constructed to create the overall width. The panels were supported by wooden frames. The top of the 4′ x 8′ plywood were custom-cut to the shape of “Giant Grass”, which were nailed to the wood frames. The panels were painted in green color representing grass. This stage background will be re-used for future performances.

Jaskaran Bakshi Eagle Project Troop 888

Jaskaran Bakshi’s Eagle Project was for the Bell Vista elementary school, a school that is brand new in the San Ramon District. The school asked for more storage in two of their classrooms and meeting with both teachers we came to an agreement to create four 6ft long by 3ft high shelves, two for each classroom. We also decided that two of the shelves will be painted pure black while the other two will have chalkboards on both sides of the shelves while the rest of the sides have a wood finish. After the whole execution of the project, the teachers were more than thrilled for the number of new books they can store in their rooms.

Anthony Zorovic Eagle Project Troop 888

For Anthony Zorovic Eagle project, the project revitalized the back area of San Ramon Valley Bible Church. Where it was once overgrown with weeds, Troop 888 helped to create a garden, covering the previous soil with weed carpet and new mulch, as well as planting a variety of drought and shade resistant plants. Finally, we added stepping stones and a cement bench to create some more permanent features.

Reece Lax Eagle Project Troop 888

Reece’s Eagle project was to design an organizational shelving unit to store mobility devices such as wheelchairs, walkers and electric scooters. The beneficiary is American Legion Post 246 in Danville, CA, which is the Charter Organization for Troop 888. The mobility devices are loaned out for free to veterans who need them. Reece was inspired by his desire to give back to the American Legion Post and the veterans, as well as use his skills in building and construction. The American Legion Post is the nation’s largest wartime veterans service organization, committed to mentoring youth and sponsorship of wholesome programs in our communities, advocating patriotism and honor, promoting strong national security, and continued devotion to our fellow service members and veterans. http://www.americanlegionpost246.org/

Keshev Yerabati Eagle Project Troop 888

Objective The Veterans History Project (VHP) is an oral history program that collects and preserves the firsthand interviews of America’s wartime veterans. Keshav led a project that involved interviewing 9 veterans based on guidelines set by the beneficiary, the Library of Congress. Each interview was about 30 min long. Keshav submitted to the beneficiary audio/video recordings of these interviews, which are now part of the permanent collections of the Library of Congress. The beneficiary considered this an ideal opportunity for a Boy Scouts of America Eagle Project. Beneficiary The Veterans History Project of the American Folklife Center collects, preserves, and makes accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war. Researchers and the general public use VHP collections for a wide variety of projects and purposes, including academic papers and scholarship, documentaries, genealogy research and personal interest. Some collections are also used by the Library of Congress in presentations, exhibitions, publications and events to promote the Veterans History Project. Veterans’ family members also treasure the memories that are permanently preserved at the Library of Congress for future generations. Highlight of the Project Keshav has a passion for history and he took the opportunity to further his learning of this subject when he started working on his Eagle Project. He wanted to do something that he genuinely cared about, so he selected the “Veterans’ History Project”, a program run through the Library of Congress that collects and preserves the firsthand accounts of those who served in that nation’s military. He interviewed nine veterans from conflicts ranging from Vietnam to Afghanistan and sent those interviews back to the Library of Congress, thus helping to permanently preserve the memories of their service to the nation. Speaking to these men and women was a truly eye opening experience for Keshav. Growing up in a place as liberal as the Bay Area, it was sometimes easy to make assumptions about military action in controversial conflicts. The Veterans’ stories showed him that service was distinct from political intent. These were normal people who were following orders. One interviewee had even taken part in anti-Vietnam protests before he was drafted, but served admirably. This project was a powerful reminder for Keshav that there were multiple sides to every story. After his interactions with the men and women veterans from World War II onwards, he learnt a great deal about courage, leadership and honorable service This opportunity to interact with people whom he could look up to as role models, who were outside of his regular community, has been a great gift to him.

Tanay Gandhi Eagle Project Troop 888

Tanay’s Eagle Project was an emergency preparedness fair for the Canyon Lakes Community.