One teen’s quest to becoming an Eagle Scout

BY Nova Blanco-Rico

Jack Renouf builds a horseshoe pit at City Park in Lake Elsinore. Photo by Nova Blanco-Rico

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest Scouting and largest youth organizations in the United States. Its goal is to prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices in their life by creating a pillar of values and respect. Boy Scouts of America was first developed as a community program to teach character, citizenship and physical fitness. The scouts have titles and need to accomplish tasks to reach the next title. Scout is the title given when one first joins. The title the Scouts aim for is Eagle Scout, which is what 17-year-old Jack Renouf is striving for.

Temescal Canyon High School student Jack Renoufa plans to attend Brigham Young University in the fall. Jack has been a Boy Scout for many years. He stated that he wanted to join Boy Scouts because he always loved to adventure around, so going camping and hiking through the wilderness was perfect.

Jack said what he has learned in Boys Scouts is time management, teamwork, leadership, cooking, adapting to the world around him, how to perform first aid and critical thinking skills. He said everything he learned helped him in one way or another, whether it be with his happiness or his progress in school. It made him capable of becoming an alumnus to RYLA, a leadership program in high-school. He made it clear that being a Boy Scout is an important stepping stone in his life.

Throughout his Scouting career, Jack has shown that he is a hard-working young man who wants to achieve more, leading him on his path to earning the title of Eagle Scout, the highest rank attainable in the Boy Scouting program.

To accomplish this, Jack had to earn 21 merit badges, which are essentially tasks that are required to earn the title of Eagle Scout. For example, to earn the “Camping” merit badge, one is required to complete 10 tasks, which all have subtasks enlisted to each one, such as “Camp for 20 nights at a designated Scouting activities or events.” It also requires the Scout to have knowledge on essentially every aspect of camping, such as knowing what to do if a problem occurs with equipment. Jack completed many of his merit badges and recently set out to achieve Eagle Scout rank by completing an Eagle Scout project.

For his project, Jack wanted to do something for his community that would be a part of the community for many years to come.

With approval from the City of Lake Elsinore, Jack built a horseshoe pit for City Park. With the help of his sister, brother and few close friends, Jack completed his task on June 16 and became one step closer to earning the highest achievement attainable in the Boy Scouts of America.