Do you know what an Eagle Scout is? Well, the Young Reporters were able to interview Esai Aviles recently, and he told us all about Eagle Scouts.

A couple of facts about Scouts most people may not know is that there is a lot of charity involved and helping the community. Less than 10% of Boy Scouts achieve the highest rank of an Eagle Scout.

Esai was a Young Reporter for six or seven years and he’s been an Scout for about eight years. He first started as a Cub Scout when he was in first grade because his mom signed him up and he wanted to have fun with friends.

In 2015, Esai joined Troop #115, and he is still in the same troop to this day. He wanted to join Troop #115 because a lot of his friends were in that troop. As a Scout, he learned a lot of different skills including cooking outdoors, building a fire, tying specific types of knots, fishing, and astronomy. In his opinion, his favorite part of being a Boy Scout was being able to talk to people, and to make connections.

Esai discovered Eagle Scouts by seeing his friends become Eagle Scouts. First, he had to be interviewed to become an Eagle Scout and he also had to complete a special project. Before he could begin, he needed permission to do the project. For his project, he decided to build a community bulletin board for St. Cyril Church and it took him 150 hours (about six and a half days) to complete. Other scouts, family and friends helped him complete his project. He has helped other people with their projects, too.

At the beginning of his project, Esai wasn’t sure he wanted to continue being an Eagle Scout because it took a lot of time and effort, and it was also affecting him academically. It was stressful for him to keep up with his schoolwork and do Eagle Scouts at the same time. Once he started, it was easy to keep pushing forward.

Esai celebrated becoming an Eagle Scout at a special event at the Pima Air and Space Museum.