Meet Daniel, an Eagle Scout from Piedmont Troop 4, who recently rebuilt eight benches for the FOSC native plant nursery for his Eagle project.
FOSC: How do you connect to the surrounding landscape?
Daniel: The location of the FOSC native plant nursery for my Eagle project was beautiful. The nursery sits on a hill overlooking the bay. Working there was peaceful and enabled me to connect to nature. When we were working late, an amazing chorus of insects raised their voices at sunset. I think in that moment I felt the most connected to the landscape as the insects hummed and sang while we worked. The sunset was also a special moment, with the sun’s rays splitting into beams over the landscape.
FOSC: What inspired you to choose FOSC for your Eagle Scout project?
Daniel: My troop leader recommended that I look at FOSC. We have had great opportunities within the troop, so it was a natural choice given what my Eagle project could contribute to the native plant nursery. I look forward to helping other scouts to work with FOSC once I become an Assistant Scout Master (ASM). I also really enjoyed working with Ella. She was helpful in scoping the project and always made sure I could get into the center to work. After working at FOSC and seeing the impact our troop made, I honestly think it became even more inspiring and meaningful to me.
FOSC: What did you learn from the process of rebuilding the benches?
Daniel: It took a lot of skill to rebuild the benches. I found that you needed to be pretty flexible in trying new things to get the project done. In fact, I needed to know how to saw, drill, stain, hammer, and sand. I had never done a project like this, and I learned a lot. Rebuilding the benches also took a lot of creativity to reuse materials. It took some creative planning and careful checking to remake the benches so that everything would fit together properly. Cutting the plastic tops required precise measuring to fit them perfectly onto the wood base. Assembling the benches also required precision to ensure the lumber was cut properly to fit into the frames.
FOSC: Was there anything unexpected or especially rewarding about the project?
Daniel: I will admit the project of eight benches was quite the undertaking. Repairing the benches for production was much harder than building them from scratch. I found reusing materials really rewarding, and it took a lot of planning and effort to complete this project. I am super proud of my work and the work the troop did. The production benches turned out great; you can see me with one of them pictured. It just goes to show how rewarding hard work can be. The finished product, I felt, was beautiful and functional.
FOSC: Why do you think restoration work like this is important?
Daniel: Living in California, we are fortunate to be surrounded by wonderful parks where we can learn and volunteer to preserve and restore the landscape as it was meant to be, with native plants. Protecting nature from disease and keeping it healthy is very important work. I believe providing the benches made a big difference in protecting the plants, and our project’s reuse of materials made it even more sustainable.
FOSC: What’s next for you – are there other projects or environmental efforts you're excited about?
Daniel: Troop 4 is a strong supporter of FOSC, and we are fortunate to have many volunteer events and Eagle projects that support FOSC. I am excited about continuing as an ASM after I become an Eagle Scout for the remainder of this year and next. As a high school junior, I have another year to support Troop 4. Given my knowledge of FOSC and its needs, I can be an advocate and helper to Troop 4 and FOSC. I am also looking forward to participating in the newsletter to share how anyone can help FOSC.