Not All Allentown, PA Scouts have Drama on the Road to Eagle...

[OldGreyEagle]

http://www.mcall.com/news/all-a16_5scout.7101301nov29,0,1418599.story

 

Thought is would be nice to end a week of Scouting in Allentown with a postive note,

 

 

Jordan Roberts ditched many of his good friends around seventh grade as they began joining gangs.

 

As they sought trouble in the streets, Roberts, of Allentown, continued playing sports and music and climbing the ranks in Boy Scouts.

 

The 17-year-old Temple University student is now on his way to earning the Boy Scouts' top rank -- Eagle. He is trying to become the first Eagle Scout from Scoutreach, a program started about a decade ago that covers six counties -- Lehigh, Northampton, Monroe, Carbon, Luzerne and western Warren in New Jersey and is designed to get low-income, urban kids involved in Scouting.

 

''Others, they saw too much bling in the street and went in another direction,'' said Roberts' Scoutmaster, Chuck Ricketts. ''You think of all the things that they have to fight against or go through or be aware of on the streets -- it's tough to keep your eyes on the prize.''

 

Roberts' achievement is rare not just for the Scoutreach program, but also for Boy Scouts in general. Only 5 percent of all Scouts become Eagle Scouts, said Donald R. Sachs, marketing director for the Minsi Trails Council of the Boy Scouts of America.

 

If Roberts successfully completes the renovation of an outside chapel at the Wildlands Conservancy in Lower Macungie Township, he'll join a list of Eagle Scouts that includes former President Gerald Ford, film director Steven Spielberg and Dr. William C. DeVries, who implanted the first artificial heart.

 

Roberts, who is studying to become a doctor of pharmacy, must show he can manage others to help him rebuild the chapel. His father, mother, two sisters and Ricketts helped him Saturday. The plan calls for the team to replace several wooden structures that have been damaged or vandalized over the years. They'll build an 8-foot-tall arbor that will greet chapel visitors; place mulch on a path through the arbor and to the chapel; and build a new table inside.

 

Roberts must have the project completed by his birthday in January -- age 18 is the cutoff for Scouts to finish projects to become Eagle Scouts.

 

Born and raised in center city Allentown, Roberts graduated from Dieruff High School last spring. He said it wasn't hard to disassociate from friends because he had strong family support and was busy playing the trumpet, wrestling and playing soccer.

 

''I never fell into that peer pressure,'' he said.

[Eamonn]

It's always great to read about a kid that has made good.

Even better when the Lad has made really hard choices to do so.

 

Kinda strange that as I read. "He said it wasn't hard to disassociate from friends"

I couldn't help but think how very different this was to the early days of Scouting in London and other big cities in the UK.

The birth and successes of Scouting relied mainly on groups of kids (What might today be called Street Gangs.) Coming together and wanting to copy the actions of the then hero of the day -Baden Powell.

I'm really pleased to read that in some places Scoutreach is really working. Sadly this isn't the case in the area where I live. While it might be said that I live in a "Nice Area". There are areas within the Council that are not so nice.

We don't seem to be willing to take the bull by the horns and do what it takes to try and deliver a Scouting program in these areas. Instead Scoutreach has been used as yet another way to boost numbers, ensure that the Council makes Quality Council and helps feed he egos of people who may or may not know what is being done is not 100% right.

My deep felt congratulations go out to Jordan Roberts.

Still on the other side of the coin, we have to feel that we failed the kids that he had to ditch when he was in seventh grade.

Eamonn

[skeptic]

Eamonn;

 

While I understand your comment about believing we failed certain kids, we do not know for sure what impact even a short span of involvement has on these boys. Many adults with whom I have spoken when in a public place in uniform, such as a scouting display, or selling popcorn, have spoken fondly of their "short" time in the program, and how that experience had an effect on their later life. Surely, we lose far too many early, but every one we win, even if we do not know, is worth the efforts.

 

Personally, I have had 2 young men come up to me as young adults and thank me for their time in our unit, and the direction we were able to give them. One young man specifically noted that he found the Oath and Law a worthwhile aide to redirecting himself after falling into the abyss of drugs. He was very proud to have been "clean" for a number of years at that point.

 

So, we never really know if we lost them completely, or simply gave them something to ponder as they get older.