Local Scout gives back to former school through service
Eagle Scout project benefits current
preschool students
By Mike D’Agruma
BATH — Matthew Noble decided to make an alumni contribution to his former preschool.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to make the typical donation to a high school or college — his options were simply limited. He has never attended college and does not have a high school diploma.
But that isn’t because Noble never placed a value on his education. It’s because he’s only 15 years old and still a student at Revere High School.
Also a Scout of Troop 380 of the Great Trail Council, Noble chose to collaborate with The Preschool in Montrose to build an entire fenced-in playground for his Eagle Scout project.
Noble said the school recently moved to West Hill Baptist Church and was in need of a new playground.
“It felt really good because I knew the people there and they really seemed happy with it,” Noble said.
According to Noble, while planning for the playground was done in collaboration with the school, he was given free rein to design the actual structure as he saw fit. He drew and designed the original blueprint and presented it to school officials before assembling materials and taking care of all the necessary legwork, which included obtaining safety permits.
Laurie Sanders, vice president of the school, said Noble planned and implemented the entire project, which included taking measurements of the area, figuring out where to get the materials and the costs involved and arranging for volunteers to help build the playground.
“The parents would have had to build the playground themselves if Matthew had not taken on the project,” Sanders said. “Several of our parents did help, along with the Scouts and Matthew’s family.”
The three-day project utilized 45 Scouts, Scout leaders, preschool parents and other individuals, including Noble’s mother, who is a teacher at the school. Other donations came courtesy of Akron Tractor & Equipment, Hemminger Construction, Styx Valley, Meyer Design and Lowe’s on Cleveland-Massillon Road.
The enclosure, which consists of a fence, sand box, wood chips and plastic timbers, will benefit both the preschool and West Hill Baptist Church, Sanders said.
Though the project is completed and the new playground seeing plenty of action, Noble will have to wait a little while longer for his Eagle Scout designation. He said he will have his board review at some point this month and then, if all goes well, advance to the rank of Eagle Scout in the spring.
For Sanders, watching Noble move
up in rank will be old hat. She said she has enjoyed
watching him grow.
“Since Matthew was in The Preschool at age 4, it has been my joy to watch him mature into the fine young man he has become,” she said.
Matthew Noble, a sophomore at
Revere High School, recently built an enclosure for
the playground at the Preschool in Montrose.
The completed playground was Noble’s Eagle Scout project.
Photos courtesy of Laurie Sanders
|
