The Boy Scouts of America is a long-established organization dedicated to instilling the ideals of ethical and moral decision-making into our youth and preparing them to make beneficial contributions to society.
For many, being a part of Boy Scouts is considered a great honor, and senior David Jercha and junior Josh Murphy are two students who strive to live up to that honor with their memberships in Troop 10 and Troop 92, respectively, in the Heart of America Council, the KC metro chapter.
Both Jercha and Murphy have been involved with Boy Scouts for nearly six years, and both were in another scouting program for the majority of their childhood.
Each of the boys’ troops has a sponsor or affiliate: Murphy’s being the Church of the Resurrection and Jercha’s being Prairie Star Middle School. Through these benefactors, the troops are able to perform acts of service, chiefly community cleanup.
“We go out and pick up a ton of trash,” Murphy said. “We’ll go into creeks and pick stuff up, [and] we’ll rake up a bunch of leaves.”
Although Jercha’s troop tended to be more active with their service pre-Covid, they are still provided with several projects throughout the year, many depending on the season. Jercha’s most recent project: braving the freeways.
“We do highway cleanup,” Jercha said. “We police line the highway, which is everyone lining up and gathering as much trash as possible for a couple of hours.”
Leadership opportunities were the first things to come to mind for both boys when pondering what impact scouting has had on their lives.
“I’ve been in charge of my troop for a year,” Murphy said. “I make a bunch of decisions, like how we set up our camp [and] what color we have our yearly shirts for summer camp be. If there are issues they go to me, not the adults.”
Being a senior, Jercha uses Boy Scouts to further his future, because not only does being a scout look great on a resume, it can lead the boys on a path to success.
“The connections I made through the scouting program are going to allow me to connect with some of the prominent adults in our area and lead me to better career opportunities,” Jercha said.
Murphy holds extra value toward his Boy Scout membership due to the boost it gives to his resume.
“Being an Eagle Scout tells your employer you have enough self-responsibility to get things done and you’re very practical about things,” Murphy said.
For both Jercha and Murphy, being a scout has given them skills and principles to be used for life.
“I learned work ethic,” Jercha said. “Keep working and everything will fall into place.”
