Bellwood-Antis High School senior Chris Carrier is like most other 18-year-old boys at this time of year \u2013 getting ready to say \u201cgood bye\u201d to high school and \u201chello\u201d to the mysterious college experience that awaits them.
\nBut Chris is taking something with him that not too many college-bound students carry along with them \u2013 the highest honor awarded by the Boy Scouts of America.
\nOn April 27, Chris, his family and friends, and Bellwood Boy Scout Troop 92 scoutmaster Patrick Flynn gathered at St. Joe\u2019s for the presentation of his Eagle Scout Award.
\n\u201cIt was such a great honor,\u201d said Chris. \u201cWhen I was a Star scout, which is actually two steps below the Eagle Badge, I really began thinking about it.
\n\u201cI came to the realization that I was so close and I could do it,\u201d he continued.
\n\u201cI worked real hard and eventually, got everything done that I had to.\u201d
\nThat included the construction of an Avian Sanctuary adjacent to the state Department of Transportation wetlands located just off state Route 99 in Grazierville for his Eagle Scout project.
\n\u201cThat project took about three years from start to finish,\u201d said Chris.
\n\u201cI started developing the idea in 2000 after I helped a friend with a similar project. After careful planning, I started the work, which included the building of 18 bird houses, a bat box and eight benches.
\n\u201cI also had DCNR (the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources) plant a whole bunch of trees to establish a habitat for the birds.\u201d
\nAccording to Chris, it was the push he got from both his parents and his scoutmaster that allowed him to achieve the high honor.
\n\u201cMy mom and dad (Lori and Rick Carrier) really kept me going on my project,\u201d said Chris.
\n\u201cThey nagged me everyday about it and made sure I got it done.
\n\u201cMr. Flynn also really helped out a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cHe\u2019s always there and will do whatever he can to help anyone.\u201d
\nHis father, Rick, had only good things to say about him.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s a really good kid that works very hard,\u201d said Mr. Carrier. \u201cHe\u2019s definitely deserving of this.\u201d
\nChris said he was sure he would continue his involvement in the scouting life even after he goes to Waynesburg College in the fall, where he plans to study pre-law.
\nHe said those younger people who are thinking about joining scouts should stop just thinking about it and just do it.
\n\u201cI think scouting really develops people into good people,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to meet a lot of great people and make a lot of great friends.
\n\u201cYou\u2019ll learn a lot and have the opportunity to do things you never really had a chance to do before.
\n\u201cIt has left me with a big bunch of experiences that I will never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bellwood-Antis High School senior Chris Carrier is like most other 18-year-old boys at this time of year \u2013 getting ready to say \u201cgood bye\u201d to high school and \u201chello\u201d to the mysterious college experience that awaits them. But Chris is taking something with him that not too many college-bound students carry along with them \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news-in-the-tyrone-pennsylvania-area"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46631\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tyronepa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}