Galle ’20 Earns Rank of Eagle Scout

Since the inception of the rank of Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America, only 4% of scouts have earned this rank. St. Patrick Catholic High School’s Jonathan Galle ’20 joins nearly 2.5 million other youth in achieving this honor.

The Eagle Scout rank requires a project. Galle’s project was building bluebird houses for the Wesley Methodist Church in Ocean Springs. Galle noticed that the local area had had much of its ecosystem destroyed when developers removed trees and habitats near the church.

“I wanted to help reintroduce some of those animals – specifically Bluebirds – because they live on the outskirts of forests,” said Galle.

Unfortunately, the project was affected by COVID-19. As Galle instructed junior scouts to complete the project, technology, social distancing, and masks became the norm. There were no shared tools between the scouts building the boxes, and hand sanitizer and gloves were used to follow state and local guidelines. Getting scouts together to create the houses also became a challenge.

“I had to make sure the scouts knew what they were doing because I could not get close enough to them to actually help them,” said Galle

When asked about why he has given so much of his time to the Boy Scouts of America and what he loved about the program, Galle said, “The adventure in Boy Scouts opens so many opportunities to be able to go out and spend time in nature and learn about nature. You also learn how to survive and how to help improve the ecosystem for the well being of others. You learn to leave the place you sleep at better than what you found it and also help each other out.”