4 Maplewood Scouts Earn Eagle Award: Here’s What Their Projects Were

MAPLEWOOD, NJ — Four scouts from Maplewood’s Troop 5 have earned an Eagle Scout Award: the highest rank in Scouting America.

According to a news release from the troop, the four high-achieving teens are: Sam Daley, Alexander Lopos, Jesse Fryatt, and Jack Ebert.

Only about 5 percent of scouts nationally earn the prestigious ranking, which honors exceptional character, leadership and community service.

To achieve the Eagle Award, each scout must advance through the ranks of Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, and Star and Life. They must earn a minimum of 21 merit badges in areas like outdoor skills, citizenship and life skills.

The youths must also plan and lead a project that benefits their local community. Scouts raise funds for their project and organize volunteers from the troop and broader community to complete the project. Scouts often choose organizations and projects that are meaningful to them personally.

Here’s what each Scout did for their project:

COMMUNITY POOL – Samuel Mitchell Daley of Maplewood, a senior at Union Catholic, worked with the Maplewood Community Pool last spring to build an inviting teen area for the 2025 summer season. His project included installing two new picnic tables for social interaction, renovating an existing volleyball court and installing a permanent cement cornhole court. These improvements were much appreciated by pool staff and well-used by teens last summer.

MEDICAL EQUIPMENT – John Graham “Jack” Ebert of Maplewood, a senior at Oratory Prep, tragically lost his younger sister Annabeth to a rare mitochondrial disease called Alpers syndrome in 2018. For his Eagle Scout project Jack recognized an opportunity to support families caring for loved ones with mitochondrial diseases by collecting expensive therapeutic equipment from families who no longer need it and redistributing it to families who need it to make current patients more comfortable. Jack worked with the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation (UMDF) to find families who had equipment to donate and with the Pluckemin Medical Equipment Ministry at Pluckemin Presbyterian Church to find families in need of this specific equipment. Jack and his team of volunteers collected and cleaned twenty pieces of gently used equipment worth $40,000 and then arranged for it to be donated free of charge to families who could use it to care for their loved ones. For this project in his sister’s memory and his many years of involvement in the mitochondrial disease community Jack was selected by the UMDF as the winner of their annual Heartstrings Award.

INFO KIOSKS – Jesse Fryatt of Maplewood, a senior at Columbia High School, worked with Springfield Avenue Partnership last summer to refurbish three information kiosks on Springfield Avenue in Maplewood. Jesse and his team of volunteers repaired and repainted the wooden kiosks which also required repairs and replacement of roofing, bulletin boards and the metal and plexiglass cases which protect them. The kiosks are once again attractive structures used by the town and many local community groups to publicize upcoming events and available services.

MUSIC INSTRUMENTS – Alexander Lopos of Cincinnati, Ohio and formerly of South Orange, now a junior at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin, worked with Columbia High School in the summer of 2023 to install new durable musical instrument storage shelving in the orchestra room. He organized the existing stock of district owned violins and arranged for some to be repaired or donated to students. Alexander also raised funds for the professional restoration of three district owned cellos returning them to their former glory and providing musical education opportunity for students for years to come.

Family, friends and community leaders celebrated the teens’ achievements during a ceremony at Morrow Memorial United Methodist Church on Nov. 29. Maplewood Deputy Mayor Malia Herman attended the ceremony and read proclamations recognizing and congratulating each scout individually on behalf of Mayor Nancy Adams and the Township Committee.

Addressing the crowd from the podium, each scout thanked their family, friends and troop leaders. They also shared stories from their years in Scouts.

According to troop leaders:

• Daley shared some of the ways scouting has benefitted him including making new friends, learning first aid, orienteering and camping skills. He said he was recently surprised to find out that some of his friends are nervous about going to college because they hadn’t spent time away from home and their parents. He said he feels well prepared for the adult world because of his scouting experience including the many trips he has taken and the independence he has gained.
• Ebert spoke about his experience of being a young new scout during the COVID pandemic. He then talked about his many fond memories of going to summer camp in the Adirondacks for two weeks every year since the pandemic. He said his greatest adventure with Troop 5 was going backpacking with his father for two weeks at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico. He spoke briefly about his Eagle service project and said that it was easy to keep motivated because the project was so personally meaningful to him.
• Fryatt spoke about his experience attending Troop 5’s annual honor campfire at summer camp this year and feeling firsthand why older scouts get emotional when sharing their experiences with younger scouts. He said his highlights were his memories of backpacking at the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, many service projects including his Eagle Scout project, monthly camping trips and learning more about himself and about leadership. He encouraged younger scouts to stay involved, stay curious and say yes to opportunities for adventure and service offered through scouting. He said he feels grateful and proud of his scouting journey as well as the rank. He plans to continue applying values learned in scouting in his life and keep finding ways to give back to his community.
• Lopos acknowledged that all the family members and friends in attendance were likely anxious to celebrate with their scouts and so briefly thanked his parents and a couple of adult scout leaders who were of particular help to him on his Eagle Scout project.

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