Franklin School Alum Earns His Eagle Scout Badge

When junior Kevin Fries was thinking about a project to earn his Eagle Scout badge, fond memories of , his elementary school alma mater, came to mind.

Earlier this school year, Kevin, along with the help of a few volunteer friends, outlined and painted a huge, colorful map of the United States on the Franklin School playground to help the students at the school learn the states and their capitals. Kevin also hand-crafted wooden blocks with the state and capital names to be used for study in the classroom.

“I remember learning the states and their capitals when I was a student at Franklin School. It was something I enjoyed, and I wanted the younger kids to enjoy it as much as I did,” said Kevin, who has been a member of New Providence Troop 1 since sixth grade.

Kevin explained that to obtain Eagle Scout ranking, a Scout must attain all of the preliminary rankings, a specified number of merit badges, obtain references, and then plan and carry out a project designed to benefit the community. “The project must include a detailed report of your planning and progress and, after the project is completed, a report on what you learned and what you might have done differently,” he added.

“I really enjoyed working on this project,” Kevin said. “I learned a lot about myself and about how I can help kids in my community.”

— Cathy Fernandez, Summit Public Schools