Irvine Teen Named American Legion Eagle Scout of the Year
An Irvine, California, student was named the American Legion Eagle Scout
of the Year for 2003.
Aaron Allen, 17, a senior at Hawaii Preparatory Academy and a member of
Crew 1985 chartered by Pines Christian School and a concurrent member of
Troop 316 chartered by Calvary Chapel, Costa Mesa, California, earned the
award and a college scholarship worth $10,000. The award was announced
during the American Legion's board of directors meeting.
The award recognizes Allen's practical citizenship at school, Scouting,
and his church,
Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa. For his Eagle Scout project, Allen organized
and directed 15 Scouts in repairing and repainting
62 benches and a floating dock in the El Dorado Nature Center in Long
Beach. Additionally his team trimmed back vegetation that had overgrown
several areas of the venue. As a finishing touch, the benches were tagged
with adhesive metal numbers for identification purposes. Allen, an Eagle
Scout since 2001, is also an honors student and plans to study foreign
policy and public affairs. He is attending Indiana University in Bloomington,
Indiana. Allen, who was awarded the Congressional Award, the Heroism Award,
and the Hornaday Award, was selected as one of nine high school students in
America to receive the Nobel Scholarship from the National Society of High
School Scholars. His career goal is to one day serve as secretary of
state.
The American Legion awarded a $2,500 scholarship to Randall S. Porch,
a member of Venturing Crew 839 chartered by the Deep Six Dive Shop in
Stuart, Florida; Jason R. Lansdell, a member of a Venturing crew chartered
by Hume-Fogg Academic High School in Nashville, Tennessee; and Jamil P.
Coury, a member of Troop 262 chartered by St. Helen's Catholic Church in
Glendale, Arizona.
The American Legion has supported Scouting since its first national
convention in 1919. Legion posts sponsor more than 2,500 Scouting units,
serving more than 72,000 young people, at a cost of more than $1.7
million.