Riley Housen of Pawling Awarded BSA Rank of Eagle Scout
Pawling, NY – Dec 27, 2021 – Riley Housen, 17, of Pawling, NY has earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest advancement award offered to scouts by the Boy Scouts of America. Nationally, only 6% of scouts achieve this rank. Housen is a member of Pawling/Dover BSA Troop 3034 and has been involved in scouting since 1st grade.
Becoming an Eagle Scout has always carried with it a special significance. The award is a performance-based achievement with requirements in the areas of leadership, service, and outdoor skills.
To earn Eagle Rank, a Scout must plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project. Housen chose to improve his local dog park benefitting the Pawing Recreation Department. He designed and built four new dog agility obstacles as well as directed a crew of scouts and volunteers to install these obstacles. In addition, he oversaw the pouring of concrete footings for posts to suspend two awnings to provide shade. The previously bare park now hosts an inviting area for dogs and owners to meet and play. The project took a year to complete and represents hundreds of hours of service, in which Housen employed his project management and communication skills. Housen’s work has been met with appreciation and kudos from the community: “Riley has created a lasting legacy” and “has done an excellent job and made a lot of pups happy!” In addition to fulfilling the part of the Scout Oath, “to help other people at all times,” the purpose of the Eagle Scout service project is to demonstrate leadership and take responsibility for a significant accomplishment.
Candidates for the Eagle Scout rank must also earn 21 merit badges. Housen earned a distinguished 36 merit badges in diverse areas such as Aviation, Inventing, Climbing, Kayaking, Chemistry, Nuclear Science, Space Exploration, and Snow Sports. “My favorite merit badge to earn was Geology,” said Housen, “because it involved overnight camping and mining Herkimer diamonds in upstate New York” where scouts enjoyed cracking open rocks with a sledge to find embedded crystals. Requisite merit badges for the Eagle Scout rank include: First Aid, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Communication, Personal Fitness, Emergency Preparedness or Lifesaving, Environmental Science or Sustainability, Personal Management, Swimming or Hiking or Cycling, Camping, Cooking, and Family Life.
Housen is active in the National Honor Society, Science Honor Society, and Spanish Honor Society at Pawling High School where he is a member of the class of 2022. He plans to study engineering next year in college. As an Eagle Scout, Housen joins others who have attained this honor, including Neil Armstrong, Gerald Ford, and Steven Spielberg.
