I’d like to invite you to continue following my volunteer work and community service in Boy Scouts. I’m currently working on my Eagle project at AWARE – Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort – in Lithonia, Georgia at Arabia Mountain. Please follow my blog about my Eagle project at: eagleprojectbybobby.wordpress.com. Thank you for your support!
Tag: Boy Scouts of America
Being Awarded my Hornaday Badge!
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On September 8, 2018, an honor court was held at Church of the Redeemer in Snellville, where I was awarded my Hornaday Badge for the volunteer work and project I completed at Dunwoody Nature Center from 2016-2017. It was great to finally receive the award after all of the hard work I did. I’m happy to have been able to celebrate with so many people who supported me in my endeavor.
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More than one year has passed since I finished my project. I submitted my completed project portfolio binder to my Council Hornaday Advisor, Mrs. Donna Kaplan, in October 2017. The Northeast Georgia Council Hornaday Committee reviewed and approved my portfolio and forwarded it to the National Boy Scout Council.
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In April 2017, Mrs. Kaplan let me know that the National Council had approved my project for a Hornaday Award. After that, the Northeast Georgia Council prepared my badge and certificate in July 2018. My family and my troop, Troop 548, hosted a William T. Hornaday Honor Court for me last weekend.
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Doing the Hornaday project at Dunwoody Nature Center has taught me more appreciation and respect for the environment. Science is already important to me, and my project ingrained my interest even more. I’m still interested in studying biology when I go to college, and I hope to work in a science-related field as an adult. Completing my Hornaday project showed me that I can do it, and that I can pursue what I enjoy as a career.
Meeting with my Hornaday Advisor
In September 2017, I met with my Council Hornaday Committee Advisor, Mrs. Donna Kaplan. She and I reviewed the binder of documents and information I compiled about my Hornaday project at Dunwoody Nature Center. She gave me suggestions about more information to add to my binder, and I did so. I then turned in my final project report and binder portfolio to her the next month. It was lots of work just to put all of that together! Thank you, Mrs. Kaplan.
Last Day of my Project!
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Today, September 1, 2017, is the last day of my conservation project at Dunwoody Nature Center! I can’t believe all this time has already gone by, and I’m now done. I’ve logged more than 610 total hours for my project.
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Earlier this week, I met with my conservation coach, Mr. Abercrombie, who is also my assistant scoutmaster, to review my project binder with all of my information and reports. He gave me great suggestions that I’ve already put into place, making some changes to my reports to improve them.
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Today, Mrs. Loveland gave me her signed acceptance letter, stating that Dunwoody Nature Center accepts all of the work that I’ve done there for my project. She and I reviewed my project binder and photo albums. She also gave me a cookie cake! That was a nice surprise, and made me feel appreciated.
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I’ll miss going to Dunwoody Nature Center to work on my project. Now, my schedule is more opened up to do some different activities. I’ll still go to visit everyone at Dunwoody Nature Center, and I look forward to the next time I’ll be there. Thank you, everyone!
More Cool Before and After Pictures of my Hornaday Conservation Project at Dunwoody Nature Center
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I was looking through my conservation project pictures today, and putting them into photo albums. It was nice to go back through my work and see all that I’ve done! I found some more really cool before and after pictures, and I’d like to post them here. Please see them to follow:
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As you can see, there are lots of cool before, during, and after pictures of my work at Dunwoody Nature Center. These are just some of many photos that show my work.
Reasons I Chose my Hornaday Conservation Project and Why it’s Important
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A couple of areas that were suggested to me to give more information about on my blog about my Hornaday conservation project are reasons I chose it and why it’s important. I’d like to give credit to Mr. William O’Brochta, who I met at the 2017 National Jamboree Hornaday exhibit tent at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia this summer, for making these suggestions to me.
There are many reasons I chose my conservation project to work on. Originally, I wanted to do something to rescue and rehabilitate injured wildlife. But, I couldn’t locate any place to do that in my area. My family and Boy Scout advisers also couldn’t locate any place like that, either. Just recently, however, I did locate a place in that does this, and maybe I can do something with that for my Eagle project.
Not being able to find my first choice for a project, I thought about other places I was familiar with. I thought about Dunwoody Nature Center and Charlie Elliott State Park. I expressed an interest with doing a project at both places. Staff at Dunwoody Nature Center quickly responded to me with many activities that I could do. A Scoutmaster who volunteers at Charlie Elliott State Park asked about a project for me there, but I was declined. I also thought about a possible project in Stone Mountain with the U.S. Forest Service, but accepted project work at Dunwoody Nature Center.
Reasons for my acceptance of doing a project at Dunwoody Nature Center are because: 1. I already knew the people who work there because of taking merit badge classes there and the people are really nice; 2. I was familiar and comfortable with the area at Dunwoody Nature Center; 3. there were many conservation-related activities that were offered to me that I could do for a project; 4. I could do lots of activities instead of just focusing on one, and not get bored; 5. and the most important activity that the staff suggested was removing invasive plants – there were tons of them.
More reasons for doing my project at DNC are as follows: 6. I could learn more about nature, conservation, and the environment by doing my project; 7. I could educate other people about my project; 8. I could give back to scouting and the community; 9. I knew this could be a long-term project for me that would make a positive and lasting impact on the environment; and 10. I had time in my schedule on Fridays to be able to commit to doing a regular project.
There are also reasons that my conservation project is important. These reasons are: 1. my project makes a positive and lasting impact on the environment at Dunwoody Nature Center; 2. my project has been successful in removing and managing 100s of invasive plants, improving the natural ecosystem at Dunwoody Nature Center; 3. my project was completed with no disruptions to people or animals at DNC; 4. my project has helped native plants and trees to have more open space, survive, and grow better than before; and 5. my project has been a benefit to the people who visit and enjoy DNC, by providing more open space and helping native plant growth.
Additional reasons for the importance of my project at DNC include: 6. I’ve improved a large area of green space inside of a large city in a metropolitan area; 7. I’ve developed a stronger friendship with the staff at DNC; and 8. I’ve been able to give back to scouting and my community by completing many conservation-related activities at DNC on a regular basis, such as removing and managing invasive plants; building and placing 5 bird feeders, and maintaining them; regularly filling bird feeders and bird baths; planting 60 Autumn ferns in areas where I removed invasive plants; mulching 2 trails to save soil and help stop erosion; and removing branches and logs from trails and areas where I planted ferns.
Some of the biggest things I’ve enjoyed about doing my conservation project at Dunwoody Nature Center are developing a stronger friendship with the staff who work there, and increasing my interest in science, nature, conservation, and the environment. Before I began my project, I wanted to have a career as a video game designer. After doing this project, I’d like a science-related career as a biologist, or something related to that.
With hands-on experience in conservation, I have a better understanding of the environment, and more appreciation for nature. I want to help protect the environment even more now, as a result of doing my project. So, my project has been worthwhile, not only for the environment, ecosystem, and people who visit Dunwoody Nature Center, but it has been most rewarding for me, personally. All of these are reasons for doing my project and why it’s important.
Family Support with my Hornaday Conservation Project
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The people who’ve given me the most help, time, and support with my Hornaday conservation project at Dunwoody Nature Center have been my family. I got them together this week for a group photo. My grandfather guided and supervised my construction of five bird houses. My father worked with me on my two troop workdays, and took me to Dunwoody Nature Center twice to complete additional work. And, my mom has been my biggest supporter, taking me to Dunwoody Nature Center all but two times I’ve gone there for my project work. Thank you to my family and all of my supporters!
My Hornaday Conservation Project Follow-up Work
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For the past three months, I’ve been following up at my project site to observe the results of my work and complete any needed upkeep. I’ve been very happy with the results I’ve seen, and hope those results can be maintained or improved.
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I’ve been visiting the Dunwoody Nature Center twice each month for the past three months. I’ve follow-up on and observed invasive plant regrowth by Chinese wisteria, Chinese privet, and English ivy. The main focus of my project has been to remove Chinese wisteria and privet, and I removed alot of English ivy after observing that it was beginning to grow into the areas where I removed the wisteria and privet.
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On my occasions of visiting Dunwoody Nature Center to observe any invasive plant regrowth, there have been plants that grew back, but they’re much more manageable now. On my first follow-up visit, there were no plants that regrew. On my second follow-up visit, there were 30 plants that regrew. Because mom didn’t bring any RoundUp that day, she sprayed them the next time we went.
On my next follow-up visit, I observed that 80 more plants regrew. Mom sprayed those, and the I removed them on our next visit. On another follow-up visit, I observed no plants that regrew. But, on the next follow-up visit, there were 50 plants that regrew. Mom sprayed those, and I removed them.
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During my follow-up visit to Dunwoody Nature Center last week, after removing the dead plants that had regrown, mom and I cut out more Chinese wisteria and Chinese privet, deeper back in the woods. We cut out another 100 invasive plants.
And, because all of the rain washed so much dirt away, wisteria runners up to 25 long were exposed on top of the ground, and we cut out as much as we could. We filled two large yard waste bags with the long wisteria runners and the 100 plants that we cut out from deeper into the woods.
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For the past two weeks, the weather in Georgia has been extremely hot and humid. Last Friday at Dunwoody Nature Center, the temperature was 95 degrees Fahrenheit and the humidity was 100%. It was like a sauna! By the time mom and I were finished working, we were drenched in sweat. I drank almost 3 bottles of water that afternoon! It was too hot!
I’ve also followed up on the additional activities that I completed at Dunwoody Nature Center as part of my project. I’ve observed and it was reported to me by staff that the bird feeders were being refilled at least once per month. Staff is expecting to refill them more often between Fall and Spring now that Summer Camp season is done.
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The bird baths, however, were not being cleaned or refilled. I refilled the bird feeders and bird baths when I came to do my follow-up observations and maintenance during these past three months.
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During my follow-up visits, I removed branches that had fallen from trees, that were in the areas where I planted ferns. I observed that some of the ferns have doubled in size, and others have remained about the same size. All of the ferns are alive; none have died.
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I also cleaned out the bird houses so they could be used by other birds to nest in the future. Unfortunately, I saw that most of the mulch that was used to mulch the two trails on my troop workday was washed away by the rain. There’s mostly bare ground showing now, and very little mulch remains on those trails.
I’ve created fliers to recruit volunteers to regularly manage invasive plants and refill the bird feeders at Dunwoody Nature Center. The fliers were posted last week. I’ve asked for anyone interested to contact me or Mrs. Loveland at the Dunwoody Nature Center for training. In the past, groups of volunteers – like from UPS – and individuals, come and volunteer at Dunwoody Nature Center. Mrs. Loveland let me know she’ll make it a priority to have volunteers manage the invasive plant growth.
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There are just a couple of weeks left before I finish up my project. I plan to return to Dunwoody Nature Center in the future for more community service – like volunteering at Summer Camp again – and to follow-up and do maintenance on my project work.
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This has been a really huge project for me, and has influenced me in a positive way. I’m even more interested in science, nature, and conservation now; and I’d like to be a biologist. It has been great to work with everyone at Dunwoody Nature Center, and to get the support of so many people who’ve helped me along the way!
My Conservation-Related Activities at the 2017 National Jamboree
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From July 19-28, 2017, I attended and participated in the 2017 National Jamboree for Boy Scouts and Venturers at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia. It was a great experience, but with alot of walking, and I did many activities.
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There were alot of activities already planned for my Troop 3127 with the Northeast Georgia Council before we got there, so that didn’t leave very much time to do things I wanted to do. But, I still did things that I liked.
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Conservation-related activities I completed at the 2017 National Jamboree were going to the Hornaday Exhibit Tent and talking with scout staff. I went there twice, and talked to two people. Both times I went there, I talked with men who were very encouraging. The second time, I talked to the Central Region Angling Chairman, who asked me many questions about my Hornaday project. He also talked to me about preparing my final report and following up on the progress I’ve made with my project.
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I also went to the Sustainability Tree House three times. The first two times, I didn’t have much chance to look through it because I had to get back to my camp and it was at the end of the day. The third time I went there, I looked through all of it except the top floor because of the risk of lightning that day. It was really cool!
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At the National Eagle Scout Association Tent, I saw Regis, the bald eagle. Regis is the Association’s mascot. He is a beautiful eagle, and a wonderful representative of the Association. It’s disappointing that he is an eagle in captivity, but it looks like he is being well taken care of.
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At Jamboree, I gave out some of my custom-made Hornaday patches to scout leaders. Unfortunately, my fellow scouts at Jamboree weren’t very interested in them, and didn’t want to trade any of their patches for them. But, working on my project is still very important to me, and I know I’ve made a positive impact on the environment.
Badges Earned for Hornaday
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I’m starting to work on my forms for my Hornaday Award Application, and I’ll be working on my final report over the summer. So far, I’ve earned 8 more badges than are what’s required to apply for and earn the Hornaday Badge.
In the past two years, I’ve earned 13 conservation-related Boy Scout merit badges. I earned most of them at two Hornaday Weekends, and by completing workshops at the Dunwoody Nature Center.
Out of all the badges I’ve earned so far that count toward Hornaday, my favorites, in this order, are: fishing, fly fishing, and reptile and amphibian study. I haven’t had an opportunity to earn the nature or plant science merit badges yet, but those are other ones that I’d like to get.