Boy Scout builds outdoor classroom to earn Eagle rank

Posted on March 4, 2019 By Editor Junior Residents

Benches were built at nearby Southside United Methodist Church.

Hendricks Avenue Elementary School has a beautiful and useful outdoor classroom thanks to Boy Scout Christian Floyd, who designed, planned, and led the project to create the space as part of earning the rank of Eagle Scout.

Floyd, a resident of St. Nicholas Park, is a member of Troop 35 at Southside United Methodist Church, attended Hendricks Avenue Elementary School and is currently a senior at Paxon School for Advanced Studies.

Christian Floyd with his finished Eagle Scout project, an outdoor classroom at Hendricks Avenue Elementary School.

After giving it a lot of thought, Floyd decided he wanted to complete his service project at a place that had a lot of impact on his life, so he chose his elementary school. He brainstormed ideas with Principal Mindy McClendon to come up with the idea for the outdoor classroom, saying that “while a big project, I thought it was a great idea and stuck with it.”

The Scout’s mother, Tiffany Floyd, said she believes “the most valuable thing that Christian learned in completing his project was the hard work, planning, and leadership it took to make it happen and seeing the vision he had for the space come to life throughout the process. He was determined to make [the classroom] happen for [the school] no matter how big or challenging it might be. He built something that will be valuable to the school for years to come.”

According to the Eagle Scout project handbook, “the Scout must be the one to lead the project.” Service to other people is an important part of the Scout Oath. The service project is a requirement to earn the rank of Eagle Scout. Scouts striving for the rank must plan, develop, and lead the project to completion. The project must benefit a school, the community, or a religious institution. The Scout must submit a proposal to the local Boy Scouts of America Council and complete a project plan.

Outdoor classroom built by Boy Scout Troop 35

Floyd and his team first leveled the area with a tiller and shovels. They built the benches at Southside United Methodist church, which is located close to the school. In order to properly set the benches, the group marked and dug holes for each bench and used cement to set them. Floyd returned later to install the chalkboard and put down pine straw in the area.

Local businesses, including Brightway Insurance, The Players Grill, and Lowes, donated to the project. Floyd’s project team included Matthew Knowling, Maria Knowling, Tiffany Floyd, David Price, Riley McGee, Brandon Singleton, Don and Jana Colbert, Turner Colbert, Kyle Griggs, Decker Day and Andrew Price.

Submitted by Leslie DeVooght