The Friggle’s experience as a foster family inspired Lucas Friggle’s Eagle Scout project—a facelift for the Williamson County Children’s Advocacy Center’s gazebo area.
“I felt connected to it,” says Lucas, a 15-year-old sophomore at East View HS. “When my parents started fostering and I saw what they were doing in the community, I thought I would help too. I felt like I needed to give back to kids.” A Scout in Troop 405 in Georgetown, Lucas earned his Eagle Scout award at the age of 15 in March. The average age for achieving this honor is 17.
Children are often stressed when they come to the advocacy center, which serves child abuse victims. Lucas sought to make it a little more welcoming by revamping its gazebo and adding plants, a gravel pathway and a limestone border around the building. He used $1,500 he raised via GoFundMe and the assistance of his father, a landscape architect, and volunteers. “It was good knowing I was doing something to help the kids,” Lucas says.
His involvement with the Boy Scouts dates back to his early childhood, when he became a Cub Scout at age 6, relishing the chance to make friends as well as don a uniform. (His dream then was to join the military; he now plans to become an anesthesiologist.)
Earning the Eagle Scout award felt really good, he says. “I put a lot of effort and time into this. It means a lot.” He has 31 merit badges for an array of activities; cooking, hiking, life-saving, architecture, space exploration, sailing, horse care, and aeronautical, electrical and chemical engineering, and more.
His next adventure is organizing a team at East View to volunteer at the Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter, a cause he is passionate about because his dog passed away in January and he wanted a new pet-related purpose.
Why It Matters
An Eagle Scout is the highest rank in Scouting, a performance-based achievement that not every young person who joins a Scout troop earns. Since 1912, the Eagle Scout rank has represented a milestone accomplishment recognized across the country and even the world. According to the Boy Scouts of America website, Eagle Scout is not just an award; it is a state of being. Those who earned it as youth continue to earn it every day as adults.
To earn this award, a Scout must fulfill requirements in leadership, service, and outdoor skills as well as earn a minimum of 21 out of 136 merit badges. They also must demonstrate leadership to others through a service project that helps a religious institution, school, or their community.
Troop 405 Scoutmaster John McEntire believes Scouting is important because it teaches boys and girls skills that will serve them throughout their lives. Skills range from hands-on; camping, cooking, swimming, and survival, to higher callings of character development, leadership, and outdoor ethics.
The Eagle Scout award is significant, he says, because it represents years of work and dedication. “Scouts do not simply become an Eagle Scout just by showing up,” John says. “They must show a large amount of personal drive and perseverance throughout the journey to Eagle.”