Jason's Place

John Hunt wrote the following press release announcing the project in March 2013.

Scout's Eagle Service Project Creates New Classroom

The students of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish School in Anderson Township have a new classroom – outdoors. Students sit on wooden benches at long tables while their teacher works from a deck with a sheltered whiteboard. All of this started as a former student’s idea for his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project.

As a student Dale Lakes enjoyed the opportunity to have class outdoors but he thought it could be more than just sitting on the lawn or on the back driveway curbing. It did not take him long to realize that the required Service Project for his Eagle Award would provide him the opportunity to make his dream come true.

The service project is one of several elements a scout must complete to achieve his Eagle Award which is the highest rank in Boy Scouts. The requirement is that the Scout plans, organize, lead, and manage the project. The project must benefit his community, school, and or church. It is not meant to have a commercial value, not meant to benefit any scouting organization (local or national), and it is not meant to be merely a fund-raising endeavor. In short as the project manager Dale needed to demonstrate leadership abilities for a project of his own choosing and design. As Dan Beard Council’s Assistant Council Commissioner Tom Armstrong wrote “His project was the most ambitious one that I have personally seen in 14 years of Scouting. He has demonstrated perseverance, responsibility, and dedication well beyond his peers as he has worked this project.”

By any standard this was a large project: surveying the teachers for their acceptance; meeting with county and township officials for the necessary zoning, land and building permits; designing a classroom for 36 students comprising of a stage with a whiteboard in a protected cabinet, nine long benches and nine matching tables. It involved a five thousand dollars budget, over 1000 man hours, development of a church bulletin requesting donations of dollars, time and sweat, creating and presenting a PowerPoint presentation to various parish organizations to attract support, writing an article for IHM’s HeartBeat newspaper and finally, doing the work and getting it done.

Not only did the work get done but Dale made it fun. The site was an overgrown area between the back of school and the pastor’s residence. To clear the site Dale asked the Vacation Bible School classes to help “pick-up sticks.” He drew upon their Bible lessons and made it a day of changing water into wine. On a hot summer day the young students filled 5 gallon buckets with sticks (water) and got free popsicles (wine) in return.

At each step Dale was involved in the doing. He taught himself how to use an architect computer assisted design program to create the classroom’s blueprint. While he built the benches and tables at his house, the staining and finishing was done on-site. Additionally, he was active in finding others to help: the fathers in his neighborhood, fellow Venturing Crew 694 members, vacation bible school students, and men from the parish. The weather forced delays to his schedule as did unforeseen site conditions. Once the sticks were removed it became apparent that the honeysuckle needed to be removed roots and all which is not a task completed by hand. Dale found a friend who used his bobcat to do the uprooting. When it became apparent that it would take too long to dig the post holes in such hard ground Dale found the solution with a parishioner who used his fence installation business’ power post hole digger to complete the forty plus holes. Dale did all this while a student at Summit Country Day, maintaining a 4.0GPA, captaining his cross country team to the state championship finals, and participating on a state-qualifying Mock Trial Team. As a senior he earned All Ohio Academic Honors while carrying five AP and ten Honors courses and has accepted an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point.

My family became involved after seeing Dale’s IHM church bulletin page. It sparked a remembrance of our son Jason who was an outdoor experiential educator with kids at-risk prior to his death in 2001. We liked Dale’s idea and in talking to him became confident that he had an understanding of what he wanted to accomplish and that his plan was realistic. Our family made a donation in memory of Jason and then I got to work: digging holes, pouring concrete, staining wood, nailing shingles, and hanging off ladders at some pretty weird angles.

Welcome to Jason’s Place: a well-designed outdoor classroom that is available to all IHM school students as well as to any IHM parish organization looking to meet amidst the beauty of the outdoors. Dale, having completed his Eagle requirements, recently passed his Eagle Board of Review. He has earned not only his Eagle Award but the project has earned the Dan Beard Council’s Eagle Service Project of the Year recognition. He plans on adding some landscaping before holding his Eagle Award Ceremony at the outdoor classroom this coming spring.

*end of release*

Addition:

After receivng his Eagle Award Dale gaduated high school in June 2013 with a beter than 4.0 GPA. He accepted an appointment to West Point Military Academy.