PEOPLE
EARNING MERIT The Boy Scouts o er 139 merit badges. Here are four Sean Stewart earned to become an Eagle Scout.
Sean Stewart Eagle Scout L ess than 6% of Scouts ever earn the rank of Eagle Scout, the Boy Scouts of America’s highest rank, and only a fraction of a percent earn all 139 merit badges attainable in the organization. One of those elite few is a Pearland resident. On March 21, Shadow Creek High School senior Sean Stewart was honored at Pearland’s Troop 464’s Court of Honor for earning all 139 merit badges. Even more remarkable, Sean joins his older brothers Conner Stewart and Ian Stewart to become the third person in his family to accom- plish this feat. “It’s been really meaningful for learning new things and gaining new experiences, but also being able to use things in my day-to-day life that I don’t think I would have known before without having taken the classes, from sewing to aviation,” Sean told Community Impact . As the nation’s largest youth program for values-based leadership training, Boy Scouts of America has over 2.1 million members between the ages of 5 and 21. Like many Scouts, Sean entered the program as a Cub Scout, the preliminary to the Boy Scouts, at the age of 8. “If citizenship, character devel- opment and physical tness are important attributes that you want to see in your future leaders, I don’t think there’s any better program than the Scouting program designed to get them there,” Troop 464 Charter Organization Representative Craig Slater said. BY RACHEL LELAND
CITIZENSHIP IN THE COMMUNITY The Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge requires Scouts
to become familiar with local government, services and issues as well as understanding the in uence a person can make at a local level . ENGINEERING The Engineering Merit Badge requires Scouts to learn about the process of building and creating products and structures. PROGRAMMING The Programming Merit Badge takes Scouts “behind the screen” to understand the complex codes that make using everyday tech devices possible.
Eagle Scout Sean Stewart, middle left, poses with his father, Erik Stewart, middle right, and brothers Conner Stewart and Ian Stewart, far left and right, respectively. COURTESY ERIK STEWART
The Stewart brothers are fourth-generation Scouts in a legacy that begins with their great-grandfa- ther Ewing Stewart, who served as a scoutmaster at the Greater Yosemite Council. This council is one of the organization’s earliest, founded in 1920—10 years
Service Project, or simply Eagle Proj- ect, which demonstrates leadership and bene ts their community. Since its founding in 1965, Troop 464 has seen over 100 Scouts attain the rank of Eagle Scout. “I tell them to look around your
DISABILITIES AWARENESS The Disabilities Awareness Merit Badge encourages Scouts
community and see what people need, and out of that need comes a good project,” said Troop 464 Scoutmaster Erik Stewart, who is also Sean’s father. As a soccer player, Sean wanted to give back to both the
"IT’S BEEN REALLY MEANINGFUL FOR LEARNING NEW THINGS AND GAINING NEW EXPERIENCES, BUT ALSO BEING ABLE TO USE THINGS IN MY DAY TO DAY LIFE THAT I DON’T THINK I WOULD HAVE KNOWN BEFORE WITHOUT HAVING TAKEN THE CLASSES, FROM SEWING TO AVIATION." SEAN STEWART, EAGLE SCOUT
after the national organization was formed. The merit badges place a broad emphasis on local com- munity service. A few of the projects the about
to learn about the experiences of people with di ering abilities and how providing greater accessibility improves fairness.
SOURCE: BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA COMMUNITY IMPACT
85 members of Troop 464
in the sport. Beyond developing leadership skills among youth, the Scouts pro- gram also serves as an introduction and path to future career opportu- nities. In pursuing the Engineering Merit Badge, Sean got to talk with an engineer, which contributed to Sean’s decision to pursue an engi- neering degree at Texas A&M after he graduates in May.
have undertaken in Pearland and the Greater Houston area include building outdoor picnic tables and cabinets for local schools, painting the First United Methodist Church Pearland, and volunteering at the Adult Education Center. To attain the rank of Eagle Scout, Scouts must complete an Eagle Scout
community and the sport for his Eagle Project. Sean collected shoes, jerseys, balls, shin guards and other gear from local schools and clubs, such as the Shadow Creek Soccer Club, to donate to the U.S. Soccer Foundation’s Passback program, which distributes the donated equipment to children to participate
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PEARLAND FRIENDSWOOD EDITION • JUNE 2023
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