ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST RANK IN SCOUTING AT THE MASS AUDUBON CENTER IN SANCTUARY IN BELMONT, A RAINY DAY DELIVERS A WELCOME DRINK TO PROMISING BLOOMS. IT’S A LITTLE BARREN AFTER A LONG WINTER, BUT CLEAR, GREAT CARE WAS TAKEN IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THESE COMMUNITY GARDENS. I HAD TO DO A LOT OF FUNDRAISING, 16 YEAR OLD EMILY GREEN SAYS. THE RAISED BEDS WERE IN DISREPAIR BEFORE SHE LED A TEAM IN REBUILDING THEM. WE PLANTED SOME SOME BULBS WITH THEM TO THE BIG SERVICE EFFORT WAS THE PINNACLE PROJECT THAT EARNED EMILY THE RANK OF EAGLE SCOUT, THE HIGHEST ACHIEVEMENT IN SCOUTING. IT’S LESS THAN 5% OF SCOUTS THAT ACTUALLY ATTAIN THE EAGLE BADGE, AND RIGHT NOW IT’S ABOUT 14% OF THOSE EAGLE SCOUTS NATION WIDE ARE WOMEN. THE SCOUTS WENT COED IN 2019. EMILY SAYS SHE WAS INSPIRED BY HER OLDER BROTHER, JEFFREY, WHO’S ALSO AN EAGLE SCOUT MOM. LIZBETH, WHO MOVED TO THE U.S. FROM COSTA RICA, GOT HER KIDS INVOLVED WITH THE SCOUTS EARLY ON. WE STARTED. GOING TO CUB SCOUTS AND SHE ALWAYS JOINED THE TRIPS AND SHE STARTED LIKING IT, YOU KNOW, PUMPKIN FEST AND LITTLE CAMPING OVERNIGHT TRIPS. SCOUTING BUILDS CONFIDENCE IN THEM AND LEADERSHIP SKILLS TRAITS THE FAMILY WOULD COME TO RELY ON. WHEN EMILY WAS ABOUT TEN AND JEFFREY, 15, THERE WAS A PERIOD OF TIME THAT WE WERE LIVING IN A SHELTER AND WE WERE HAVING A REALLY HARD TIME. THE SCOUTS STEPPED IN, OFFERING THE FAMILY A BASE CAMP LIKE THIS TO STAY IN WHILE GETTING BACK ON THEIR FEET. DEFINITELY DEPRESSION WAS SETTING IN AND IT WAS A REALLY DIFFICULT, TRAUMATIC TIME. SO BEING ABLE TO BE IN A SUMMER CAMP AND ENJOYING IT AND AT LEAST NOT FEELING THAT LIFE WAS SO HARD AT THAT MOMENT. FAST FORWARD SIX YEARS, JEFFREY IS IN COLLEGE AND LIZBETH, WHO WORKS AS A TRANSLATOR, IS PROUD TO LIST EMILY’S MANY ACHIEVEMENTS AS ONE OF THE VERY FIRST FEW EAGLE SCOUTS FEMALE IN THE COUNTRY. SHE’S ALSO A CAPTAIN FOR THE CHEERLEADING TEAM. SHE’S ALSO A YOUTH UMPIRE. SHE ALSO JUST BECAME INDUCTED INTO THE NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY AND DON’T FORGET MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN HER COMMUNITY. I KNEW I WANTED TO HELP GIVE BACK IN SOME SORT OF WAY WITH NATURE. EAGLE IS 21 MERIT BADGES, A SIGNIFICANT AMOUNT OF LEADERSHIP LIKE EMILY HAD A NUMBER OF LEADERSHIP ROLES. IT’S REALLY A WONDERFUL STORY ABOUT HOW A FAMILY SAID, OKAY, WE’RE GOING TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN. OH, HOW AMAZING IS SHE? INCREDIBLE. THE WHOLE FAMILY TO KIND OF RISE ABOVE, WRITE A WONDERFUL STORY ABOUT THE SCOUTS HELPING EMILY’S FAMILY EMILY THEN HELPING WRITE BACK. AS FOR THE BASE CAMP WHERE THEY STAYED FOR A TIME, THAT’S NOT TYPICAL, BUT IT DOES SER
16-year-old girl overcomes adversity, earns Eagle Scout badge
Emily Green, 16, leads rebuilding effort of community gardens with help of Scouts BSA
At the Mass Audubon Center’s Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Belmont, Massachusetts, new raised garden beds are ready for spring planting, thanks in large part to 16-year-old Emily Green.”I had to do a lot of fundraising,” Green said.She said the beds, part of the property’s community gardens, were in disrepair before she led a team in rebuilding them.The big service effort was the pinnacle project that earned Green the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest achievement in Scouts BSA.John Judge, CEO of the regional Spirit of Adventure Council — which oversees Massachusetts scouting programs, said less than 5% of scouts attain the Eagle badge.“Right now, about 14% of those Eagle Scouts nationwide are women,” he said.The Scouts BSA went co-ed in 2019. Green said she was inspired by her older brother to start scouting. He is also an Eagle Scout. Green’s mother, Lizbeth Valerio, who moved to the U.S. from Costa Rica, said she got her kids involved early on.”We started going to Cub Scouts, and (Emily) always joined the trips, and she started liking it,” Valerio said. “Scouting builds confidence in them and leadership skills.”Traits the family would come to rely on when, about six years ago, they had to resort to living in a shelter.The Scouts stepped in, offering the family a base camp in Blue Hills Reservation to stay in while getting back on their feet.”Definitely depression was setting in, and it was a really difficult traumatic time,” Valerio said.She said being at the base camp helped. Fast forward to today, and Valerio, who works as a translator, said she is proud to list her daughter’s many achievements that extend beyond the community work she’s done with the Mass Audubon Society, which, according to its website, protects over 41,000 acres of land throughout Massachusetts.”(She’s) one of the very first few Eagle Scout females in the country,” Valerio said. “She’s also a captain for the cheerleading team … a youth umpire … (and) also just became inducted into the National Honor Society.””It’s really a wonderful story about how a family said, ‘Okay, we’re going to make this happen’,” Judge said.
At the Mass Audubon Center’s Habitat Education Center and Wildlife Sanctuary in Belmont, Massachusetts, new raised garden beds are ready for spring planting, thanks in large part to 16-year-old Emily Green.
“I had to do a lot of fundraising,” Green said.
She said the beds, part of the property’s community gardens, were in disrepair before she led a team in rebuilding them.
The big service effort was the pinnacle project that earned Green the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest achievement in Scouts BSA.
John Judge, CEO of the regional Spirit of Adventure Council — which oversees Massachusetts scouting programs, said less than 5% of scouts attain the Eagle badge.
“Right now, about 14% of those Eagle Scouts nationwide are women,” he said.
The Scouts BSA went co-ed in 2019. Green said she was inspired by her older brother to start scouting. He is also an Eagle Scout. Green’s mother, Lizbeth Valerio, who moved to the U.S. from Costa Rica, said she got her kids involved early on.
“We started going to Cub Scouts, and (Emily) always joined the trips, and she started liking it,” Valerio said. “Scouting builds confidence in them and leadership skills.”
Traits the family would come to rely on when, about six years ago, they had to resort to living in a shelter.
The Scouts stepped in, offering the family a base camp in Blue Hills Reservation to stay in while getting back on their feet.
“Definitely depression was setting in, and it was a really difficult traumatic time,” Valerio said.
She said being at the base camp helped. Fast forward to today, and Valerio, who works as a translator, said she is proud to list her daughter’s many achievements that extend beyond the community work she’s done with the Mass Audubon Society, which, according to its website, protects over 41,000 acres of land throughout Massachusetts.
“(She’s) one of the very first few Eagle Scout females in the country,” Valerio said. “She’s also a captain for the cheerleading team … a youth umpire … (and) also just became inducted into the National Honor Society.”
“It’s really a wonderful story about how a family said, ‘Okay, we’re going to make this happen’,” Judge said.
