“On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, to obey the scout law, to help other people at all times, to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight [The Scout Oath]…those are great words to live by…Doesn’t that describe you as a Jesuit student?”
This oath and question initiated my conversation with Jesuit’s President and Eagle Scout Mike Earsing.
I was able to talk to Mr. Earsing about his experience as an Eagle Scout, as well as his thoughts on the boys here who have ascended to the rank of Eagle. Going over some of the points of the Scout Law, he related how Loyalty and Trustworthy go along with our “being Men for Others and being brothers.”
“Doesn’t that describe you as a Jesuit student,” Earsing repeated. The morals of Jesuit and those of scouting can indeed be intertwined, for they are similar.
Courteous. “In a world where we are normally beeping our horns and shoving everybody out of the way, to have a guy who is courteous, who is willing to put others before himself, that’s pretty big” and “is certainly a Jesuit characteristic,” added Earsing.
To those Eagles here at Jesuit, Earsing explained, “When you’re with your group of guys that all agree to do the same thing, it gives you strength; it gives you strength at Jesuit because you’re a Jesuit man; it gives you strength in scouting that you’re a scout…and I think that’s something special.”
Only 4% of Scouts make it to the rank of Eagle during their time in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). This rank is the highest achievement that a boy can make during his time in scouting.  Here at Jesuit, we gathered a list of Eagle Scouts, spanning from the class of 2017 (Alumni) to the class of 2021.
Most Recent Alumni Eagles (’17)
Ayres, Jack
Troop: 404
Eagle Project:Â Made cabinets for teacher storage at St. Mary of Carmel.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â November 17, 2014
Brewer, Matthew
Troop: 42
Eagle Project: The project involved soliciting, collecting, assembling and installing over $8,000 worth of industrial shelving at The Stewpot, Dallas’ largest homeless resource center. Utilizing the new organization system, toiletries and other donated items that are handed out to the homeless clientele were able to be properly stored.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â October 1, 2014
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Buchholz, Grayson
Troop: 80
Eagle Project:Â Renovations at The Bridge Homeless Recovery Center Library.
Date Achieved Eagle: February 16, 2015.
It has taught me how to be a man for others, MORE SO than Jesuit has, as Well as leadership through NYLT and the NAYLE programs.  I got stuck at 1st class, and then FINALLY moved on to get me eagle because, I wanted to get my eagle.  My eagle project opened my eyes to the area around it, and how it needed something nice done to it.  Getting eagle is one of my most greatest ACCOMPLISHMENTS, it is something I really appreciate, as well as the fact it taught me time MANAGEMENT for all the paperwork.  It’s something to be proud of.
Clements, Ryan
Troop: 404
Eagle Project:Â Renovated and cleared a trail for walking dogs and animals at Operation Kindness property. Operation Kindness is a no-kill animal shelter. He built a retaining wall next to the trail and spread crushed granite after clearing branches and debris.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â December 15, 2014
Curran, William
Troop: 404
Eagle Project:Â 1 Million 4 Anna golf tournament tee markers.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â October 13
Currying, Sullivan
Troop: 838
Eagle Project:Â Sullivan built 4 single chambered bat boxes and 2 four-chambered bat nurseries for the Dallas Zoo; where he has been a volunteer for 7 years. He used funds from his BSA popcorn sales to pay for the materials. The project took him about a month to plan and execute. Fellow scouts assisted him with the assembly. Sully is especially grateful for the help of Mr. Seary who allowed him to use his woodworking workshop, and for the mentor-ship of Mr. Erickson and Mr. Keuker.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â October 20, 2016
Flores, Martin
Troop: 404
Eagle Project:Â Built new computer desks for St. Mary of Carmel School of Dallas.
Date Achieved Eagle: October 20, 2016
Fulkerson, David
Troop: 719
Eagle Project:Â Removing the dying foliage over a 1300 square foot area and replacing the plants with new ones that were better suited for the shaded area.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â September 2016
Gasper, Michael
Troop: 713
Eagle Project:Â Rock line and Mulch in a tree bed as well as sodding.(location unknown)
Date Achieved Eagle:Â May 5, 2016
Hartmann, Luis
Troop: 42
Eagle Project:Â Worked with St. Vincent de Paul to build shelves and reorganize children’s clothing for the benefit of caseworkers in Dallas.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â August 2016
Henrion, William
Troop: 82
Eagle Project:Â Building a raised vegetable garden for Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a poor Catholic middle school in West Dallas primarily serving minority students.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â December 2014
Holub, Vance
Troop: 42
Eagle Project: His project was the raising of over $10,000 for the installation of a new rest stop (including a trashcan, benches, and a water fountain on top of a concrete slab) along the Santa Fe Trail in East Dallas. In order to achieve this, he had to meet with city officials, members of the trail’s supporting organization, and potential donors in the community. Besides meeting with adults, however, he also managed groups of his peers during the fundraising and construction phases in order to successfully complete the project.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â January 2016
Huang, Erick
Troop:1001
Eagle Project:Â Repairing, rebuilding, and staining the fence at Trinity Bible Church.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â November 11, 2016
Ingram, Nickolas
Troop: 404
Eagle Project: Serving the neglected and abandoned children sheltered at Jonathans’ place in Garland. This project produced 2 benches and table for the facility. Also categorized their library and cleaned the room out.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â April 1, 2014
Huber, Michael
Troop: 82
Eagle Project:Â Storage shelves for the Christ the King gym.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â December 2013
Knowles, John
Troop: 412
Eagle Project:Â Replacing three rundown compost wire bins at the Holy Cross Lutheran Church garden on Midway Road by building a new wooden three-bin compost system.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â March 4, 2017
Lengyel, Alex
Troop: 412
Eagle Project: At The Promise House (non-profit) he built six, eight feet tall and four foot wide, cabinets for office supplies in the main office in order to make in a closet – transformed the closet into a food pantry so the organization on managing the food supply and who was consuming it – also conducted a canned food drive through my troop in order to replenish some of the goods.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â February 18, 2017
Mancillas, Steven
Troop: 42
Eagle Project:Â Eagle Project: 1) Constructing shelving for CPS Night Response Center (where they are kids when they are removed from a dangerous home) 2) Conducting a School Supply Drive for Community Partners of Dallas (Helps CPS with Child Supplies) 3) Cash Donation for Community Partners of Dallas through Donations from Drive.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â November 18, 2015
Nolan, John
Troop: 412
Eagle Project:Â replacing three rundown compost wire bins at the Holy Cross Lutheran Church garden on Midway Road by building a new wooden three bin compost system.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â March 4, 2017
I feel like scouting has impacted me in many ways, leadership would be the most prominent quality that I feel I’ve developed in my years of scouting. Its put me in uncomfortable situations, and has taught me how to deal with those. In addition, my brother is a first class scout and we have been able to go on camp-outs together which has been really fun and memorable.  I admit I am one of those that kind of just got stuck after I received my Life rank. With football, clubs, homework, and all the other things high school throws at you it can get difficult. But, I’m really glad I pushed through it and finally achieved the Eagle Rank.  Obviously, replacing the compost system at my eagle site with a brand new one benefited and had an impact on the community and garden. But, it had an impact on me as well. It taught me the importance of communication, planning, teaching, and most importantly, to lead.  I am truly honored to be among those who have achieved Eagle and it is one of things that I am most proud of. It’s really a special group and its amazing how every Eagle scout can have a connection simply because they have achieved this special award. I remember at my Eagle Ceremony, Congressman Pete Sessions attended and it was really special that we could just have a conversation and talk about all our times and memories in scouting together.
Olden, Samuel
Troop: 838
Eagle Project:Â Constructed a 10’x15′ foot wooden deck for the office at the Pines Catholic Camp.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â June 2016
Small, Grant
Troop: 82
Eagle Project: Refinishing 15 large wooden doors at Cristo Rey high school in Dallas.
Stewart, Bass
Troop: 840 Coppell, TX
Eagle Project: Backpack bin and hanging rack on third level of Terry Center for students and adults to store stuff while working out so that the hallway would be clear and safe.
Date Achieved Eagle: October 5, 2016
Whitaker, Thomas
Troop: 404
Eagle Project: Building two wardrobes (dimensions: 4 ft x 6 ft x 2 ft) for my grade school’s, Prince of Peace Catholic School, Drama Department and also constructing 30 ft of built in shelving that is elevated 15 feet in the air and protruding from a brick wall.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â December 2013
Vilicic, Spencer
Troop: 570
Eagle Project:Â Designed and constructed seven sets of shelves for the attic in the gym at Brentfield Elementary, quadrupling the available storage space.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â November 9, 2015
Senior Eagles (’18)
Butler, Jared
Troop: 777
Eagle Project:Â Mapping Graves at a few cemeteries for the database BillionGraves.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â November 17, 2015
Due to the unusual nature of the project, its effect will be rather indirect– its main intent was to help maintain some of the history of the local area (I got to meet with a member of the local Historical Society (if I got that name right), some of the graves were of founding members and residents of either Sachse or Plano). It was also intended to help the families of the deceased find their loved ones/ancestors and keep track of their locations.
Feffer, Zachary
Troop: 577
Eagle Project:Â Led a group of scouts in constructing two mobile food donation bins for Catholic Charities of Dallas. These bins are used at local parishes to collect canned foods and other goods.
Date Achieved Eagle: March 25, 2015
Moreno, Jose
Troop:Â 800
Eagle Project: His project benefited the Society for Companion Animals ” a rescue group in Dallas. They rescue dogs from the streets ( mostly S Dallas) and from Kill shelters, and relocate them to no-kill shelters throughout US, or find adoptive homes for them. He built crates for over 100 dogs, collected donated items, transported crates to kennels to have dogs flown to other states.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â May 12, 2016
Theivagt, Luke
Troop: 21
Eagle Project:Â My project was to construct by hand a picnic table as well as two long players’ benches to set on each side of a sand volleyball court. This project was donated to St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Wylie, TX.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â 2014
Junior Eagles (’19)
Barraco, Charles
Troop: 82
Eagle Project:Â Refurbished a dilapidated chicken coop at Mount Saint Michael for The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity. The sisters requested that the coop be made operable and safe for the sisters to raise chickens on the property.
Date Achieved Eagle: December 5, 2016
Barraco, Joseph
Troop: 82
Eagle Project: Designed and landscaped a circle garden driveway at Mount Saint Michael for The Sisters of Our Lady of Charity.The sisters requested that the over grown garden be a cactus garden for low maintenance.
Date Achieved Eagle: December 5, 2016
Campangna, Joseph
Troop: 777
Eagle Project:Â He collected 4920 books for Scottish Rite children’s hospital.
Date Achieved Eagle: February 16, 2015
Nelson, Cole
Troop: 43
Eagle Project: Refurbished the drama room entrance of the middle school: Saint Thomas Aquinas.
Date Achieved Eagle: June 2016
Reagan, Johnathan
Troop: 43
Eagle Project: Gathered kids supplies (diapers, baby wipes, toothpaste, etc.) for Vogel Alcove.
Date Achieved Eagle: February 16, 2016
Tullis, Connor
Troop: 713
Eagle Project:Â Built a few yard sized games out of wood for the farmers branch farmers market.
Date Achieved Eagle: June 2017
Sophomore Eagles (’20)
William Florer
Troop: 82
Eagle Project: Built 10 lap boards for the Hemodialysis unit at Children’s Medical Center.
Date Achieved Eagle: May 8, 2017
Hartman, Silas
Troop: 412
Eagle Project: Took out 4 benches that were falling apart at St. Monica Catholic Church and built and installed 7 new cedar benches.
Date Achieved Eagle: September 21, 2017
*The information gathered for this article may be incomplete due to a lack of response from my email solicitations.
Nickols, William
Troop: 86
Eagle Project: Building collection boxes and a bookshelf to collect books to donate to the refugee services of Texas.
Date Achieved Eagle:Â August 2016
Scouting has opened my eyes to new possibilities and given me the leadership abilities and life skills to be successful, I was able to go to eagle pretty smoothly, but it took a bit longer than the other ranks, and my eagle project helped me realize my potential to help others and made me realize people can have a big impact with a small group.
Freshman Eagles (’21)
Power, Ethan
Troop: 838
Eagle Project: Built 2 large canoe racks, 3 kayak racks, and 2 water-log racks for The Pines Catholic Camp.
Date Achieved Eagle: June 15, 2017
Scouting has impacted my life in numerous ways, the first and foremost being the leadership training that I have received through the scouts and guiding my troop to productivity, and success as the Senior Patrol Leader. I have also had the unique opportunity to travel abroad to camps in places, it has also allowed me to strengthen my bond with nature, and I have gained appreciation for what lives around us. From my Eagle project I gained experience that I can use in the real world. There is a lot of paperwork, planning, and accountability involved, and it is similar to how the real world operates, I personally feel that I gained planning and organization skills.
