Eagle Scout projects enhance SJCHS's backyard

Intermountain Catholic

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Eagle Scouts construct a patio, gazebo, sidewalk and outdoor classroom to enhance a garden in the backyard of SJCHS. IC photo/Christine Young

OGDEN — The west side of Saint Joseph Catholic High School has been landscaped as a result of four SJCHS students’ Eagle Scout projects. 

A garden was constructed in 2009 in the backyard of the school as a physics project, and in 2011 Charles Joseph from Troop 75 constructed a patio working in tandem with Jeffrey DeGrauw from Troop 344, who built a gazebo to earn their Eagle Scouts awards.

Two years later their younger brothers followed in their footsteps; Robert Joseph from Troop 461 built a sidewalk to the patio, while Aaron DeGrauw from Troop 344 created an outdoor classroom.

"The Eagle Scouts are incredible and their projects have really made the back of the school a nice place where people can go and enjoy the outdoors," said Colleen Letendre, Parent Association president.

When Charles Joseph was a sophomore and Jeffrey DeGrauw was a junior at SJCHS, the two came up with the idea during a lunch break and "it sort of snowballed from there," said Charles Joseph. "We both had Eagle Scout projects to do and talked with our scout masters; however, we thought it would be a lot easier than it was."

Joseph and DeGrauw coordinated their separate scout troops and their time and worked most of the summer on their projects. "It was a lot of work constructing the patio, which took 408 man hours, with a lot of St. Joe friends helping me," said Charles Joseph, now a freshman at North Carolina State University.

Jeffrey DeGrauw decided to build the gazebo in the back of the school because his step-grandfather works in construction, he said, adding that he helped him draw up the construction plans.

"I recruited scouts from my troop and help from Charles Joseph’s group because we worked in tandem on our projects," said Jeffrey DeGrauw, now a sophomore at the University of Utah. "I learned perseverance from this project because it took longer than we had anticipated; you have to be younger than 18 years old to receive your Eagle and I finished the week before my birthday; it took about 18 months to complete."

Robert Joseph, a SJCHS sophomore, built the brick sidewalk connecting the school cafeteria to the patio.

"After I saw what Charles and Jeffrey had done in the back of the school, I decided that it was incomplete without the sidewalk," said Robert Joseph. "To do the sidewalk, I had to rip out old bricks and dig up the ground."

Building the sidewalk, which measured 4 feet by 701 feet, was hard work, he said. "The scouts and I spent from June until the end of August completing the project. They were willing to help out and very supportive. This was the first time I had been in charge of a project, and I mostly learned how to work hard."

Aaron DeGrauw constructed a retaining wall, stairs and a setting for an outdoor classroom for his Eagle Scout project, as a way to clean up the graffiti in the area. The amphitheater-style classroom and the project is expected to be complete the weekend after Labor Day.

"A lot of students have said the classroom is awesome and a great place to eat lunch," said Aaron DeGrauw, adding that he has acquired the nickname "Bob the Builder."

About 20 scouts helped DeGrauw, and the project took about five weeks. "This has been a big achievement for me and seeing this project completed is really satisfying. Getting help from my family was a big part of the project, and getting some of the materials donated also helped us complete the project," he said.

For the past two years students have been enjoying the patio and gazebo during lunch breaks, the scout said, and the outdoor classroom will be used this year.