Claridge Boy Scout troop has a flock of Eagles

Eagle is the highest rank a Boy Scout can achieve, and the culmination is a community service project in which the Scout takes the lead in organizing, gathering materials and a work crew, and executing his vision.

At Troop 239 in Penn Township’s Claridge neighborhood, this summer produced a whole flock of Eagles.

Zach Posner, Aidan Kelly, Nathaniel Homan, Paul Mills and Dominick Morelli completed their Eagle projects over the summer.

“That doesn’t usually happen in just one troop,” said Mills, 15, a junior at Penn-­Trafford High School.

Prospective Eagle scouts must manage all aspects of their project, from soliciting money and materials to heading up a work crew of fellow Scouts.

• Mills’ project was to construct raised planter beds for residents at Redstone Highlands in Greensburg. It was particularly poignant for him because Redstone is the senior community where his grand­father, Peter Regal, lived before his death in July.

“It was really emotional for me, and it was really nice to be able to do that for him,” Mills said.

• Posner, 15, took the lead in building a wildlife observation deck at the Morosini Reserve in Murrysville overlooking one of the reserve’s largest meadows.

“I really learned the value of teamwork,” he said. “A lot of times in school, I’d do a lot more work on my own or want to put my own stamp on a group project, but I learned to be able to lean on other people and ask for help.”

• Kelly also undertook a project at the reserve, an 8-by-10-foot handicap-accessible observation deck along the property’s universal pedestrian trail.

• Morelli’s project was to build nine metal shelving units to help the Backpacks-to-Go program in the Penn-Trafford School District better organize its supplies and donations.

• Homan, 17, a junior at Jeannette High School, built 10 cat and dog beds using discarded tires as a frame.

“I ended up having to change the design three different times when I couldn’t get the materials I wanted,” he said. “I learned a lot about writing a good letter, and how to communicate with people in the business world.”

The Eagle project require Scouts to use most if not all of the lessons they’ve learned over the years as they went from Cubs to Tigers, to Boy Scouts and beyond.

“You learn that not everything comes easy,” Mills said. “It’s a lot of hard work and dedication, and you can look back and really appreciate how you got there.”