St. Henry student achieves rank of Eagle Scout, busts river bank refuse

Maura Baker

Staff Writer

An incoming junior student of St. Henry District High School, scout Sam Dirksing has achieved the rank and honor of Eagle Scout — the highest rank attainable in the organization of the Scouts BSA.

The efforts to become an Eagle Scout are lifelong, with Mr. Dirksing having entered the Boy Scouts of America in the first grade and continuing to this day. The journey culminates with an Eagle Scout project, scout-led and benefitting the community.

To Sam Dirksing, he took example from the conservation requirements needed for ranking up and turned his project into an opportunity to clean up the community’s local waterways.

He teamed up with the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) and rallied community members, family and friends for a litter cleanup along the banks of the Ohio River at Giles Conrad Park, Hebron this past October.

“I cleaned up the park and the bank of the river,” said Mr. Dirksing. “The weather was perfect, and it went great.”

In addition to the project, achieving the rank also gave Mr. Dirksing time to reflect on his achievements as a scout, and the memories therein.

“To me Eagle represents all of the hard work that I have put into scouting and all of the fun trips and memories I have made along the way and the ones yet to come,” he said, “This was accomplished by the love and support of many adults in my life and the support of my fellow scouts. Many of the rank requirements and merit badge requirements have collaborative aspects where a Scout has to teach, lead and demonstrate life skills to others. I have learned much about myself during this journey.”