Two Vicksburg teens have earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

On March 25, the Court of Honor by Troop 102 will recognize Eagle Scouts Michael Green and David Wallace. A ceremony to recognize the achievement will be held in the amphitheater and pavilion at Crossway Church.

Becoming an Eagle Scout takes hard work and dedication. In addition to earning 21 merit badges and holding leadership roles within the troop, scouts must carry out an Eagle service project.

Sally Green, Michael’s mother, said that included having the troop help in the final phase.

“This teaches the prospective Eagle Scout how to plan and manage the other boys as they help,” Sally Green said. “The Eagle Scout also has to network with other adults to get permission and guidance to make their project viable, as well as getting a final review by the local adult committee that oversees Eagle Scout awards.”

For his project, Michael Green built a “Bee Box” for ERDC’s pollination garden. The teen said he decided on it after talking with one of his troop leaders.

A Bee Box, also referred to as a “bee hotel,” Green said, houses solitary bees – different from honeybees that live in a hive. Solitary bees, he said, each have their own little room, thus a hotel room, and they spend most of their time pollinating.

“We had built a pollination garden out at ERDC a few years back, and he (troop leader) had suggested I could build a Bee Box to help with the pollination garden,” said Green, who is a senior at River City Early College.

Although it did not taken long to physically assemble the Bee Box, Green said the process leading up to its construction was time consuming.

“Getting the ideas and the paperwork done and the research took a few weeks,” he said. “I had to find out the proper way to drill the holes and what materials should be used.”

To demonstrate his leadership skills, Green had a few of the younger scouts come over one weekend to help.

“I divided up the jobs by assigning them different roles and had some helping with the assembly of the box itself and I had some drilling holes for the little houses the bees would be in,” Green said.  “I let them (the younger scouts) do a good bit of the work while I was managing it,” he said.

Wallace, who is a senior at St. Aloysius High School, built a memory garden at his school for his Eagle service project. He said he wanted to do something for his school, as well as honor the memory of former student Carson Kurtz. Kurtz died in an ATV wreck in June 2019.

“I chose to do my Eagle Project at Saint Aloysius because I wanted to give something back to my school after going there for so long,” Wallace said.

The garden is located near the front of the school, and Wallace said in an effort to complete it in a reasonable time he enlisted help from some of the younger scouts in the troop.

“I requested the help of my fellow scouts and they assisted me in clearing the previous garden, digging out stumps, planting the tree, and spreading mulch,” he said.

Wallace said the scouts worked enthusiastically until the project was completed.

“They all helped me a great deal, and I could not have done the project without them,” he said.

Troop 102 is sponsored by First Presbyterian Church.

In early February, according to the Andrew Jackson Council of the Boy Scouts of America, 13 local teens were recognized at the Country Club of Jackson for having achieved the rank of Eagle Scout during the year 2022.

Included were Hampton Derivaux, William Gannon, Jackson Holden and Kamron Kristofor Tower – Troop 7; Nathen Scott Smith and James White – Troop 104; Wesley Garrett Cowan – Troop 638; and Joshua Craig, Johnny Henderson III, Peter Lowe, Jr. and Matthew Malone – Troop 221.