Glen Ellyn High School Students Earn Eagle Scout Rank

Two Glen Ellyn high school students were awarded the rank of Eagle Scout earlier this month.

A celebration ceremony was held on Jan. 8 at Hope Presbyterian Church in Wheaton for the Eagle Scout recipients: Frank Iacopelli, a junior at Glenbard South, and Michael Chlapecka, a senior at Glenbard South, who are both part of Boy Scout Troop 303 in Wheaton.

They were awarded their badges in a well-attended ceremony. Frank and Michael started out in Cub Scouts Pack 55 at Arbor View Elementary School in Glen Ellyn when they were in 2nd grade.

Frank’s Den leader George Murray, Michael’s Den leader Ellen Mitchell and the Cubmaster Brad Mitchell spoke at the Eagle ceremony and talked about Frank and Michael’s early scouting experiences.

Only four percent of Boy Scouts are granted this rank after a lengthy review process. The requirements necessary to achieve this rank take years to fulfill.

Since its founding, the Eagle Scout rank has been earned by more than two million young men. Requirements include earning at least 21 merit badges as well as planning an Eagle Project to benefit the community. There is a great deal of work to prepare, obtain approval and implement a successful Eagle Project, according to a news release.

Frank chose to have a coordinated food drive with Arbor View Elementary School and worked closely with his former teacher, Morgan Aiello. Frank collected enough food to fill a pickup truck 3 times for deliveries to the Glen Ellyn Food Pantry.

Michael chose SCARCE to be the beneficiary of his Eagle Project. Michael worked within his school and community as well as family and friends to secure more than 4,500 books and tons of crayons donated to SCARCE, according to the news release.