Oak Forest HS Student Earns Eagle Scout Rank

Few Boy Scouts attain the rank of Eagle Scout, but one Oak Forest High School Senior made the cut. Oak Forest High School Senior John Horan earned his Eagle Scout Rank .

Horan, who belongs to Troop #385 in Tinley Park, completed a project at St. Damian Church that completed his quest to become an Eagle Scout. He said, “My project was a garden around the Virgin Mary statue. We installed an oval shaped garden around the Virgin Mary and added a reflection bench for parishioners to use to reflect and pray.”

The Eagle Scout project is one of the most rigorous requirements of earning the rank of Eagle Scout. The summer before his junior year of high school, Horan had a pitch meeting to the scouting board to lay out what he would like to do and they approved.

Then the hard work began. He said, “I went to landscaping companies and negotiated prices and I also had to raise funds to pay for the garden. We set the date for the garden installation and then invited and coordinated with younger scouts to join in on building the garden.” Although the adult leaders were there to assist, it was mainly Horan and his crew of younger scouts that did all of the work.

After all of the hard work was done, Horan reflected on what he learned from the process. He said, “I learned to treat others as I want to be treated. I also learned respect and the value of working toward other life goals as well.”

Horan would like to become a scout leader later in his life and is very grateful for the support he received from his family and his troop. He said, “I couldn’t have done it without the love and support of my family and the support of my troop and leader Chuck Holup.”