Odenton's Newest Eagle Scout an Engineering Whiz

Mark Fiorina became Odenton’s most recent Eagle Scout during a Court of Honor ceremony this week.

The assistant senior patrol leader from Troop 769 earned the Boy Scouts of America's top honor after completing a service project that included the installation of native plants and trees near the entrance to Arundel Middle School.

Fiorina, a 10th-grader at Arundel High School has earned 24 merit badges, and hopes to earn more to add the prestigious bronze, silver and gold palms to his Eagle award.

Fiorina said he became interested in finding plants indigenous to Maryland during one of the many camping trips he’s been on with the Boy Scouts.

“I wanted to use the native plants because you don’t see that many in Maryland,” he said. “They are kind of hard to find, actually. So I thought it would be a better challenge and also better for the environment.”

The service project also included the removal of two large bushes and other landscaping work. Fiorina also put together a book about the native plants and donated it to the school library.

Fiorina is involved in many activities outside of scouting, including the Arundel High marching band and concert band, where he is a percussionist. He’s also involved in the MESA Club, a group for students interested in math and science.

In January, Fiorina placed first out of 160 contestants in a wood bridge building competition held at the Baltimore Museum of Industry. He said he’d like to study civil engineering and perhaps design bridges as a career.

Fiorina said he’d like to continue with scouting to help younger boys get the most from their experience.

“It’s great life experience, and it builds character and leadership responsibilities,” he said of scouting. “I definitely want to stay involved in my troop because I can pass my knowledge on to the younger boys who are coming in. I can be a very good leader to them.”

Odenton Patch congratulates Mark Fiorina for being this week's "Whiz Kid" honoree.