Mendham Troop 1 Scout builds learning center for pre-school.

Matthew Cantale, a Troop 1 Life Scout in Mendham and a sophomore at WMMHS, designed an Outdoor Learning Center for the Mendham Co-Operative Nursery School as his BSA Eagle Scout Project. Matthew initially reached out to the school in September of 2017. And after many meetings, research, and designs the project was a welcomed, an inspiring addition to the school’s curriculum. Troop 1 Scouts and Assistant Scout Masters assisted Matt over a four day period to complete construction. The Learning Center features a circle time area made up of tree stump seating, a group reading area that consists of six benches, an art class area of six painting easels, a wet sand exploration table, a weight scale and a lunch area of two picnic tables. The scouts planted a forsythia border and an entrance gate to enclose the Learning Center. As a graduate and former student of the Mendham Co-op Matt has a special connection with the school and wanted to give back. In which his goal was to create a better learning environment for the children and years to come. "Working on this project has strengthened my ability to lead, budget, negoitiate and adapt", Matt explained. "There were multiple times that I had to re-work my plans due to town rules and logistics and had to think of creative solutions. It was a great learning experience."

Monday, April 23rd was the grand opening in which the co-op students and staff got to experience the outdoor learning center that Matt created with the help of his fellow scouts of Mendham Troop 1! This project has almost doubled the classroom space for the Co-Op and now offers something that no other pre-school in the area has. "I never realized the impact of this project, until I saw the excitement on the kids faces at the grand opening", Matt stated. For more images of the outdoor classroom you can visit the Mendham Co-Op's facebook page.

Matt would like to thank his dad, for his guidance and support, his mom, for driving him around, his troop for their assistance in making the project come to life, the local businesses that gave donations and all of the individuals that gave monetary donations to his GoFundMe page which allowed him to purchase the necessary building materials. Matt's would like to acknowledge his Eagle Advisor, Barry Haines, who gave him guidance throughout the project. Lastly, he would like to thank Brianne Tuthill and Liz Madinabeitia, from the Mendham Cooperative Nursery School, for allowing him to create the learning center and who were instrumental in getting this project off the ground. "This originally started as a smaller project, but once I started planning, I wanted to add more items for the children to enjoy", Matt noted.

Matt has been an active member of Troop 1 for the past 6 years, and he is currently the Assistant Senior Patrol Leader. At WMMHS Matt participates in Marching Band, Big Band, Fencing and Service Club. He is pursuing his black belt at Isshinryu Karate. He is also looking forward to the Troop 1 Philmont Hiking Expedition in New Mexico this summer.

The following businesses contributed to Matt's project.

Wicker Basket, Mendham
Kings, Mendham
Sorrento's Pizza, Mendham

Robinson Drug and Compounding Center, Mendham

Home Depot, Succasunna

Home Depot, East Hanover
Lowes, Flanders
Shop Rite, Chester
Shop Rite, Morris Plains
Dunkin Donuts, Chester
GM Fence, East Hanover
Mendham Garden Center
WalMart, Flanders
Weis, Flanders