Life Scout Harrison M. Smith of Troop 913 has finished his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project\u2014a mural painted on the tennis practice wall of the American Memorial Park.<\/p>\n
Smith, a sophomore at the Saipan International School, presented the mural depicting the island\u2019s abundant and precious coral reef, in a ceremony on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The project\u2019s completion signals the culmination of an Eagle Scout candidate\u2019s leadership training to attain the highest rank in the Boy Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America.<\/p>\n
Smith was joined by CNMI Boy Scouts island director Cal Reyes, Troop 913 scout master Val Welsh, and other scouts in presenting the mural to Park Ranger Nancy Kelchner of the National Park Services.<\/p>\n
He also presented certificates of appreciation to Kelchner and his major sponsors: Ace Hardware and Sherwin Williams, which helped him accomplish his project through in-kind donations.<\/p>\n
Two gallons of primer, two gallons of sealant, and 38 quarts of paint were used to complete the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a long process but I\u2019m glad that\u2019s finally over because I want everybody to be able to see this,\u201d said the son of F. Matthew and Christina Smith.<\/p>\n
The younger Smith said it took about a week to complete the mural. He said the National Park Services power washed the wall and brought in scaffolding for the 26 community members who helped paint the wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe primed it, we put up the black lines, we painted the colors, and we sealed it,\u201d he recounted.<\/p>\n
Smith, 16, disclosed that the final painting slightly deviated from his original design. These small changes, he said, include the additional dolphin, the different colors of the coral, and the small island in the corner.<\/p>\n
For Smith, the best part of the project was painting the turtle, which he described as \u201creally fun.\u201d The most challenging, he noted, was taking the design and putting it on the actual wall.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to get the proportions correct. If you made something too big, then nothing else would fit,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
Smith believes the mural would mean a lot to the community because of the message it puts across. \u201cI just want them to be able to think about how the reef is part of our way of living. If we destroy the reef, our island isn\u2019t going to be as beautiful,\u201d he told Saipan Tribune.<\/p>\n
Kelchner, in an interview, said the project turned out to be an excellent educational tool.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot only has a student and boy scout originated the idea but he also planned the project and made sure that the project came to fruition. That\u2019s a lot for a teenager,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Kelchner added that the mural sends two messages: to protect the health of the island\u2019s coral reef and not to underestimate the ideas of young minds.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt goes to show that young folks have great potential. Their ideas shouldn\u2019t be discounted by adults. They should be heard,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Smith urged other scouts to do something they love to do when coming up with their own Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project, the way he did.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re doing something you don\u2019t like, then you\u2019re not going to be as enthusiastic about it\u2026 But if you\u2019re doing something you like, then you\u2019ll have more fun doing it and you\u2019ll be able to like your actual project more,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Life Scout Harrison M. Smith of Troop 913 has finished his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project\u2014a mural painted on the tennis practice wall of the American Memorial Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-153048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}