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8 | July 12, 2018 | The Lockport Legend news
lockportlegend.com
Former St. Dennis student gives back to school
Jacquelyn Schlabach
Assistant Editor
Earning an Eagle badge
doesn’t just represent all the
hours that went it to receiving
it, or the work done to
help the community, it also
represents the leadership
potential the recipient has.
Chris Perez, an incoming
senior at Lockport
Township High School
and Scout member of Boys
Scout Troop 50 in Lockport,
learned a lot about himself
through his service project
that will soon give him his
Eagle badge.
“[Working toward an
Eagle badge] gives you an
opportunity, not only to help
out and give back to your
community, but it also helps
you kind of prepare for life,
kind of gets you ready for
the real world — the job
world,” Perez said. “For me,
it helps me become a better
leader, the whole Boy Scouts
program helps you become a
better leader and better person
in general, and looking
at an Eagle [badge] basically
challenges you to see how
much you’ve learned and put
it all together.”
On June 11, 13 and 20,
Perez did some landscaping
around the flagpole in
front of St. Dennis School in
Lockport, as well as around
the school’s sign. A fellow
Scout in his troop was to
take on the flagpole landscaping
for his own Eagle
badge project, but ran out
of time and material to complete
it, so Perez decided to
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St. Dennis Principal Lisa Smith (left) and Chris Perez pose for a photo after Perez landscaped at the school for his Eagle project. Photo Submitted
take on the task himself.
“I ended up taking that
part of the project, the flagpole
and the sign because I
went to St. Dennis when I
was younger,” Perez said. “I
was there from preschool all
the way to eighth grade, so
that school is like a home to
me, so I wanted to do something
for them.”
Throughout the three days,
a total of 80 hours were put
into the project. There were
17 people who helped Perez,
including troop members
and their parents. The flagpole
now has a sturdy base
made of bricks, that was previously
getting worn. The
group also planted flowers
around the school’s sign and
created a border around it of
bricks to make it stand out.
“Basically, the project
was to pretty up the sign and
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make the flagpole safer for
kids to stand up on and raise
the flag and lower it, because
originally the base for it was
really bad and it was broken
down and it was wasn’t really
safe for kids to stand up
on,” Perez said.
Over the course of a month,
Perez raised $1,025 through a
GoFundMe page he created
to help pay for the materials
he needed. He ended up donating
$173.64 from that total
to St. Dennis because he
raised more money than he
needed for the project.
“For me, most people for
Eagle badge they try and do
something for their community
and school and all that,
for me it’s the same way,”
Perez said. “I said before, St.
Dennis was a second home
to me, the school and people
there helped me to be the
Boy Scout and the person I
am today. It was kind of a
way to give back and it made
me feel like I was thanking
them for everything they’ve
done for me so it was kind
of way to say thank you to
them.”
His favorite part of the
project was seeing Principal
Lisa Smith’s reaction a week
after it was all done.
“She was very happy, and
I feel like she was just in awe
of what we had done there
for the school, so she was
pretty happy and excited I
feel,” he said.
Giving back to a place that
meant so much to Perez was
worth every hour it took to
plan the project and execute
it. There were minor bumps
in the road, such as the rainy
weather that resulted in the
project being postponed, and
modifying the plan to fix the
flagpole base. Regardless
of it all, earning his Eagle
badge is just an added bonus
to helping a school he calls
his second home.
“I feel it’s a pretty big deal
and it’s something that I can
tell the younger Scouts within
my troop to try to work for
it because it really pays off
in the long run,” Perez said.
“It’s a chance for you to see
how good of a leader you
can be.”