SPOKANE, Wash. –Some students at Gonzaga Preparatory school are wearing more than their gowns to graduation.
Thirteen of them are wearing red, white and blue chords on their collars.
They’re graduating with the honor of being Eagle Scouts.
The school typically doesn’t allow students to wear cords from outside organizations, but it made an exception for the class of 2019.
Those who are a part of the Boy Scouts know how much work goes into achieving the title of an Eagle Scout, from working up the ranks to earning badges and completing a service project.
In 2018, only about six percent of boy scouts became Eagle Scouts, according to the Boy Scouts Scouting Magazine. So it’s not often to find a graduating class with this many Eagle Scouts in one graduating class.
“It’s great to see the numbers as high as they are,” said Matthew Holden, one of the graduating Eagle Scouts.
Most of the students are in different troops, so they finished their requirements individually.
“We’ve been working toward this for the past four years and for our whole (lives). To have the accomplishment of being an Eagle Scout and graduating is just a big weekend for us,” said Trevor Holt, another one of the scouts.
It’s a commitment that started long before these students entered high school.
Richard Brown said he’s always had school and boy scouts on his mind. Now he’s getting his diploma, and he’s also received all 137 merit badges.
“It was a lifetime goal of mine,” he said. “Ever since I was a little kid, I asked my scout master if I could do it, and he said, ‘Maybe.’ I said, ‘I’m going to do it.”
His determination took him places around the US as he traveled to complete the requirements to get all of the badges.
“We went to Arizona just to get a badge,” he said.
He said becoming an Eagle Scout, graduating high school and receiving all of the merit badges made for a memorable weekend.
“It’s like I’m overwhelmed with all of these goals that I’ve accomplished, and it feels really good,” he said.