Born a Leader

About a year ago, Clay joined the Boy Scouts and started on an adventure that has been incredible for him. We started out in a troop that was brand new and not going very well, and after a couple of months transferred to Troop 211. With this troop, Clay has flourished and grown into quiet a leader. In less than a year he has completed scout, tenderfoot, 2nd class, and 1st class ranks. He is currently at "star" rank and will be eligible for "Life" in July....after that, its on to EAGLE! During the last eight months, he has finished 15 merit badges, including 14 that are Eagle requirement (there are a total of 22 Eagle required merit badges). By the end of February, he will have finished 3 more required Eagle merit badges through the BSA-sponsored Merit Badge College. In addition to working hard on all of these, he serves as a Den Chief for a Tiger Cub Den (this is the first grader program) and as Patrol Leader for the "Flaming Arrow" patrol. What does that mean? It means he is the elected leader of a group of 6-8 boys (he was elected last August and serves a six month term.)

Last night were troop and patrol six month elections, well, Clay was elected "SENIOR PATROL LEADER"!!!!!!!! This is an elected honor for rank-qualifying scouts! Clay was one of four boys nominated. This means that he is essentially the "supervisor" of the troop (both patrols), handles "troop stuff" (we can't wait to see what that means!) and serves as an example of the Boy Scout creed to the others. He is VERY excited about this opportunity and I know that he will continue to grow and learn more skills that will be invaluable to him throughout his life.

We are so proud of you and your accomplishments, Clay! He is such a good kid! Not to brag (but I am his mom and I am proud of him!) He has scouts, church, good grades at school, he plays trumpet in the band, in the drama club at school, a member of Kids for Christ, he reads like crazy ---- he's always busy, but it seems that he does everything well, giving it his best, and with such qualities of a leader. At this rate, Clay, you can be ANYTHING you want to be!