Troop 600 (Oak Ridge, NC) Eagle Scout Holden Pardue is the first Scout on the autism spectrum to receive the Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award.
Read the full story at Greensboro News & Record.
Tag: Inclusion
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Troop 600 Believes Scouting is For All
WGHP shares the story of how a Troop 600 (Oak Ridge, NC) member becomes an Eagle Scout and how one family found a life-changing experience in Troop 600. The Troop is known nationally for its inclusiveness; two assistant Scoutmasters and the Scoutmaster have received the Torch of Gold Award, and the Scoutmaster has earned the Special Needs Service Award.
Watch the video on WGHP FOX8 (YouTube).
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Troop 600 Eagle Scout Shines in the Outdoor “Laboratory”
The Northwest Observer followed Troop 600 (Oak Ridge, NC) on a February 2018 backpacking trip to tell the story of Eagle Scout Evan Pardue, then a 17-year-old sophomore at Lionheart Academy.
Carrying a full pack, Evan led the troop on the 13-mile Rock Castle Gorge Trail in southern Virginia, a hike that climbs more than 1,800 feet in its first four miles over rocky, root-covered ground. When the trail got tough, he leaned on a personal motto he had picked up on an earlier trek at Philmont Scout Ranch.
Evan is on the autism spectrum, and his early days in the troop weren’t always easy. His father, assistant Scoutmaster Ben Pardue, described the moment it clicked for Evan that being part of the group meant working with it. From there, he grew into a leader.
Scoutmaster Mike Matzinger calls the outdoors the troop’s “laboratory,” the place where Scouts put what they learn at weekly meetings into practice on monthly hikes and campouts. The article also traces Troop 600’s roots: parents formed the troop in 2006 after one asked Mike to welcome a boy with autism whom other troops had turned away, and including every Scout has been part of its identity ever since.
Read the full story at the Northwest Observer.