Eagle Spotlight: Jack Belanger

Jack+Belanger+17+stands+with+his+Eagle+Project+at+Nichols+Field

Courtesy: Jack Belanger

Jack Belanger ’17 stands with his Eagle Project at Nichols Field

Colton Mailloux, Staff Writer

Another Hollis Brookline student is getting his wings. After finishing his Eagle project and board of review, Jack Belanger ‘17 is now in the home stretch of his Boy Scout career. All that is left to do is have the Eagle Ceremony.

Belanger’s Eagle project was to build recycling units for Nichols Field. He built two units, each consisting of bins for plastic and cans, along with the original trash cans. Belanger built the units out of special outdoor wood with a sturdy design. This would make it possible to stand strong for many years before needing maintenance. Belanger said “There were only trash cans there,” and he wanted to help the environment by implementing a recycling system near the baseball diamond.

“My interest stemmed from Nate [Corsetti ‘17] and Jeremiah [Jacobs ‘17] telling me to join the Scouts,” the troupe had monthly pizza parties, which helped persuade elementary-school aged Belanger. He started as a Wolf in Cub Scouts in third grade, and rose through the ranks into Boy Scouts. His favorite trip was visiting Glacier National Park in Montana. “The landscape is very different from New Hampshire, Belanger commented. “You get to see so much wildlife up close in a whole different terrain. A whole new adventure, far away, sometimes by yourself, a complete learning experience of nature.”

Jack is awaiting his ceremony to become an official Eagle.“I’m waiting to do it with my friends, Ben [Thyng ‘17] and Kyle [Swanson (Bishop Guertin) ‘17],” Jack said. He says that it means more to him to become an Eagle with his friends, who have been with him through his whole Boy Scout experience. If everyone passes their board of review, they all plan to have their ceremony sometime this May.