2018 Eagle Scout Project of the Year: He built a fully accessible musical playground
For Nathan Fain, the toughest part of completing his Eagle Scout project wasn’t building an innovative musical playground or making sure it was fully accessible for students with physical or mental challenges.
And it wasn’t raising $40,000 for the project or leading 19 fellow teenagers who helped him complete the work.
For Nathan Fain, the hardest part was telling a bunch of grown-ups what to do. Grown-ups who are professionals in their field, no less.
“It became pretty difficult to step in and say what I needed to say and get my two cents in so I get the job done right,” Nathan says. “I just had to overcome it and let them think whatever they thought of me but get the job done right anyway.”
He did just that, and the result is a resounding success.
There are more than 50,000 Eagle Scout service projects completed each year, but only one is deemed the Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year.
For 2018, that one was the work of Nathan Fain. Nathan, an Eagle Scout in Troop 326 of LaGrange, Ga., won the 2018 Glenn A. and Melinda W. Adams National Eagle Scout Service Project of the Year Award.
Learn more about this and other National Eagle Scout Association scholarships at NESA.org.
Behind the scenes
Nathan secured $40,000 in donations, including equipment and cash. Some 50 businesses pitched in with money or materials.
With everything ready, Nathan got to work on the playground at Lafayette Christian School in LaGrange.
Like all Eagle Scouts, Nathan didn’t do his project alone. He led more than 100 volunteers who collectively provided 1,254 hours of service.
The name of the project — LCS Joyful Noise — comes from Psalm 98:4, which reads “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise.”
Dale Jackson is co-founder of LCS Discovery Cottage, a program at the school that helps students with learning differences. His students will benefit from Nathan’s project.
In his role, Jackson often is approached by people who want to raise money for the school but don’t know where to start.
Not so when Nathan showed up.
“He simply sat down for 30, 40 minutes, I gave him advice, and then he’s gone,” Jackson says. “And he did it.”
Watch this
To see Nathan’s playground in action and hear more from this terrific young man, watch this video:
2018 Eagle Scout Project of the Year: He built a fully accessible musical playground