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8/3/2019 Troop Article
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Pegaus Troop 911 by Nancy Fries
FEATURE
Pegasus graduates boast all kinds of impressive
accomplishments as they progress through high school:
varsity athlete, class president, accomplished musician,
award-winning artist, and Eagle Scout.
the puzzled look or laugh a little bit, said Christopher Jusuf 07
at his Eagle Court of Honor last fall. A century after the founding
of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), many question its relevance
in todays fast-paced, technology-driven society. But Pegasus
scouting an enriching addition to their modern-day lives.
Boy Scouts of America was founded during a time when it
a Hamilton College freshman. During [that] time, boys were
tasked not only with their schoolwork, but also with becoming
whole menmen who gained knowledge of things not by
studying about them in a book or on a TV screen, but actually by
going out and doing them men of character who know how
to handle themselves and work with their team men who are
not afraid to leave the comfort of paved roads and air-conditione
rooms and, men who are stewards of the environment that
theyve been blessed with.
These principles upon which the BSA was founded have
largely been forgotten outside of scouting, Jusuf said. Boys
gave up their tents and their maps and their buddies around
a past generation that is dying out, a generation of boys and
men who were instilled with initiative and independence. Who
understood the world on a level that can only be reached by
going out and embracing it.
The scouts of Pegasus Troop 911 spend plenty of time
reaching out to the world. They participate in exciting outdoor
adventures, such as backpacking, rafting, rock climbing, and
the annual favorite, kayaking on the Colorado River. They
perform community service activities, may attend summer camp
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weekend of competition between dozens of local troops. Despite
its small size, the troop consistently wins awards. Troop 911
offers Pegasus boys a wholly unique scouting experience, one
that wouldnt exist if not for a bold group of parents with a
zealous idea.
THE ORIGINS OF TROOP 911
Troop 911 was formed in 2001, when a tight-knit group of Pegasus
At the time, Pegasus offered Pack 911 for the younger boys, but no
Boy Scout troop for grades six and up. Boys would either split up
and join their local troops or quit scouting altogether.
The core group, including my son, wanted to stay on and
not split into different troops, said Michael Shulman, father of
Bryant 04. Shulman and several other parents hatched a plan to
keep their scouts together by forming their own troop. Despite
resistance from the BSA, which typically doesnt charter new
took no for an answer, said Shulman, who became the troops
of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, its number is coincidental.)
Ten years after its founding, Troop 911 includes current
Pegasus students and graduates now in high school and college.
Like the founding group of scouts, the newest sixth graders
comprise a remarkably cohesive group, most of who have been
larger, more established troops outside Pegasus, but all decided
to stay with Troop 911. The Pegasus troop is a great way for the
boys to be together since they dont necessarily l ive in the same
neighborhoods, said Amy Weiss, mother of Cameron 14.
Pegasus is a challenging school and all the boys have other
outside interests, Shulman said in a past interview with Eagle
Scout Erik Ringman 05. The Pegasus boys are not only able
Eagle Scout Kevin Kassel
Kevin Kassel 09
Kevin develop his outdoor skills and appreciation
and animals especially after his third grade
for the environment has grown immensely since
an easy choice to help beautify The Pegasus
Tristania Trees along the schools new dismissal
deforestation and plant native trees in damaged
at Pegasus as it prepared him to excel in high
and motivation that contributed to the success
that he enjoys today:
me a sense of accomplishment and insight on how
PEGASUS MAGAZINE
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to continue scouting together, even as they leave for different
high schools, they also can balance the multiple demands of
academics, sports, and other activities by being in a troop that
accommodates and encourages those commitments. A Pegasus
troop allowed us to structure our activities around the boys
school schedule, said founding parent Harty Beitman, whose son
been able to make it to Eagle without the Pegasus troop.
To date, twenty-one Troop 911 scouts have achieved the
percent of scouts nationwide, requires at least twenty-one merit
and three different citizenship badges. The scout must also
plan, organize, and lead an extensive service project. Recent
projects by Troop 911 scouts include planting trees on the
Pegasus campus; installing fencing at Crystal Cove State Park;
building bat boxes and a bench on the Upper Newport Bay; andrenovating the baseball dugout at Newport Harbor High School.
There is nothing quite like an Eagle Scout project in terms of
learning how to plan a project, enlisting people to help you, and
managing them in an organized fashion to complete the project
(see sidebar).
AN ExTENSION OF THEIR PEGASUS EDUCATION
As a boy-led troop, Troop 911 depends on its older scouts to
lead and teach the younger ones. As a small troop, it offers its
members multiple leadership opportunities. Through their
activities, merit badges, troop responsibilities and Eagle
projects, scouts learn collaborative leadership, critical thinking,
responsible citizenship, and environmental consciousness
this respect, scouting becomes an extension of the boys gifted
education. Scouting will give Cameron a variety of outdoor
gets him out in the fresh air and learning beyond the classroom.
Through their experiences, Troop 911 scouts develop theirindividual giftsphysical, emotional, and intellectual. By getting
out and reaching the world, they further their future potential to
touch an even larger world. Even though Boy Scouting may seem
like an outdated organization, Jusuf concluded, we need it more
today than ever because no other organization can form the boys
of today into the men we need for tomorrow.
Nancy Fries is the mother of Eric (14) and Ian (10), a current Eagle Scout candidate.Her husband Joe is an Assistant Scoutmaster for Troop 911. Contact: [email protected]
Eagle Scout Cooper Hendri
Cooper Hendri
One of the many requirements to earn this award
help of over sixty volunteers who completed three
over 200 miles backpacked including an 80-mile
Trans-Sierra trek this summer where he summited
He attributes his success in the
the guidance and discipline he has learned
throughout his many years at Pegasus:
Developing and installing my
taught me a lot about myself and how to work with
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* Founding members of Troop 911
Q & A TROOP 911 EAGLE SCOUT
Eric is a freshman at Stanford
University. The recipient of Sage HillHigh Schools Balance Award, Eric is
an accomplished pianist, co-founded
Sage Hills jazz ensemble, and
played Varsity water polo, baseball,
swimming, and soccer.
Q: What are some of your fondest
scouting memories?
Falling out of the raft on the Kern River
in the middle of one of the rapids and
one of the rocks at the side of the
tight-knit troop seven boys that
were in my grade at Pegasus became
Q: How has scouting contributed to
your other successes, both academic
and extracurricular?
Scouting has made me a better
Scouting had given me the ability to
teach younger teammates and make
Q: What are some of the ways
scouting has shaped the person
youve become?
Scouting taught us to take
advantage of every opportunity to
the Colorado River and whitewater
experience would be a once-in-
trips resulted in some of my favorite
every meeting we were reminded of
our leaders urged us to become men
Q: How do you think the skills you
learned through scouting will help
you achieve your goals?
and inspire students the way my
is essentially a chain of boys passing
down lessons to younger boys through
Scouting has also improved my
project in terms of learning how to
feet of trail keeper fence at Crystal
* 04 Claremont McKenna College
*
*
Joey Puishys*
*
Zach Rabosky*
* 04 Orange Coast College
Zak Cole*
of Chicago
PEGASUS MAGAZINE