Anishka Srikanth, NNHS sophomore and Life Scout of Troop 209 Waban, placed a pencil case with marker, highlighter, and pencils into a backpack. She zipped it tight and put it into a box with four others like it. “Done.” By Saturday’s end, 200 such lime-green school bags would be complete.
Anishka started this backpack assembly project about three months ago as her Eagle Scout project. According to the Life Scout, it’s for a good cause. “I found this organization called School on Wheels, and they provide school supplies to homeless kids in poorer communities. As part of my Eagle Project, I wanted to do something with them.”
According to official MA Coalition for the Homeless statistics, about 2,300 kids are currently out of a home in Massachusetts. In Anishka’s vision, the backpacks will help make their lives just a little bit easier. “It’ll help save their families some money when the kids go to school,” she said.
The tools and stationery that folks between homes would otherwise have had to buy are given to them completely free.
In any case, said Anishka’s mother and Scoutmaster of Troop 209G, Sangeet Srikanth, it was “an eyeopener” just how many kids and families in Massachusetts need that kind of help. “First and second grade [that’s the age group the backpacks are meant for] is when schooling starts, and to not have access to materials at that age is very damaging.”
Anishka’s mother, who teaches chemistry at Newton North High School, noted that education or the lack thereof can be “life-changing.” But it wasn’t her that organized the project, and although she helped out and approved the whole idea, the process was almost entirely driven by Anishka and other scouts.
According to Anishka, the project required creating a plan and raising the money from the local community to buy 200 backpacks, then assembling the backpacks together with the whole troop.
The result? 200 happy first graders this fall, and a sense of accomplishment and a new Eagle badge for Anishka.
Although Eagle projects are organized by Scouts on their own, said Troop 209B Scoutmaster and 209G assistant Scoutmaster Tim McAllister, they bring together the troop and the entire community.
“Everybody helps with this. That’s the message here,” he said. “As a Scoutmaster, I obviously came here and helped with this and that along the way, but it’s a group of people that are all helping out.”
In this case, at least 20-30 people helped to put together the backpacks, including scouts, troop chaperones, and volunteers – among them, several scouts that will coordinate new Eagle projects in the near future.
Owen Sera, a Junior at NSHS and a Life Scout in Troop 209, is one such scout. His plan involves building signage in Cold Spring Park. He said that he’s doing it because he saw an opportunity for improvement while hiking there and decided to take action.
His fellow scout, Oliver Weiss, Tenderfoot, is a few ranks away from starting plans for his own project, but he said that Anishka’s project may inspire him when it comes his time. “I think this project was a great success, and it was great to just help out,” he said. “I can definitely see lessons learned.”
Weiss noted that Eagle Scout Projects as a whole can work wonders in communities, “whether it’s a small town, a city, or even a state,” and he thanked the Boy Scouts organization for helping plenty of young people find all sorts of future opportunities.
Anishka, too, had good things to say about Scouting. “It’s made me a better leader and taught me how to go for what I want – that’s a very valuable lesson, I think.” Becoming an Eagle Scout, said Anishka, gives scouts many useful qualities that they’ll keep for the rest of their lives.
“It also involves a lot of camping,” she said.
Those wanting to join Troop 209 should contact Sangeet Srikanth at sangy.sai@gmail.com.
Andrey Sankanich is a sophomore at Newton North High School.
