Zanesville High School’s Alex Pinson receives Eagle Scout rank

ZANESVILLE, Ohio — A sophomore from Zanesville High School received his Eagle Scout rank today.

A ceremony was held for 16-year old Alex Pinson who has been participating in the scouts for about 10 years. Pinson says the scouts have always been a part of his life with his parents, Kevin and Amy, playing a major role in his advancement.

“So I’m getting my Eagle Scout today, and it is the highest rank in the scouting program. It’s kind of something, my dad has been a scout master for many, many years, so he’s kind of always been pushing me to do that. Officially I’ve been in scouts for 10 or so years. I started in first grade and then my mom was the den chief for a while, and then I moved on in fifth grade to boy scouts where my dad was the Scout Master,” explained Pinson.

During his time with the scouts, Alex attended the BSA’s Florida Sea Base as well as the 2013 National Scout Jamboree in West Virginia. He is participating in a trip to the Northern Tier Canoe Base in Minnesota this summer in addition to this role with the Boy Scouts’ National Honor Society.

While Alex was only required to earn 21 merit badges to reach his Eagle Rank, Alex has earned 40 badges, each displaying a different skill or achievement. He built three benches and an information box for Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, which charters his current scout Troop 128, for his service project.

He hopes that other scouts in his troop will follow in his footsteps, but Pinson says he’s already learned valuable life skills that will benefit him in the future.

“So in Troop 128, we have I want to say 30 to 40 members. I’ve learned a lot in my time in scouts, you know, about the outdoors, and you learn to love just being outside, and spending time. And you also get a sense of worth ethic and it’s just a lot of fun,” explained Pinson.

Next year Pinson is going to be participating in a program called “Pathways to Engineering” at Zane State College, and after high school he hopes to earn a degree in computer engineering.