Boy Scout Troop 230, chartered by Saint Ignatius Catholic Church in Yardley, proudly participated in a Court of Honor Celebration last month for an Eagle Scout at Middletown Friends Meetinghouse in Langhorne. Since the troop’s inception, it has supported over 150 Eagle Scouts.
For Christopher Mitchell, Troop 230’s newly ranked Eagle Scout, friendships, experiences that made him step outside of his comfort zone, and tenacity defined his time in Scouting.
A Boy Scout must achieve the rank of Eagle Scout before he turns 18. Chris joined Troop 230 in the winter of 2022 trying to make up for time lost during the pandemic and racing against the clock of an upcoming birthday. He had to work efficiently and quickly if he wanted to earn the Eagle rank.
He fully committed himself to Scouting to complete the badges, take on the leadership roles, and do the work needed to rank up. Chris has served as Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, and Senior Patrol Leader through his time in Boy Scouts.
He earned a total of thirty-one merit badges, exceeding the twenty-one required to achieve Eagle rank.
Chris began his Scouting journey in the third grade as a Cub Scout at the Penn Ryn School. When it came time to choose a beneficiary for his Eagle Scout project, Chris reached out to Snipes Farm in Morrisville.
Snipes Farm and Education Center is a non-profit organization with the mission to model and teach sustainable farming, while building community and reconnecting people to the land.
Chris had a full circle moment during his project as he had known the farm from being a camper as a young kid and a Counselor-in-training (CIT) and volunteer during his teen years.
Completing a project to benefit Snipes was a meaningful way for Chris to give back to a place that had left a deep impact on his upbringing. For his Eagle Scout project, Chris built five portable A-frame stands to display directional and educational signage at the farm, donating 200 hours of volunteer labor to the community.
Chris is currently in 12th grade at Neshaminy High School. He took almost every class the school had to offer in its Technology Education Department while also attending the Immanuel German School in Huntingdon Valley on Saturdays throughout his high school career.
There he earned numerous awards including the German Embassy Award and the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) Endowed Scholarship for study abroad, which he completed in 2023.
Chris’s sustained interest in technology and engineering led him to his next destination to study electrical engineering at the University of Maryland’s A. James Clark School of Engineering, where he has been selected to receive a four-year President’s Scholarship in recognition of his academics and extracurricular activities.
How will Chris spend his summer before leaving for college? By traveling with a friend that he met in Cub Scouts.
PHOTO CAPS:
PHOTO1: Christopher with 2 of the signs he built for Snipes
PHOTO2: Christopher taking the Oath of Eagle Scout with Assistant Scoutmaster Joseph Sites
PHOTO3: Posing with Troop Scoutmaster Joshua Johnson