Amelia Bartin of Kirkwood High School
Since she started scouting, Amelia Bartin has logged more than 100 service hours, earned 24 merit badges and spent more than 70 nights camping. This summer, the Kirkwood High sophomore received her Eagle Scout award. For her project, she led Troop 313 of Des Peres in modifying electronic toys to make them adaptive for students with special needs at the Rockwood Early Childhood Center.
How did you get involved in scouting?
My older brother is a scout, so that influenced me. I joined during the pandemic because I was looking for something to do.
What is your favorite part of scouting?
I really enjoy all of the different activities we do. They are experiences that I wouldn’t get to have otherwise.
Do you have a favorite badge you earned?
At summer camp, there is a kayaking merit badge. I have that one. It was really fun because it’s such a unique experience.
Where did the idea for your Eagle Scout project come from?
One of my relatives works at the Rockwood Early Childhood Center. I really like working with kids, so I reached out to see if they had any projects they needed help with. Modifying toys to make them more accessible for students with special needs sounded interesting. It’s cool to work on a project that is going to directly impact someone and help them learn. I started just by getting donations of the toys that were needed. It was a challenge to figure out what would work best for adapting
each one.
How did it feel to achieve the Eagle Scout rank?
I feel really accomplished. I hope that it inspires the younger scouts in my troop to also achieve Eagle.
What is your favorite part of school?
I really enjoy band. I play clarinet in the marching band, Wind Ensemble and Woodwind Chamber Ensemble. I also like math and science.
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I play on the ultimate frisbee team. I also work for the Adventure Club, an after-school program at Keysor Elementary.
