Sharang Phadke of Plainsboro Troop 168 has earned his Eagle Scout Award. A student at High School South, his parents are Shriram and Vinaya Phadke.
A scout for more than nine years, Phadke has been on hundreds of outdoor trips. The most notable was to the Philmont Double H High Adventure Base in New Mexico, a 100,000-acre ranch with no trails nor any established camp sites. “I spent seven days backpacking with a crew of 10 people,” he says. “We had to use GPS and maps to navigate through the ranch to our next destination.”
His Eagle Scout Project was a clothing drive for Mongolian children. “Because of the sub-zero temperatures and poor economic conditions in Mongolia, I decided to conduct a clothing drive in conjunction with an organization based in Arizona called FIRE (Flagstaff International Relief Effort),” he says. The project, which took close to two years to complete, resulted in about 750 articles of clothing and $363 being donated to Mongolian children through FIRE.
“I have learned an amazing amount about leadership, scouting, and what is important in life over the past several years through scouting,” he says.
Matthew W. Hasling, who has been involved in scouting since the first grade as a Tiger Cub in Pack 66, has earned his Eagle rank — Scout’s highest badge. Hasling earned numerous merit badges and was voted into the Order of the Arrow in 2004. Highlights of his scouting days include surviving the 120 heat at the 2005 National Jamboree, braving the frigid cold climbing Mount Washington in winter, and sailing the Florida Keys for five days at Sea Base.
For his Eagle project, Hasling led the construction of an information kiosk at the Zaitz Open Space Preserve for the Friends of West Windsor Open Space. The kiosk, the first of the improvements to the new trail area, provides a location to display information about the trails as well as FOWWOS. Hasling’s 43 volunteers worked 255 hours to complete the project.
A graduate of High School South, Hasling was active in soccer, choir, Model UN, and both the lighting and acting side of multiple theater performances. He was a member of the National Honor Society and qualified as a semi-finalist for the 2008 U.S. Physics Team. Hasling, a student at Pomona College in Southern California, is planning to major in physics.
Patrick H. Murphy, who joined Troop 40 in seventh grade, wasted no time in meeting requirements to move up the ranks to Eagle. He was voted into scouting’s honor society, the Order of the Arrow; attended summer camps at NoBeBoSco and Hawk; attended and led canoe trips, high adventure hikes, Klondike Derbies, and campouts; and served as assistant patrol leader, patrol leader, and instructor.
For his Eagle project he led a team that designed, assembled, and installed a hexagon of cedar benches to serve as outdoor classroom space at the Trenton Charter School.
A graduate of Princeton Day School, he earned varsity letters both in football and tennis. He is studying film and television at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
