Nikhil Shenoy and Justin Parratt were recently honored by Boy Scout Troop 40 for attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.
Shenoy’s desire to explore West Windsor inspired him to create a permanent orienteering course in West Windsor Community Park. The project provides scouts and other residents with an opportunity to learn basic navigation skills close to home with a map and compass.
Shenoy attended National Youth Leadership Training in 2009, the 2010 National Jamboree, where he served as Troop 135’s hometown news correspondent, and had summer camp experiences at Rodney Scout Reservation and at Camp NoBeBoSco.
A 2012 graduate of High School North, Shenoy studies electrical engineering in the honors engineering program at Rutgers University. At North he served as secretary of the school’s Model United Nations team and helped lead the team to its current seventh-ranked position nationally. As a cellist, he was co-president of North’s Philharmonic Orchestra and played in a string quartet at community events. He also played doubles for the school’s tennis team and taught strategy to less experienced doubles players.
Shenoy, the son of Ramchandra and Ranjana Shenoy, began his scouting career as a Tiger Cub in West Windsor Pack 40. After achieving the Arrow of Light award in 2005, he bridged into Boy Scout Troop 40. He held several leadership posts in Troop 40, including troop guide, scribe, assistant patrol leader, and assistant senior patrol leader.
“Scouting gave me the chance to hike, sail, shoot, climb, and build,” says Shenoy. “But I’m most thankful for the opportunities that Scouting gave me to build my character, grow as a person, and experience being a leader.”
Justin Parratt’s project focused on building homes for bats in West Windsor Community Park. Under the guidance of Scoutmaster Martin Rexroad and Assistant Scoutmaster Tim Reil, and with the help of more than 50 adult and youth volunteers, he led the building and installation of six four-chamber nursery houses each capable of holding 300 bats. The project took several months and nearly 400 hours of volunteer work.
He chose this project because bats are suffering from a loss of their natural habitat and an outbreak of white nose syndrome, which is deadly. “Bats are one of mankind’s best friends because their diet includes mosquitoes and insects that destroy crops,” says Parratt. “We learned a lot, had some fun, and helped our community and the environment in the process.”
Parratt joined Pack 66 in third grade and achieved his Arrow of Light award in 2007. Parratt completed National Youth Leadership Training in 2010 and attained the Order of the Arrow in 2011. He has served as Troop 40’s quartermaster, webmaster, scribe, and assistant senior patrol leader, and now serves as a junior assistant scoutmaster. He attended Camp NoBeBoSco for more than six years and advanced to counselor, where he led the camp’s first class adventure, teaching and guiding younger scouts and helping them advance through the ranks.
The son of Susan and Steffen Parratt, he is a junior at the Lawrenceville School, where he is active in sports, music, theater, and several clubs. He competes individually in regional fencing tournaments and as a member of the school’s varsity fencing team. He co-leads Impulse, the school’s improvisational comedy group, performs in plays and musicals, and plays percussion in the Jazz Ensemble and the Miles Davis Combo. Parratt was admitted into the McClellan Society for community service. A participant in the Lawrenceville Programming Society, he and a colleague placed first in the Rowan University Programming Competition.
#b#Five Webelos Bridge to Boy Scouts#/b#
Five Webelos from Cub Scouts Pack 759 bridged into Boy Scouts during an Arrow of Light ceremony on March 22 at Queenship of Mary Church. The new scouts, Justin Lockwood, Olakemfa Porbeni, Sai Thupakula, Andrew SantaMaria, and Joshua Goldhammer, are now members of Boy Scout Troop 759.
The annual Blue and Gold banquet for Cub Scouts Pack 759 was held February 23 at Town Center Elementary School. The banquet included the rank graduation ceremony for members of the pack.
Cub scouting begins with the rank of Tiger Cubs for first grade students, who participate in all activities and projects with their parents as partners. Second and third grade students, ranked as Wolf and Bear Cubs, respectively, work with their families and their dens. Students in fourth and fifth grades are ranked as Webelos, who prepare to become Boy Scouts.
For information about joining Cub Scouts call Mike Welborn at 917-270-3282 or Keiyer Gill at 609-799-3756 or E-mail members@cubpack759.org.
