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Experimenting

Scout Damien-Michael Jacques, of Troop 21, Putnam conducts an experiment to create acid rain, during the recent science, technology, engineering and mathematics day held for Scouts at the U. S. Coast Guard Academy in New London. More than 120 Scouts from five states attended the annual event. Photo by John D. Ryan

 

 

NEW LONDON — All dreams have to start somewhere. For some Boy Scouts, maybe at least a dream or two started recently at the U. S. Coast Guard Academy. The academy, in cooperation with the Connecticut Rivers Council of the Boy Scouts of America, hosted a science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) merit badge program for more than 120 Scouts from five states.

“Science and history are my best subjects, so this was really good,” said Troop 21 Scout Damien-Michael Jacques, of Putnam. “The chemistry lab was cool.”

Chemistry was just one of the subjects on offer. In addition to chemistry, cadets and academy instructors spent Saturday, Nov. 19, teaching hands-on programs in engineering, electricity and electronics, emergency preparedness and citizenship, among others.

Professor of Government Evan T. Haglund, a troop committee member in Troop 151 in Waterford, headed up the event for the academy.

“This was the fifth year in a row we’ve done this here. I’m delighted with how it went. The Scouts really got something out of it,” he said. “It’s great to see how our cadets stepped up and volunteered to run this and to teach, giving up their time when they could have done something else.”

An event like this highlights the connection between Scouting and America’s service academies. It’s well known that many male graduates are Eagle Scouts. Coast Guard Lieutenant Luke P. Mayotte is one of them.

Mayotte graduated from the academy with a degree in civil engineering in 2010. Six years before that he earned Scouting’s highest rank while he was a member of Troop 171 in his home town of Hampden, Mass. Today he’s a construction manager at the academy. Five members of his former troop made the trip from the Springfield, Mass., suburb to attend the day’s engineering program.

“Being an Eagle Scout helped me to get into the Coast Guard Academy,” Mayotte said. “It helped me in life, to prepare for things and succeed.”

One of Mayotte’s former Scoutmasters brought Troop 171 to the event. Jean-Guy G. Belisle, of Hampden, Mass., is now the troop’s committee chairman. Belisle was impressed with the day’s STEM program, and particularly impressed with the cadets who ran it.

“I’ve seen a lot of leadership here. This is the kind of thing our Scouts can learn from and pick up on by being here (at this event),” he said. “This really went well. Our boys got a real opportunity from this that they wouldn’t have had otherwise.”

While his Massachusetts counterpart was watching his Scouts learn how to build ships at the engineering program, Troop 21 Committee Chairman Frank Bichard, of Putnam, spent the afternoon watching Troop 21 Scout Jacques work with other Scouts to create acid rain in the chemistry lab. Bichard is a chemist.

“The experiments were run well,” he said. “The guys were able to see how a lab works and how chemistry is important in real life. I’m glad we came.”