By Christine Persichette
Inside a Rockland County church, a group of scouts gathers, their rituals unchanged: the salute, the pledge, the oath, and the prayer. Will Figueroa, an Eagle Scout, offers a prayer.
What sets such a gathering apart is the presence of five Eagle Scouts, each having attained the elite rank achieved by only 4% of all scouts.
“Only 4% of scouts that start scouting actually make it to Eagle Scout, if you can believe that,” Ken Grosso, Co-Den Leader of the troop explained, “so that in itself tells you how difficult it is.”
The odds of five boys from the same first-grade den all reaching Eagle Scout are staggering—less than 1%, no matter how the math is done.
“We became family pretty early on, and I knew all the boys were special… but that still doesn’t mean that they’re all going to Eagle,” Sherri Caivano, Co-Den Leader, added.
Earning the 21 required merit badges, 14 of which are mandatory, demands immense time and effort. Some badges take months to complete.
“The Eagle ones — a lot of physical and long, tedious processes — some were a lot more fun than others.” Eagle Scout Connor Finkelstein noted, pointing to his sash and highlighting badges for first aid and fishing.
Beyond badges, each Eagle Scout must complete a service project. Max Caivano transformed a neglected courtyard at his high school. “This courtyard area hadn’t really been taken care of in a while, so it seemed like a nice thing to do to give the students a nice area to walk around in,” he said of his project.
Will Figueroa built a lending library at a local park, keeping it stocked.
As a chaplain’s aide, he also credited his Catholic faith for guiding him: “I feel like it has helped me get to Eagle because the values that you’re taught in scouting are also very similar to the values that you’re taught through the Church.”
Gio Grosso created an outdoor classroom for his elementary school, a personal choice to give back: “I chose it because I wanted to give back to something very personal to me,” he told Currents News, “and I thought my elementary school that I went to was a pretty good choice.”
These projects and countless hours of work—building, leading, learning—represent thousands of hours. The five scouts supported each other and their community, united by friendship, commitment, and dedication. Their efforts leave a lasting legacy.
Elkin Frank, an Eagle Scout, summed it up: “One of the biggest takeaways from scouting is the skills you learn that go far beyond camping and merit badges—you learn all about leadership and responsibilities, and you take away these practical life skills that will shape you into who you are and will stick with you for the rest of your life.”