Five Santa Monica-area teenagers achieved Scouting America's highest rank this summer, joining an elite group that represents only 8% of all scouts.
Christopher Fresquez, Luke Terlizzi, Ethan Crawford, Jacob Zeitlin and Matthew Zeitlin will be honored at the Troop 2 Eagle Court of Honor in June at Kuruvungna Village Springs on South Barrington in West Los Angeles.
The students attend local high schools, with Fresquez and the Zeitlin brothers at Culver City High School and Crawford and Terlizzi at Santa Monica High School. Graduation years range from 2025 to 2027.
Each scout completed extensive community service projects demonstrating leadership abilities. Crawford designed custom shelving for John Adams Middle School's instrumental music program, providing secure storage for violins and violas while repainting music stands with the school logo.
Fresquez partnered with The Culver Closet, a nonprofit serving Culver City Unified School District families with free clothing and supplies. He built custom shelving to accommodate storage bins, improving organization and accessibility for donations.
The Zeitlin brothers and Terlizzi focused their efforts on Los Angeles National Cemetery. Jacob painted 106 parking space delineations in the visitor lot, designing precise wood frame guides and stencils for consistent spacing. Matthew repainted 176 faded gravesite curb markers to help visitors locate specific graves. Terlizzi repainted more than 120 parking spaces, with improved markings particularly helpful for Memorial Day visitors.
"The completion of this work will help facilitate parking for the thousands of visitors who come to this cemetery each year," Jacob Zeitlin said.
All projects included educational components about the facilities' importance and involved multiple Troop 2 scouts working under the Eagle candidates' direction.
The scouts fondly recalled high-adventure trips to Minnesota's Boundary Waters and Wyoming's Grand Tetons as defining experiences, citing lessons in teamwork, resilience and leadership during challenging weather conditions.
Troop 2, one of the oldest and largest scout troops in the western United States, has awarded Eagle Scout rank to 397 individuals during its 78-year history. The troop operates under Scoutmaster John Matise with support from assistant scoutmasters, including Bob Gunter, who is retiring after 30 years overseeing new scout training.
During Gunter's tenure, he supervised the induction of more than 1,000 scouts into Troop 2.
Edited by SMDP Staff