Boy Scout doing his best, but bumps into Poway age policy

By Emily Sorensen

A 12-year-old Poway boys finds himself in an interesting dilemma: How old should an Eagle Scout be?

Wyatt Vaineharrison, a Life Scout with Troop 622, has been diligently working toward earning everything needed to become an Eagle Scout since joining the Scouts in 2005. Yet when he approached the City of Poway to be assigned a service project, he was denied for being too young.

“I kept working really hard,” said Vaineharrison, who has completed all the Eagle Scout rank requirements, including the 12 Eagle merit badges, 48 elective merit badges, and two years of troop leadership service. The only thing left is his service project. Vaineharrison, who is a state champion archer, hoped to build a bow rack at the Lake Poway Archery Range for his fellow archers to enjoy.

“I called the volunteer Eagle Scout coordinator, and was told I needed to be 15 [to be assigned a service project],” said Vaineharrison. The City of Poway assigns numerous Eagle Scout service projects every year.

According to Vaineharrison, this policy doesn’t come from the Boy Scouts of America, or even the City of Poway, but is the personal policy of the city’s Parks Maintenance Supervisor. “[Boy Scouts of America] has it set up so you could get your Eagle Scout rank at 11 years and 5 months,” said Vaineharrison. “The only age requirement is that you have to get it before age 18.”

Mayor Don Higginson said that the 15-year-old age limit is a longtime city policy and philosophy. “It’s a philosophy the city tries to follow. It gives [the aspiring Eagle Scouts] time to grow through the scouting process. It also helps with the wait list.” The city often has a waiting list for service projects between 10 to 20 people long, and as there is an upper age limit on becoming an Eagle Scout, Scouts who are nearing the cut off are given priority for projects.

“Part of becoming an Eagle Scout is leadership, maturity and delegation skills,” said Higginson. “It’s not just doing a service project.” The 15 age-rule came about years ago, Higginson said, because the city believed that Scouts needed the time to learn leadership and delegation skills. It was also the average age of the Scouts approaching the city to get Eagle Scout service projects.

Higginson also said that the city is not trying to prevent Vaineharrison from becoming an Eagle Scout. “I think it’s magnificent that he’s trying,” said Higginson. “There are plenty of service projects that Wyatt can do [that aren’t assigned through the city.]” Higginson said that Vaineharrison could even get someone to sponsor him, so he could still do the archery project at Lake Poway he wanted to do.

Vaineharrison spoke in front of the City Council on Tuesday, June 4, asking them to reconsider the decision to deny him a service project. The council did not overturn the decision to refuse Vaineharrison an Eagle Scout service project until he turns 15, which Vaineharrison said wouldn’t be until October of 2015.

“It’s very disappointing not to do the project with the city,” said Vaineharrison, who is now considering doing his service project elsewhere. While most Eagle Scouts do projects through the city, Vaineharrison could do a project somewhere like the VFW or the aviation museum.

Vaineharrison said that he had wanted to become an Eagle Scout since he joined. “I started this, and now I want to finish it,” said Vaineharrison of his quest to become an Eagle Scout and his difficulties with the city. “It’s not just about becoming an Eagle Scout, but for others who might want to become Eagles in the city. I was told this was the first time anyone has ever pushed back [against the age rule].”

“It’s disappointing that the city he grew up in isn’t helping him achieve his goal,” said Vaineharrison’s father, Joe Vaineharrison. “The city wants to stifle people. [Becoming an Eagle Scout] should not be about personal opinions.”

Joe Vaineharrison said he had heard from two council members that said they would get back to Wyatt about the age limit.