Parker Joyce '18 Earns Eagle Scout Rank

Parker Joyce ’18 recently earned the coveted Eagle Scout rank from Boy Scouts of America. Parker joined scouting in first grade with Pack 477 at San Jose Episcopal Day School. He crossed over to Troop 136 at All Saints Episcopal Church in 2011 where he advanced through seven ranks of scouting, earning 31 merit badges and holding leadership positions each year. He was elected into the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scouts of America National Honor Society. Under his leadership as Senior Patrol Leader, the troop received Scouting’s Journey to Excellence 2016 Golden Level Troop Award given for  leadership in successfully using the Boy Scout Method for Annual Planning and Continuous Improvement.

A Boy Scout seeking to become an Eagle Scout must develop and lead a project that benefits the community before his 18th birthday.  “I designed a meditation labyrinth for the students at the North Florida School of Special Education,” said Parker. “Early on, I met with a local stone company and received a generous donation of stones to build the labyrinth — which I would install four months later.  I began fundraising for other costs associated with the project and entered the busy rowing regatta season as a member of the Episcopal Rowing Team,” he said. 

“When the season was over, I was ready to install my project. However, a few difficulties arose giving me the opportunity to learn many important business lessons,” he said.  “The school wanted me to move my project to a different parcel of land and install it following my 18th birthday, which would not work, and the stones had been sold,” he said. 

“I met with Sally Hazelip, executive director for the school, and we looked at several projects on their wish list. I told her I would complete her most pressing project,” he added. “Turns out, the school’s urban organic farm, Berry Good Farms, needed mint gardens to contain and grow the mint used in the school’s teaching kitchen and food truck.  We built two four-tier mint gardens adjacent to the farm’s greenhouse.”