Thomasville City Schools' most recent Eagle Scout students are Thomas Butler, Aaron Bellamy, Mason Hodge, Jacob Rieber and Jacob Cone.

Five Thomasville City Scholars Academy students recently achieved the highest rank in Boy Scouts of America by becoming Eagle Scouts.

Four of these students, Aaron Bellamy, Jacob Cone, Mason Hodge, and Jacob Rieber were officially inducted within the last year. Cone is a junior, while the others are seniors.

Along with those students, an eighth grader, Thomas Butler, recently learned that he has met all of the requirements to become an Eagle Scout and he will soon be inducted. The average age of an Eagle Scout is 17. Butler is only 14!

According to scouting.org, only around seven percent of Boy Scouts progress to become an Eagle Scout, equaling approximately 50,000 scouts a year earning the honor. In order to become an Eagle Scout, a scout must progress through five other scouting ranks: Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star and Life. He must also earn 21 Merit Badges, serve six months in a leadership position in his troop, do an Eagle Scout project that gives back to the community, take part in a Scoutmaster Conference and complete an Eagle Scout board of review.

Cone’s project was to hold a blood drive and to construct a blood “thermometer” to help measure the amount of blood given at future drives. Hodge’s was building a playground, consisting of eight structures, for the cats at Miss Kitty Feline Sanctuary, a local cat rescue organization. Butler’s was constructing a sign for the Whigham Community Club at the Rattlesnake Roundup Grounds. Rieber’s was to build a “bat house” at Cherokee Lake, while Bellamy’s was to organize and hold a Star Wars reading day.

Through their individual journeys to becoming Eagle Scouts, all of the students made memories that they’ll never forget.

“For me, my favorite memory is our hike on the Appalachian Trail at Blood Mountain. It’s the second highest point in Georgia and the view on the top of the mountain was really cool,” Butler said.

“My favorite memory was my trip to Cavalcade, a western ranch in Cimarron, New Mexico. It was a two week trip and for one week we hiked and backpacked through the Guadalupe mountains in Texas and then stayed on the ranch and took care of our own horse for the other week,” Cone said.

“My favorite memory is Philmont, a 10-day, 80-mile backpacking trip that we did in New Mexico a few summers ago,” Hodge said.

“My favorite memory was definitely all the backpacking trips we did, especially in North Carolina and Philmont! I also really enjoyed going to a dude ranch in New Mexico,” Rieber said.

“My favorite memory is probably volunteering and helping at summer camps,” Bellamy said.

They also can also now look back and reminisce at some of the memories while scouting, as Cone recalled a trip he took in sixth grade.

“My very first hiking trip, it rained the entire time. As a poor little old sixth grader, I was struggling mightily. I learned that on that trip, as well as in life, put your head down and learn to take the next step and get through it,” Cone said.