With his father on his right and his mother on his left, junior Cody Peters makes the final sculpting wheel of the day. Peters dusts the sawdust off his shirt, and reflects on becoming one step closer to earning Eagle Scout status. 

Peters has worked on a sculpting wheel project for the art department since March and is making the final touches in October. To move up to the Eagle Scout rank, Peters has to do a project to present at his board of review.

“Originally I was making it for the upcoming advanced pottery class,” Peters said. “This project is going to be something that I least hope is used for years to come and that again is gonna help students be able to make better pieces than if in the future.”

Eagle Scout is the highest achievement or rank attainable in the Boy Scouts of America program, or BSA. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. 

“[Being an] eagle scout is a very dignified thing [and proves] you’ve worked your butt off,” Peters said. “It’s something that shows that you’re dedicated and a hard worker that actually wants to put in the time and effort to get this rank.”

Peters started the project during March and has put months of time and effort into the project. The sculpting wheels will allow students to put their clay down and then be able to rotate their work surface without having to pick it up and create bubbles in the piece.

“The original plan was [for Cody] to make picnic tables for us to go outside to sketch at, but after much discussion, we figured out that that wouldn’t necessarily be the best option,” McKenzie said. “[Cody] wanted to make sure that he was still helping the art department at LHS so he actually is creating two classroom sets of turntables for clay works that we actually will be doing when we come back from Christmas.”

The Eagle Scout requires active participation, Scout spirit, merit badges, the position of responsibility, service project, and a unit leader conference before the scout’s 18th birthday. 

“The big thing you can really get out of it is the recognition for the hard work you put in and that is later included in my college and work applications,” Peters said. “[It just] shows that you are a hard worker.”

With the help of Peter’s father, mother, and art director and sponsor Kari McKenzie, Cody has nearly finished his Eagle Scout project. His father has helped him research ways to make the sculpting wheels more efficient and reliable.

“I appreciate all his hard work and everything that he and his family are committed to making this project come alive for us,” McKenzie said. “What he’s doing is going to allow our students to construct, craft and design their pieces without having to touch them which is what professionals get to do that high school kids don’t often get to do.”