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Jack Kesselring
Eagle Scout
John
Andrew
“Jack” Kesselring was awarded the Boy
Scouts of America’s highest rank, Eagle
Scout, during a Court of Honor on December
6, 2009 at the Bass
Lake Retreat Center
in Holly
Springs,
NC. Jack is a
member of Troop 216 in Cary
and is the son of W. David and Kathleen
Kesselring, also
of Holly
Springs.
He
officially earned the rank of Eagle Scout
on October 14, 2009 at the age of 17.
Jack
is
the 70th Eagle Scout in Troop 216 since it
was founded in 1978. The
troop is
led by
Scoutmaster Chuck Gay and is sponsored by the
Knights of Columbus
at Saint
Michael the Archangel
Catholic Church.
Over
80
people attended the Court of Honor,
including fellow scouts, friends,
and Jack’s
maternal grandmother Peggy Gavin
of Summerville, Florida, and
paternal grandparents, Richard
and Linda
Kesselring, of DeBary, Florida.
Special
guests included Ms. Molly Arey,
Sports
Medicine teacher at Holly Springs High
School, Cooper Linton
and Mark Philbrick
of Hospice of Wake County, and Julie
Henry, Jack’s
Cub Scout den leader. Eagle
Scout
Eric Blum was the Master of
Ceremonies.
The ceremony opened with a presentation of the colors by the Vikings Patrol which included
Eagle Scouts Brian De Contreras, Michael Becker, Chris Becker, Alex Brawn, Gary Meyer,
Aaron Reza and Life Scout Sam Henry. The National Anthem was performed on the
trumpet by Jack’s younger brother Matt Kesselring and Jack’s friend Melody Bubar.
Richard Kesselring, Jack’s grandfather, delivered the invocation. A candle lighting
ceremony was done by Jack’s brothers Matt and Brian, who are also scouts in Troop 216.
The Vikings patrol also took part in the Eagle Charge. Mr. Houston Hampton, of the Cary
Apex Elks Lodge Number 2798, presented an Eagle certificate and flag; Mr. Keith Beigert,
of the Knights of Columbus, presented Jack with an engraved pen. In recognition of his
achievement, Jack also received a letter of commendation from President and Mrs. Obama.
Jack
began
his scouting career in 1998 as a Tiger
Cub while his family briefly lived in San Jose,
CA. Upon returning
to North Carolina in 1999,
Jack joined Pack 232 at Cary Presbyterian where
he subsequently earned
all of
the Cub Scout ranks, 17 belt loops, 3 pins, and
the World Conservation
Award. Jack
received Cub Scouting’s
highest award, the Arrow of Light, and bridged
to BSA Troop 216.
During
his
tenure with Troop 216, Jack was
inducted into the Order of the Arrow, the
scouting honor organization,
and he earned
the Raven Knob Honor Camper Award while camping
with the troop at Camp
Raven Knob
in Mount Airy, NC. Jack
considers
the
highlights of his scouting career to be the
shooting campouts at the
Durham
County Wildlife Club, canoeing, kayaking, rock
climbing and the Eagle
Outings.
The
BSA
program heavily emphasizes leadership
skills, and throughout his career with Troop
216, Jack held numerous
leadership
positions, including Senior Patrol Leader, Troop
Guide, Patrol Leader
and Bugler. As
required by the Boy Scouts of America, a
candidate for Eagle Scout must plan, develop,
and give leadership to
others
while providing a service to the community. For his project, Jack
led sixteen scouts and
several adults in the design
and construction of handicapped accessible
planting boxes for Hospice
of Wake
County. The planter
boxes enable the patients
and families in the end-of-life counseling
programs to care for a plant
or an
entire garden. After
losing
two of his
grandparents when he was in second grade, Jack
saw first-hand how
Hospice
assists families in a time of great suffering. Both
Cooper Linton and Mark Philbrick of
Hospice of Wake County spoke of how Jack’s
project would
bring joy and comfort
to patients and their families by encouraging an
escape from grief. Scouting
provided Jack
with the opportunity
to give back to a program which assisted his own
family in such a
profound
manner.
A
senior at Holly Springs High School,
Jack is an Athletic Trainer for Holly Springs
High School, a member of the Sports Medicine
Club, and the Latin Club,
and an
intern with Village Physical Therapy in Holly
Springs. Jack also
became a state licensed Certified
Nurse Assistant in 2009. After graduation this
May, Jack will attend
Appalachian
State University to study Exercise Science,
leading to a career in
Athletic
Training, Physical Therapy, or Orthopedics.
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