Boy Scout Troop 509 held its Spring Court of Honor and Eagle Court of Honor on May 28 at von Karman Auditorium at Jet Propulsion Laboratory where Adam and Brian O’Toole of La Cañada were presented with the Eagle Scout Award.
ADAM O’TOOLE
Adam was born on Dec. 18, 1986 and has lived in many places, including Texas, before settling in California. He is now finishing his junior year at St. Francis High School. He achieves excellent grades, is currently enrolled in four AP classes and one honors, and is on the Scholar Roll and a member of Mu Alpha Theta. O’Toole passionately is involved in varsity football and dedicates much of his time to it. He rises at 5 a.m. on school days and lifts weights at 6 a.m. He also competed in track and swimming as well. O’Toole volunteers at Huntington Memorial Hospital and has received the Congressman David Drier Youth Volunteer Award three years in a row.
O’Toole started out as a Tiger Cub in Annunciation School in Arcadia, moving up to Cub Scouts at St. Bede’s Troop 507, and joined Troop 509 in March of 1998 serving subsequently in a variety of leadership positions. He has been to many campouts and day hikes, and enjoyed the Boy Scout activities greatly. He has been to Camp Trask numerous times, and worked there for two weeks during the summer of 2002. O’Toole went to the National Scout Jamboree at Fort A. P. Hill, Virginia and spent 10 days beforehand touring the East Coast, even visiting the World Trade Centers on July 17, 2001. Another memorable outing Adam experienced was Philmont. He went with his dad on a 10-day trek and luckily his dad brought along stitches to stitch Adam up after he was hit in the nose with a rock. It was an honor for him to be elected as an Order of the Arrow member in 2003.
O’Toole is a parishioner at St. Bede parish and whatever interest he is pursuing, it is with his faith. While a Cub Scout, Catholic faith was always important to him, and so he was able to earn - through many hours of work-the Catholic medals of Light of Christ and Parvule Dei. As a Boy Scout he had the honor to obtain the Pope Pius XIl and Ad Altare Dei medals. These Boy Scout Catholic religious awards are given to a select few who, through hard work and dedication, are committed to learning about their Catholicism and increasing their spiritual growth.
For his Eagle Project, O’Toole painted a map of the United States on the playground of Paradise Canyon Elementary. Each state is a different color and has the abbreviations spray painted inside. This will serve as an educational aid for the students and will provide them with recreation during recess while learning at the same time.
O’Toole is very thankful for his Boy Scout experience and all the outings and activities made available to him. He is thankful for the abundant information that scouting has taught him and will always be helped by his Boy Scout knowledge. He is very grateful and appreciative of all the adult leaders. Parents, volunteers, and fellow scouts who make Scouting possible. Adam hopes to go to medical school after college and become a doctor. During this summer he will be applying to colleges and hopes to completely restore his dad’s ’68 Camaro.
BRIAN O’TOOLE
O’Toole was born in 1986 and along with his twin brother Adam, his older siblings and his parents, moved from Monrovia to Belton, Texas, then to Arcadia and finally to La Cañada. After graduating from St. Bede’s in 2001, he aftended St. Michael’s Prep on a scholarship. After a year, he transferred to St. Francis, where he is currently a junior. Through his high school career, O’Toole participated in varsity cross country as a freshman, JV football as a sophomore, varsity football and JV track as a junior, and is now preparing for a second year on the varsity football team as a wide receiver. He has earned the Scholar-Athlete Award and is on Scholar Roll. He has lettered in two sports while maintaining high grades. After school, he has volunteered tutoring and coaching elementary kids in Watts, helped in canned food drives, and volunteered at Huntington Memorial Hospital. He has received the honorable mention for Congressman David Drier Youth Volunteer Award three years in a row.
O’Toole began Scouting as a Tiger Cub and completed Cub Scouts by achieving his Arrow of Light as a Webelo. He joined Troop 509 in March 1998 and has spent his time working on 29 merit badges and going to day hikes and many campouts. While in Troop 509, he has served in a variety of leadership positions. He has gone to the National Scout Jamboree in 2001, touring the East Coast and then camping at Fort A.P. Hill. O’Toole also went to Philmont with his brother and dad. In the summer of 2002, he worked at Trask for one week, which was cut short when he broke his ankle. Recovering for a little over two weeks, he still went to Philmont and had a great time. O’Toole is honored to have been elected as an Order of the Arrow member by his fellow Scouts in 2003.
For his Eagle Project, O’Toole converted an old kindergarten classroom at St. Bede’s into a youth room. He washed and repainted the walls, painted colorful pillars outside and helped make it a room appealing to teens. This new room is used quite frequently by the youth ministry at St. Bede’s. As O’Toole’s Catholic faith is very important to him, he has always looked to incorporate it in everything he does. As a Cub Scout, he earned the Light of Christ and Parvule Dei medals, and as a Scout he continued to grow in his faith by obtaining the Pope Pius Xii and Ad Altare Dei medals. These Boy Scout Catholic religious awards all led to his spiritual growth.
Scouting has taught O’Toole many things, among them leadership and determination. He hopes to go to the United States Air Force Academy and graduate to serve as an Air Force fighter pilot. His short term goal is to start on next year’s varsity football team and to restore his Dad’s 1968 Camaro.