Local Boy Scout improves church grounds, earns Eagle rank

Boy Scout Troop 227 of Bartlett recently presented Jackson Mainellis the Eagle Scout Award of the Boy Scouts of America. The award was bestowed on the Bartlett teen during an Eagle Court of Honor held at his home congregation, Living Lord Lutheran Church in Bartlett, on March 18. Living Lord Church is also the chartered organization for the troop.

Mainellis, 17, a senior at South Elgin High School, recently completed a service project to provide landscaping improvements to the grounds of Living Lord Church. He organized and led volunteers to plant 10 new bushes; complete extensive weeding; remove a large, dead tree; spread 10 yards of top soil; and plant grass seed. The project, in which Mainellis managed more than 176 volunteer hours, represented the culmination of more than seven years of developing leadership skills through the scouting program.

Mainellis, the son of Scott and Kris Mainellis, began his scouting career as a Cub Scout in Pack 26 in Bartlett in 2006. He crossed over into Boy Scouts, joining Troop 227 in 2010. In addition to completing the project, he earned 29 merit badges, demonstrated consistently active involvement in the troop, and served in a variety of leadership positions, including patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, senior patrol leader (leader of the entire troop), and troop guide. Only four percent of boys who participate in Boy Scouts achieve the rank of Eagle Scout. Troop 227 has helped 18 boys attain this rank since 2001.

Mainellis will graduate from South Elgin High School in May. He will attend Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, in the fall of 2017.