Eagle Scout candidate renovates former middle school courtyard

A Hersey senior and Eagle Scout candidate has taken it upon himself to renovate part of his former middle school.

Colin Russell, 17, graduated in 2014 from River Trails Middle School in Mount Prospect. Now, nearly four years later, he's returned to the school as part of a project to beautify River Trails' neglected interior courtyard, which has been inaccessible to students since Russell's tenure at the school.

Russell, a member of the Boy Scouts, undertook the project as part of the certification process to become an Eagle Scout, the highest class of Scouting.

Along with his father and eight friends, he's replaced much of the courtyard's mulch and the underlying tarp, and plans to add new plants, a picnic bench, and "steppingstones" recycled from concrete debris from repairs to River Trails' roof.

"This is something I can't do myself," Russell said in reference to the emphasis on leadership in the Eagle Scout project.

The project, referred to officially as "courtyard amelioration" (Russell notes that he was told "to go with as fancy a name as possible" in presenting his project to the Boy Scouts' authority), has received support in the form of donations and discounts on plants and a tarp from Lurvey Landscape Supply and Home Depot, and additional discounts from Safeway.

Along with the project, Russell, a Mount Prospect resident, has also received 21 merit badges and served as the senior patrol leader of the since folded Troop 3 as part of his Eagle Scout certification. In addition, he must receive four letters of recommendation, which he is yet to complete.