EAGLE SCOUT AWARD TO BE PRESENTED

Colin Thomas Morrell, age 15, of Lake Forest California has earned the highest advancement award the Boy Scouts of America offers to Scouts, the Eagle Scout Award.

Colin will be recognized in a Court of Honor ceremony at 6:30 p.m. on Friday, May 2, 2014 at the Lake Forest Nature Park, located along Serrano Creek at Dimension Drive in Lake Forest. The Nature Park features native California plants and symbolizes Colin’s Eagle Scout Project.

A member of Troop 634 of Lake Forest, California chartered by the American Legion Post 862, Colin is one of approximately four percent of all Boy Scouts who attain the Eagle rank, according to Richard Krall, Troop 634’s Scoutmaster.

To earn the Eagle, each candidate must advance through six ranks, hold a leadership position, earn at least 21 merit badges, and successfully complete a community related service project designed to demonstrate leadership skills and qualities. Colin’s leadership project, entitled “California Native and Drought Tolerant Demonstration Garden,” replaced the landscaping inside the Portola Hills II Clubhouse recreation area with drought tolerant plants, featuring species native to California. According to Ms. Elizabeth Wallace, Portola Hills II HOA Board President, and the project’s beneficiary, “Colin Morrell used his initiative and foresight to create a modern landscape of drought-tolerant plants and trees in our non-profit's common area facility. Colin’s Eagle Scout project educates the public with a living example of landscaping with plants that not only conserve water, but also provide aesthetic beauty and shelter to wildlife.”

In addition to Colin working 71 hours on this project, volunteers spent 204 hours (a total of 275 hours) to make this project a reality. Colin was inspired to create this garden by his love of nature, his interest in California plants, and his concern for the environment. “I have an interested in plants.” Colin says, “We live in California, and there are many native plants that can be used for landscaping that are nice and don’t use a lot of water. I wanted to let people see that they can have a nice garden using these plants and not use a lot of water.”

He has served as Den Chief, Troop Bugler, Patrol Leader, Troop Guide, Troop Scribe and Librarian for his Troops. He has earned 31 Merit Badges so far, and received a Certificate of Appreciation for his Dedication in helping others in need or less fortunate. Among his awards, Colin is honored to have received the Arrow of Light Award, and the Parvuli Dei Religious Emblem Award. He joins other outstanding American citizens who have become Eagle Scouts, among them former President Gerald R. Ford, Jr., Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong, Film Director Steven Spielberg, and the host of Discovery Channel’s Dirty Jobs, Mike Rowe.

Colin is a member of Santiago de Compostela Catholic Church, where he is currently taking classes in preparation of his confirmation on May 21, 2014. 

Colin is a freshman at Orange County School of the Arts (OCSA), where he has attended since 7th grade. He is a student of the school’s Visual Arts Conservatory where he was voted the “Most Creative” for 8th grade, and placed 2nd in the national “NASCO Sketchables” art contest. He has also been a member of the International Thespian Society, OCSA Thespian Society Troop and received recognition for his participation in the Historical Santa Ana Cemetery Tours performance. Colin is currently a member of the OCSA Leadership forum, and has been nominated to attend the 2014 Summer National Youth Leadership Forum for prospective medical students. 

Colin maintains a GPA of 4.0 and has received the President’s Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence. This summer, Colin will be attending a pre-medical education program at the University of California (UCI), and taking additional college preparatory classes at Saddleback College in anticipation of pursuing a future career as a Anesthesiologist. He has also earned his Red/Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and is a volunteer for “Back to Natives,” a local non-profit that specializes in California native plants.

Colin is the son of Ian and Amanda Morrell, and has an older brother named Connor, a pet parrot called Comet, a parakeet named Teka, a bearded dragon known as Penny, and resides in the Portola Hills area of the City of Lake Forest.