Lake Forest Teen Produces History Videos, Earns Eagle Scout Award

Lake Forest teen Connor Mitchell Morrell has earned the highest advancement award the Boy Scouts of America offers to Scouts, the Eagle Scout Award.

A member of Troop 634, the 15-year-old high school student is one of approximately four percent of all Boy Scouts who attain the Eagle rank, according to Stephen Nightengale, 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.

For his project, entitled “The American Flag Awareness and Outreach Program,” Connor produced a series of five short videos designed to educate elementary school age children on the history, and etiquette associated with the American Flag and being a better citizen.

According to Mr. Joel Rawlins, principal of  and the project’s beneficiary, “Connor has created a wonderful resource for teachers to teach American Flag protocols and history. The video quality and content is unbelievably good - far better than I expected. Connor actually revisited his 'finished' product and added a quiz and reedited in order to meet his own expectations. This reflects a professional attitude and effort that is uncharacteristic of people Connor's age. I am impressed!”

The student spent 225 hours on the project, and worked with 45 volunteers who spent an additional 387 hours researching, scripting, story boarding, acting, narrating, filming, singing, and editing the five videos. Upon completion, 25 DVDs (including a quiz and answer key) of the videos were provided to the Saddleback Valley Unified School District for use at each of the elementary schools within the district.

Additional copies were provided to the American Flag Foundation, and the American Legion Post 862.

Connor was inspired to make these videos after spending his sixth-grade year raising and lowering the flag daily at .

“They only had one custodian after one was let go, and one person can’t properly handle the flag,” Connor said. “So I volunteered and got other kids to help me before and after school. It was a lot of fun and I taught others how to do it and be respectful.”

The Scout will be recognized for his accomplishments on June 1 in Irvine.

Connor is the son of Ian and Amanda Morrell, residents of Portola Hills.