After checking on the campsite for the night, and making sure all of the scouts are safe, he lays down in his tent by the lake. He listens to the rain, crickets and bullfrogs before drifting off to sleep. Driving a boat in the water, or relaxing in a hammock on a quiet day in the forest are just some of the things Jim DeYong likes to do in his free time. Being outdoors, and being in Boy Scouts has always been a positive part of his life.

“[Earning] different merit badges, and doing different skills all over the spectrum from riding horses, going water skiing, tubing, and shooting different guns, rock climbing, repelling, ziplining, a lot of really cool stuff,” DeYong said.

DeYong has been in scouts since he was in first grade, starting with Cub Scouts. He earned the Eagle Scout award in December of 2017, which is the highest ranking in Boy Scouts of America.

“It takes a lot of hard work to get there,” DeYong said. “I think it was definitely worth it, and it will help me out in the future.”

For his required service project to become an Eagle Scout, he decided to get some people together to build three picnic tables for Eliot Chapel Nursery School in Downtown Kirkwood, because they were getting old. According to his peers, Jim is a very nice and honest person.

“I think he’s really funny, [he’s] witty and intelligent,” JJ Noa, senior, said. “[Jim] has a very nice way of looking at things and he is very unique.”

DeYong also did four years of choir and KH Players. He participated in the spring musical of 2018, The Drowsy Chaperone.

“[Jim is] very conscientious, very hard-working and very disciplined,” David Cannon, choir director, said. “He’s good at making other people feel at ease around him, he’s very giving of his time and his empathy for others.”

DeYong is excited to teach youth to water ski this summer. He plans to major in communications.

“If you’re not having fun with something, I don’t know if it’s worth doing,” DeYong said, “because I don’t know if it’s going to lead to something else that you think you’ll really enjoy.”