Eagle Scouts and Former Students Give Back to Early Childhood Center

By JACQUELINE PRIMO | Reporter

Eagle Scouts from Boy Scout Troop 223 recently completed several service projects for the Palisades Jewish Early Childhood Center (PJECC)—which many of the scouts attended when they were younger—at Chabad Jewish Community Center of Pacific Palisades.

Thanks to the scouts, PJECC has a new outdoor fort, a new fence surrounding their hiking trail, new outdoor wooden tables, wooden cabinets to store art supplies within and more.

“As one of the few outdoor, Reggio-inspired, Jewish preschools by the coast, our children have opportunities to become creators, artists, scientists, musicians, builders and visionaries,” said PJECC’s director Chana Hertzberg of the campus that features an outdoor classroom and “nature meets nurture” theme.

“Ever since I was a young Boy Scout five years ago, I had seen what other people’s Eagle Scout projects were and I thought of ways that I would make mine more unique,” said Eagle Scout and former PJECC student Jeremy Wells, who built a wooden fort for the children to play on outside.

The fort is ground level with wooden fence posts and a cloth canopy overhead.

“That inspiration drove me to do something significant in the community to a place that I had known before, which ended up being my preschool. Now in a different location, PJECC’s new ‘fort’ is a great addition to their existing play yard. The project gave me leadership skills and the happiness of seeing preschoolers play on it,” Wells told the Palisadian-Post.

Scout John Doland built a fence to secure a hiking trail so the children could safely explore the hills of the campus, while Eagle Scout Harrison Arronoff built several extra-wide wooden tables that could seat up to 10 people, in contrast to the plastic children’s tables or adult-sized tables that made it hard for adults and children to work on projects together.

“These tables have made a real impact on what we do and how we do it,” Hertzberg said.

Additionally, Eagle Scout Jed Moscot built two wooden cabinets to store art supplies outdoors. Eagle Scout Joshua Doland is currently working on building a gazebo to provide shade so the children can play with blocks outside, complete with platforms and ramps.

“We see the Boy Scouts working hard, even bringing their friends and fathers to help. Plus, in addition to planning and building their entire project, they also fundraise to cover all the costs,” Hertzberg said.

“It’s truly been a win-win for all of us; the Boy Scouts get involved in the community and develop their leadership skills, and their projects enhance the learning of our future leaders. Each service project has been very meaningful and we’re so grateful to the Boy Scouts,” Hertzberg added.