Sep 17, 2020

Hays High senior earns Eagle Scout

Posted Sep 17, 2020 5:43 PM
Eichman / Courtesy photo
Eichman / Courtesy photo

Community News Item

Derek Eichman completed his Eagle Scout Board of Review on March 17, and will receive his Eagle Scout on Sept. 20, in a ceremony at Celebration Community Church, Hays. 

Eagle Scout is the highest rank given by the Boy Scouts of America with less than five percent of all Scouts achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.  Derek is a senior at Hays High School and is concurrently enrolled at North Central Kansas Technical College in its Automotive Technology Program.  Derek joined Cub Scouts Pack 131 in 2010 and became part of Boy Scout Troup 101 in 2014.  Derek was inducted into The Order of the Arrow, the National Honor Society of BSA in 2017 after being nominated by his peers.

Derek partnered with Celebration Community Church and Heartland Building Center, Hays, to completing his Eagle Scout Project.  The Church maintains a Resource Room to collect clothing, hygiene, and other essential items, which are distributed to foster care families and adults with developmental disabilities in NW Kansas as well as missions in third-world countries. 

Derek designed a large wooden donation cart to provide for a central point to collection donations in the Church lobby.  The cart is then used to transport items to the Resource Room, where volunteers sort and organize donated items.  For the second part of his Project, Derek reclaimed lumber from old stage platforms no longer used by the church to construct shelving in the Resource Room to handle large plastic totes used to store donated items.  Derek repurposed leftover paint to complete his Project and worked with church staff to design vinyl lettering to promote his Project.  Derek’s Project will have local and global impacts for many years.

Derek is the son of David and Sheila Eichman, Hays, and the grandson of Ronald and Carol Whitehurst, Garden City, and the late Cleo and Frances Eichman formerly of Palco.  In addition to Boy Scouts, Derek has been active in Celebration Community Church’s Cross Current youth group and Leadership Team and is Vice President of Hays High Industrial Technology Association. 

After high school, Derek plans to attend NCKTC’s Electrical Technology Program and become a licensed electrician.  

Courtesy photos
Courtesy photos