Granville teen earns Eagle Scout by helping Pet Project in Marseilles

After getting our dog from them I knew they were who I wanted to work with.”

—  Ben Johll, St. Bede senior and Eagle Scout recipient about working with Pet Project

Since 1912, the Eagle Scout rank in the Boy Scouts has represented a milestone of accomplishment – perhaps without an equal – that is recognized across the country and even the world. Those who have earned the Eagle Scout rank count it among their most treasured achievements.

St. Bede senior Ben Johll, after completing his Eagle Scout project back in November, and with just a little bit of paperwork left to finish, will join the 4% of Boy Scouts who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

“It was a sense of relief to see the project finished, but also I was most happy that everything turned out exactly as I had planned and it was done right,” said Johll, who led a project that built and installed a dog agility course at Pet Project in Marseilles. He is a member of Troop 1055 based out of Cherry.

The course is made up of eight different obstacles: tunnel, hurdle, pause table, weave poles, see-saw, elevated walk, an A-frame and a hoop jump.

Pet Project was established in 1993 to fill a need for stray animals in La Salle County. There is no county pound, so volunteers work to help find homes for animals who have no other chance. To date, the organization has rescued nearly 6,000 animals.

“I had a few ideas – one being the agility course – of what I wanted to do already when I reached out to Pet Project and after getting our dog from them, I knew they were who I wanted to work with,” said Johll, who started with the troop when his family lived in Spring Valley, but has since moved to Granville. “They decided with winter coming, it was going to be harder to get the dogs the walking and exercising they need, so having an agility course right there would be beneficial for the dogs and the caregivers.”

The process took between three to four months from start to finish.

“The scouts are in charge of picking a project that will benefit a not for profit organization, then show leadership in executing that project from beginning to end,” said Troop 1055 Scout Master Mark Johll, Ben’s father, who added that a Scout must earn 21 merit badges before the option of an Eagle Scout project is possible. “They are in charge of coming up with an idea, talking with the organization they are hoping to work with, ordering materials they will need, raising money, organizing fellow scouts and adults to work on the project.

“They are essentially the project manager.”

Ben has been a senior patrol leader for the past few years, and, in March, when he turns 18 years old and phases out of the Boy Scouts, will become an adult leader in the troop. He said he will continue to work toward earning Eagle Palms, which are awarded for completing additional tenure, leadership and merit badge requirements.

“The opportunities he has had through personal growth in scouting have been tremendous,” Mark Johll said. “Watching him grow from an 11-year-old joining the troop, to becoming a leader in the troop, to working on this project has been amazing to see. While this was definitely a major milestone for Ben in the process of being a Boy Scout, it’s been one I’ve been watching for the past seven years or so.”