By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—Though scouting organizations exist around the world, the Boy Scouts are a quintessentially American institution, drawing in millions of members since the founding of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) in 1910. Participation in scouting has become almost a cliché of American childhood.
Brandon’s Keith Carrara, 18, takes scouting very seriously. He’s devoted much of his childhood to the development of the practical and leadership skills that BSA requires for advancement through the ranks. He has just reached BSA’s highest level: he is now one of just 53 scouts to be promoted to the rank of Eagle in Vermont in 2023.
Keith comes from a family that’s been immersed in scouting for years. Both of his parents, Jeff and Sarah, are currently involved in the local organization as well. Jeff Carrara is Scoutmaster for the Pittsford area and was an Eagle Scout himself, while Sarah oversees the local Cub Scout program. Their other children—Christina (16), Lucia (13), and Jon (10)—are all involved in scouting, too.
But Keith wasn’t blindly following in his parents’ footsteps. He joined the Cub Scouts in 1st grade, “crossed over” to the Boy Scouts in 5th grade, and came to value the program for the camaraderie, discipline, and education.
“I was brought into it,” he said. “And I had fun with it.”
In order to reach the rank of Eagle Scout, a Boy Scout has to earn 21 merit badges before the age of 18, including 13 mandatory badges in areas such as first aid, citizenship, cooking, emergency preparedness, and personal fitness.
Keith’s favorite badge, though, was an elective: wilderness survival. Asked if he could survive by himself in the woods, he laughed and simply said, “Probably.”
At age 18, however, even an Eagle Scout must transition out of the Boy Scouts. Keith will now become a Unit College Scouter Reserve at Vermont Technical College (VTC) in Randolph, where he has already spent his senior year of high school in the Vermont Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) program. VAST allows selected students to spend their senior years earning college credit as they satisfy their high-school requirements as well. Keith will graduate with 2 diplomas: one from VAST and one from Otter Valley. He plans to continue at VTC and complete a degree in electromechanical engineering.
The leadership skills Keith developed as a scout have already served him well at VTC: in his first month at VTC, he successfully organized and founded a Nerf gun club on campus, an endeavor that required negotiations with the administration because there was a campus ban on the toy guns the club would use.
He’s not the only Eagle Scout at VTC, however. He knows of four other Eagle Scouts on campus, some of whom recognized him as a fellow Eagle by the clothing he wears.
“I have enough scout stuff to wear something every day,” he joked.
And his talents as an engineer are already apparent in his successful design of the new stairs up to the stage in the auditorium at Otter Valley.
“I consulted engineers and printed a 3-D scale model,” he said proudly.
Congratulations to Keith and his family on this important milestone. He is certainly an impressive young man and the community wishes him continued success.
