Carrie Zahn proudly describes herself as "the mom of two new Eagle Scouts."
The Zahn family lives in Monett, an Ozarks community of 10,000 located between Springfield and Joplin. When it comes to Scouting, the Zahns are all in.
Dad — Andrew Zahn — was an Eagle Scout back in 1989, when Scouting was still called Boy Scouts of America. Letting his voice carry a smidge of excitement, Andrew tells Ozarks Public Radio, "Yeah, so I’m an Eagle Scout, our kids are now Eagle Scouts, and if I can say, my wife is kind of an honorary Eagle Scout because she’s been there for all the different campouts, all the different meetings, all the — and so she’s been assistant scoutmaster as we started Troop 38G, and then she’s also chairman of our local Troop 38 leadership.”
Back in April, Andrew and Carrie’s two teenage children earned the rank of Eagle Scout. Scouting has multiple ranks for students grades 6 and up, ranging from Tenderfoot to Eagle. It takes years of effort, merit badges and service projects to make Eagle.
Fourteen-year-old Zella Zahn was among the first girls in the nation admitted to the Cub Scouts back in 2018 and one of the first girls in Monett’s recently minted Troop 38G, or girls’ troop. She’s also the first girl to achieve Eagle Scout ranking in the history of Monett Scouting.
“Working towards Eagle Scout, I was able to make all these friendships but also learn a lot of life skills," Zella says.
A core requirement for making Eagle is a Scouting service project. Zella chose to carry on her dad’s legacy. Back in the 80s, he helped equip an outdoor classroom for the Monett school district.
Zella said the outdoor classroom was showing its age: "It’s been a little while, it was kind of run-down and I was like, it would be great to get back in there, clean it up, add some more stuff, because I remember back when I was in elementary school, we only went out there maybe once or twice, and I definitely wanted kids to have more time out there in nature.”
Zella added posts to mark the Monett outdoor classroom nature trail, created a custom map of the area, cleared pathways and cleaned up graffiti. She also created classroom materials, including more than 75 nature-themed lessons.
Andrew notes that Scouting has brought his kids remarkable learning opportunities: "My daughter has taken a truck transportation merit badge which I would have never taught her, or experienced, but yet all of the other girls were interested, so she's been exposed to truck transportation."
Zella’s older brother, Zurich, is also a new Eagle Scout. Monett has a Scouting America Troop 38B — just for the boys — as it’s had since 1948.
Zurich says, “It all happened in just one day — one night, one night, two merit badges.”
Now 17, Zurich says his favorite activity along his Eagle Scout journey was the chance to earn merit badges for geology and mining with an overnight campout. Zurich went 650 feet underground at the Strataca salt mine museum in Hutchinson, Kansas to accomplish this goal.
At age 5, Zurich was diagnosed with Williams syndrome, a rare neurodevelopmental genetic condition that affects cognitive and physical traits. For his Eagle Scout service project, Zurich aimed to support fellow students with communication needs by creating picture communication boards.
He explains, "So I had some boys from my troop come out and help me put the communication boards in the school buses and then I did and then I went over to like the Oakview State School and I gave communication boards to put on their buses for Verona schools, too.”
Zurich’s communication boards for Monett, Oakview and Verona school buses are meant to help bus drivers and students understand each other, particularly for kids with low verbal skills, anxiety, or limited English.
Coming up this weekend: Zurich and Zella will be honored by their community for their achievements in Scouting. Their dad explains: "Zurich and Zella both finished their Eagle Scout rank and their Board of Review back on April 7, on the same night, and so we’re celebrating them becoming Eagle Scouts at the same Court of Honor, brother and sister, coming up June the 28th, Saturday.”
Zurich and Zella’s Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony is set for 3 p.m. on Saturday at the First United Methodist Church off Central Avenue in Monett. Local leaders alongside scoutmasters and fellow scouts will participate, say Andrew and Carrie.
"I’ve definitely I think been caught up in the excitement of planning for a Court of Honor," Carrie says. "And friends and family will be gathered. So we’ve been just kind of enjoying their moment.”
Andrew suggests anyone interested in Scouting get in touch with the Ozark Trails Council in Springfield.
