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A Shakopee, Minn., student has been named The American Legion Eagle Scout of the Year for 2008.
Paul J. P. Banwart, 18, a senior at Shakopee High School and a member of Venturing Crew 88, earned the award and a college scholarship worth $10,000. The award was announced during The American Legion's board of directors meeting here.
The award recognizes Banwart’s practical citizenship at school, scouting and his passion and commitment to the environment and conservation. For his Eagle Scout project, Banwart demonstrated the importance of bat habitats in addressing the public health concerns dealing with Meningitis and West Nile through the construction of bat boxes to house over 650 bats and the creation of an informational brochure and website. As an Adopt-A-Park sponsor, he orchestrated an environmental project involving the DNR and Deer Hunters Associations while enlisting and educating Cub Scouts in the planting of 300 trees to provide wildlife cover and prevent erosion.
For his conservation projects and community service, he has received Bronze, Silver and Gold Medal Congressional Awards, Time Warner Youth Service Award for Outstanding Dedication to Community Volunteer Work, the Lion’s Community Service Award and the Presidential Volunteer Service Gold Award.
Banwart, while in high school, graduated college last December, earning an Associate in Arts Degree with Emphasis in Accounting from Normandale Community College in Bloomington. He plans to attend the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota in the fall.
Banwart, an Eagle Scout since 2004, is also an honors student and star athlete.
The American Legion awarded a $2,500 scholarship to Tyler James Moore of Marine, Ill., Brandon Charles Drozd of Genoa, Neb., and David M. Cairns of Stowe, Vt.
The American Legion has supported Scouting since its first National Convention in 1919. Legion posts sponsor more than 2,700 Scouting units, serving more than 72,800 young people, at a cost of more than $1.7 million.
