AHS student earns Eagle Scout award

Albany High senior Xavier Carrillo has completed the requirements to achieve his Eagle Scout award and the Life Scout plans to have his court of honor ceremony this winter.

His Scout troop, Abilene Troop 3, had planned their Winter Court of Honor and Christmas Banquet for Saturday, Dec. 8, but postponed the event due to inclement weather.

To be eligible to apply for the Eagle Scout award, the highest award available through the Boy Scouts of America organization, a Life Scout must have earned at least 21 total merit badges, served in a leadership role in their Scout troop, taken part in a unit leader conference, and completed a service project.

Carrillo completed his final merit badges including Communications and also Personal Management, over the past summer, and turned in his final paperwork a few weeks before his 18th birthday.

The board review form paperwork must be turned in before the Scout reaches 18 years of age, though the Eagle Scout court of honor ceremony can take place even after the Scout’s birthday.

“I finally finished up in the middle of the summer,” said Carrillo. “I tend to procrastinate, and I cut it pretty close. My birthday was in late August.”

Carrillo first became active in Scouts several years ago when he lived in Abilene and he attended Boy Scout meetings as a mascot, even before he was old enough to enroll.

“My cousins were in the troop,” the Eagle Scout said. “I think that I was in the fifth grade when I officially joined the Scouts.”

Carrillo thought Scouting was really cool at first, but when he hit middle school, he changed his mind for a while.

“Scouting has always been a big thing in my family, but then when I was in middle school it seemed pretty lame,” he said. “A few years later, when I was in high school, I could see the point in it again.”

Carrillo decided to pursue the top rank of Eagle Scout for several reasons.

“The main reason I wanted to get the award is to help me in the future,” Carrillo said. “It looks good on job applications, and if I go into the Navy, it will allow me to start as an E3. Another of the big reasons that I finished it was for my grandmother.”

Carrillo’s cousin Drew McGowan is an Eagle Scout, and their grandmother wanted Carrillo to earn the award as well. 

Many Scouts scramble to finish their service project in time, but Carrillo completed that requirement more than two years ago.

The idea for an Eagle Scout project may be an original one or one already done by someone else. In either case, the Scout must plan, develop, and lead others in doing the project, “demonstrating leadership.”

In Carrillo’s case, the project was done on a somewhat emergency time schedule, he said.

Community Service Project

Carrillo built a wheelchair ramp to replace a dilapidated ramp at Cooper High School.

“It was to the point that the old ramp was a hazard,” he said. “We had get the new one completed in just a week or two.”

The ramp in question allowed access to the portable building that was assigned to his mother, Jillian Carrion, and she needed to make sure that her special needs students could safely navigate their way into her classroom.

“There was a lot of paperwork that had to be turned in,” Carrillo said. “We had to meet all of the school’s standards before we could start the project. I also had to get the paperwork signed by my Scoutmaster.”

Carrillo said that quite a few people assisted him with the project, including his mother, Scoutmaster Don Christensen, uncles and aunts including Kyle and Sherry Viertel, Andrew McGowan, and John Pacheco, and great uncle and aunt Clayton and Rhonda Tettleton.

“It has been a while since then, and I can’t recall everyone who helped, but there were a lot of volunteers,” the Scout said. “I planned the ramp design, using the previous ramp and making some improvements including replacing the plywood surface with a different building material that provides a surface with better grip.”

Abilene ISD supplied the building materials.

“While another group of workers measured and cut the pieces, I drilled holes and put in some of the screws,” Carrillo said. 

Although Carrion is no longer teaching in the building, the ramp is still allowing handicapped individuals safe access.

Past and Future Plans

Carrillo was on the gymnastics team at Cooper. He is in shop class and helped build the “Albany A’s” and the community Christmas tree.

He has worked at Prairie Star, The Albany News, and for Randy Hudson doing oil field work.

“I intend to go into the Navy, and I’ve talked to my recruiter,” Carrillo said. “They can train me to be a diesel mechanic, and that will set me up for a career when I get out.”

The Eagle Scout would like to serve 20 years, retire from the military, and then continue working on machinery.

“I have helped my dad work on trucks, and I like mechanic work,” Carrillo said. 

Carrillo is the son of Jillian and Eli Carrion of Albany, and the grandson of Melinda and Donnie Lucas of Albany, and of Mildred Pacheco of Abilene.