Jeffrey's Eagle Project!

For his Eagle Leadership Service Project Jeffrey chose to have permanent signs made for the Stake Relief Society's "Gifts From the Heart" annual clothing exchange. Every fall the Relief Society hosts a giant clothing exchange in the cultural hall of the Stake Center. Clothing and household items are dropped off at the Stake Center the night before the event, and then volunteers sort and categorize the donations, hanging them on racks and arranging them on tables. Up until now, the signs to identify clothing categories have been borrowed from a neighboring stake. With the completion of Jeffrey's project, the Stake Relief Society is now self-sufficient.

Jeffrey has been planning and implementing his project since March of this year. After getting his project approved, fund-raising, buying and gathering materials, and getting volunteers to do the work, he finally got the project completed on Saturday, June 6th, and Saturday, June 13th.

The first work day was held at the Prymak's house. Brother Prymak cut boards and pipes to the proper sizes, and did sanding and drilling. Some people cleaned the red lettering off of the PVC pipe with acetone, then washed the pipes with soapy water to get the acetone off before it melted the plastic. Others primed and painted the wooden bases for the signs.

On the second work day, which was held at the Church building, lots of people turned out to put the lettering on the corrugated plastic signs that had been prepared by other volunteers during the week. Some men and boys used 2" and 1" white reflective tape to created large exterior signs designed to guide people through the drop-off process when bringing donations to the church. Others used self-adhesive black lettering to make the interior signs for categorizing the clothing and other items that are donated. We were all thrilled that the signs were completely finished after only three hours of work!

Several weeks later Jeffrey put all the signs together for the Stake Relief Society Presidency and officially turned them over to them. The Presidency was really pleased with the finished product and grateful to Jeffrey for getting the signs made.

The Last Days of 8th Grade!

The last two weeks of school are always a whirlwind of activity, and especially so for the end of the 8th grade year. Gregory finished his tennis season well as the second best middle school tennis player in eastern Prince William County! He shows great potential and is looking forward to playing at the high school level. All those tennis lessons during the fall and winter seem to be paying off!

The final band concert of the year was wonderful. As a percussionist in the band Gregory played multiple instruments, including the timpani, snare and bass drums, and cymbals. Before the end of the school year Gregory auditioned for the drum line in the Gar-Field High School Marching Band and was selected as a bass drummer. He's already had a few practices to begin learning the ropes before band camp begins in August.

The 8th Grade Award Ceremony was exciting for us. Gregory was acknowledged for Outstanding Effort and Achievement in all five of his academic classes (something not very many students achieved). He also received an engraved plaque honoring him as the Outstanding Eighth Grade World History Student for his Team. His teacher, Mr. Lyng, said some very nice things about him when he presented the award. We are so proud of Gregory and his success and efforts in Middle School. We know he'll have a great experience at Gar-Field High School the next four years in the International Baccalaureate Program. Go Gregory!