Dakota Jester’s Boy Scout experience started with following his older brother to scout meetings and trips at age 11.
“I thought it was fun,” said Jester, now a 16-year-old Pawhuska High School sophomore. “You learn how to start a fire without matches, learn which plants to stay away from, learn to cook and always pick up after yourself.”
Through those camping and training experiences, Jester (Osage) developed countless survival skills and earned several merit badges and Boy Scout rankings for his efforts. The dedication paid off.
Jester is now an Eagle Scout rank – the highest achievement ranking in Boy Scouts – and joins a small class of Boy Scouts nationwide who also hold the ranking. On Dec. 21, Jester received his Eagle Scout award, medal and merit badge at an award ceremony held in front of his family, friends and Boy Scouts Troop 43 peers at the Wah-Zha-Zhi Cultural Center.
“It feels good, I’ll stick with it to help younger kids in scouting,” Jester said. Like other scouts, Jester earned over 20 merit badges and completed a scouting project to be eligible for the Eagle Scout ranking. His honoring also comes over three years after older brother Dalton Abrams earned his Eagle Scout rank in 2009.
“It makes me feel great as a parent,” Pam Abrams-Jester said of her son’s scouting achievement. She added she’s also proud of Jester’s other recent activities including making straight A’s, taking Osage language classes and traveling overseas as part of the People to People Ambassador Programs to countries including China, England and Scotland. At Pawhuska High, Jester is on the wrestling and track teams.
In scouting, Jester said he enjoyed participating in the annual National Scout Jamborees where as many as 40,000-plus scouts participate in scouting activities, camping and networking. “I learned a whole lot about badges and met lots of troops from different parts of the country,” he said.
For his Eagle Scout project, Jester served six months in a leadership position while he and fellow scouts built five wooden bookshelves for the Pawhuska Public Library. The project had its challenges as Jester needed to make sure the shelves were built correctly with the group effort.
At times, “it was crazy I had no idea what I was doing but thankfully I figured it out and kept everyone busy,” he said.
Scout Leader Bruce Hendren also praised Jester for his efforts during the award ceremony. “We see a lot of guys come and a lot of guys go, but we don’t see a lot of Eagle Scouts,” Hendren said. “It will be with Dakota for the rest of his life, he’s learned to work with all kinds of people.”
According to the Boy Scouts of America, 51,473 scouts earned the Eagle Scout ranking in 2011. That’s about 5 percent of all scouts accounted for that year. The average age of a Boy Scout earning the Eagle Scout ranking was 17 in 2011. From 1912 to 2011, more than 2 million Boy Scouts earned the Eagle Scout rank.
According to www.biography.com, notable men who earned the Eagle Scout rank include late astronaut Neil Armstrong; New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg; former U.S. President Gerald Ford; filmmaker Michael Moore and Wal-Mart Stores Co. founder Sam Walton.
“You’ve become an example for a community, actions will be more conspicuous and people will expect more of you,” Hendren told Jester in his congratulatory remarks.
With two more years remaining in high school, Jester said he was undecided on what he would do afterward. Pam Abrams-Jester said with Dakota’s good grades, “he’s going to have a lot of opportunities” and he has younger cousins who will benefit from his scouting experience.
Jester is the youngest son of Abrams-Jester and Troy Jester. His grandparents are Pam and the late Jesse Abrams and Sammie and Stephen Jester.
By
Benny Polacca
Original Publish Date: 2013-02-06 00:00:00