Special to Wesson News
Ben McKenzie, 17 year-old member of Wesson Boy Scout Troop 125 and resident of Brookhaven, has earned the Boy Scouts of America’s (BSA) highest advancement award -- the Eagle Scout Award.
McKenzie is one of only approximately four percent of all Boy Scouts who attain the Eagle rank.
Eagle candidates must earn 21 merit badges and successfully complete a community, church, or school service project. In his service project, McKenzie partnered with BillionGraves.com to photograph, GPS locate, and catalog to a national database all the graves in the Zion Hill Baptist Church Cemetery in Wesson.
When he was seven years old, McKenzie joined Wesson Cub Scout Pack 125 and later earned its highest award -- Arrow of Light. In 2017, he crossed over to Wesson Boy Scout Troop 125 and started the journey to Eagle. In 2019, he was elected by his peers to the Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s National Honor Society.
McKenzie currently serves as Chaplain Aide and Senior Patrol Leader for the Wesson Troop. He is a dedicated member of Zion Hill Baptist Church in Wesson and is active in First Priority, FCA, band, soccer, and tennis at Wesson Attendance Center, where he is also Junior Class President. He is the son of Wayne and Heather McKenzie of Brookhaven.
The Boy Scouts of America is one of the nation’s largest and most prominent values-based youth development organizations. The BSA provides a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating
citizenship and develops personal fitness.
For more than a century, the BSA has helped build future U.S. leaders by combining educational activities and lifelong values with fun. The Boy Scouts of America believes, and through over a century of experience, knows that helping
youth is a key to building a more conscientious, responsible and productive society.
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