Since he was six years old, Andrew Thomas Siva dreamed of becoming an Eagle Scout. This dream became a reality on September 3rd, 2010. On January 15th, he will be awarded the Eagle rank at a Court of Honor at Markham Woods Presbyterian Church.
Almost sixteen years old, Andrew is currently a sophomore attending Lake Mary Preparatory School. As an ardent Catholic, he takes his religion very seriously and is a participant in the St. Mary Magdalen youth group where he also attends church.
Parents, George and Cynthia Siva, have been inspiring role models for Andrew throughout his life. Cynthia, his mother is a fifth grade teacher at Lake Mary Preparatory School: the school, which Andrew has been a part of since third grade. George, his father is a salesman for Konica Minolta, a successful company who caters to many local businesses in the Orlando area.
Among Andrew’s numerous Scouting honors, he is a member of Scouting’s Honor Society, the Order of the Arrow and has received the Brotherhood rank. With this organization, Andrew volunteered at 4Corps 2010 – a project where many O.A. members worked in the Ocala National Forest on conversation projects. He has earned the National Youth Leadership Training by attending a one-week rigorous leadership skills camp in Paisley, Florida. Andrew’s other achievements include the World Conservation Award, the 50-miler (canoeing at a high-adventure camp in the Boundary Waters), Arrow of Light, and the Founder’s Bar.
Perhaps Andrew’s most apparent contribution to his troop is through his work and organizational skills as Scribe. He has attended all meetings to take attendance, keep minutes of the meetings and other troop activities, communicate this information, and collect dues. Andrew has held this position for one and a half years, along with that of Historian, Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Patrol Leader, and Order of the Arrow Representative.
His scoutmaster, Scott Ankerholz, a local businessman with Bright House Networks, is a well qualified individual whom is also an Eagle Scout. Mr. Ankerholz’s Scouting career included many winter camping trips and some hiking/backpacking excursions through Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. Andrew’s troop, Troop 263 from Lake Mary, including Mr. Ankerholz would like to thank Markham Woods Presbyterian Church for being the charter organization and allowing them to hold their meetings every Monday.
At Lake Mary Prep, Andrew is also involved in several activities. As part of the debate team, he is the trainer for Student Congress which involves teaching his peers the skills they need to form valid arguments with analysis. He has been playing trombone for six years, and is in both symphonic and jazz band at school. For two years, Andrew has run cross country and plans to continue to do so throughout the rest of high school. He is a member of the National Honors Society, with approximately 311 hours of community service so far. Andrew is part of the Student Ambassador program
Not only has Andrew been a member of Boy Scouts for an ample amount of time, but also he has recently started taking an interest in Sea Scouts. Sea Scouts has helped Andrew to begin working on water-related merit badges, such as Small Boat Sailing. These merit badges can be used to receive Eagle Palm awards later on.
Some of Andrew’s favorite parts of his Scouting adventure and journey included venturing to Northern Tier and Okpik High Adventure Winter Camping in Northern Minnesota, volunteering in Cooking at Cub Scout Day Camp in Lake Mary every summer, and being the first scout in his troop to complete his “Trail to Eagle.”
While talking about his project Andrew describes his reason for choosing the project in the following way:
The reason I chose this site for my project was this organization benefited a family friend’s brother. Both of her brothers were residents of the Clarcona home [Quest Home for physically and mentally disabled men]. When one brother passed away, it was my desire to complete a project for all the men of this house. While the surviving brother still lived there, I helped paint and was able to experience the importance of a home for these men. My Eagle Scout project is humbly dedicated to and in memory of Jimmy Morin.
Andrew’s project was geared towards improving the quality of the outdoors for the men who reside at the Clarcona Home. His project did so by creating a butterfly garden, putting in benches, a hummingbird feeder, mulching, trimming trees, clearing debris, and cleaning the patio. He raised $728 through various fundraising projects, spent over 35 hours planning the details, and recruited twenty-six volunteers who spent 79 hours on the project. In total, all hours worked on the project, were 114.
Andrew’s plans for the future include becoming a professor of American history, philosophy, political science, and journalism. He plans to study philosophy at St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland.
