Four Tamaqua Area High School students spent years training for the rank of Eagle Scout.

To earn the prestigious honor, Stephen Behun IV, Thomas Graham, Jathan Krall and Jack Tharp earned numerous merit badges, completed service projects and learned life and leadership skills.

And recently, they joined on yet another level - as members of a Tamaqua boys swim team 200 freestyle relay.

Normally, the four compete on an individual level; this was the first time that swim coach Jen Paisley combined the four.

“In regards to the relay, Scouting has been a way of life for these boys for so many years that it just seemed like a natural way to commemorate their achievement of their Eagle rank by assembling the boys together in a different way to work together toward a common goal with their teamwork,” Paisley explained.

The all-Eagle Scout team scored a second place.

“They were excited for their teammates and happy about their finish,” Paisley said.

The combination was likely a rare one, since only about 4% of Scouts earn the Eagle rank.

Behun, Krall and Tharp, all members of Clamtown Troop 755, and Graham, a member of Tamaqua Troop 777, reflected on how being an Eagle Scout helps them to excel.

“The working mindset, tenacity, and dedication instilled in me by the scouting program and the challenges I had to face to earn the rank of Eagle have left me a capable, motivated young man,” Behun said. “As someone who has spent 14 years working toward a singular goal - the rank of Eagle - spending a few months in the pool working toward a championship or a few on the pitch working toward a playoff game pales in terms of difficulty. Likewise, a two-hour swim practice, regardless of difficulty, is always preferable to an 8-hour hike in freezing rain.”

Behun noted that the leadership skills and abilities that he picked up as a leader in his troop, at the National Scout Jamboree, and during his time working on his 300-man-hour Eagle Scout project have transitioned well to his work as a leader in his school and community. He is a coach for the 70-athlete Blue Waves swim team; president of Tamaqua’s Class of 2024, National Honor Society and the Raider Band; and treasurer of the Tamaqua Area Drama Club and Future Business Leaders of America.

“I attribute all of my success as a student and community leader, varsity athlete, musician, actor, lifeguard and coach at least in part to the skills and traits that I picked up on the trail to Eagle,” Behun explained.

“Becoming an Eagle has helped me become more confident in my leadership abilities, which I use frequently as a section leader in band, and in my home troop helping my fellow scouts rank up and work toward their Eagles,” Graham said.

He said he was recently asked to help his church council as a youth representative, because of the skills he learned and demonstrates frequently.

Krall said Scouting “as a whole” has helped him develop into the person he is today.

“So many life skills and lessons were taught to me as I grew up through scouting. Reaching the rank of Eagle was the climax to these lessons and has not only allowed me to excel in the scouting world, but has also provided me with the knowledge to be successful in my everyday life,” Krall said.

He added that scouting has taught him how to act respectful and to be hardworking, and those are two of the best traits he believes he received from scouting.

“I strive to be the best at everything I do and give it my all, and I always treat others with the same respect that I wish to be treated with,” Krall said. “Being an Eagle Scout has opened up so many new opportunities for me and allows me to excel at everything I do both now and in my future.”

Tharp said that when training to become an Eagle Scout, members are required to learn skills such as knot-tying, starting fires, cooking, first aid and more.

“But what not many know is that Eagle Scouts are also taught more abstract skills, such as public speaking, leadership, and teamwork. So they’re technically all equally important in becoming an Eagle Scout, but being able to bring over leadership and teamwork abilities to the real world helps give me an edge over my peers more than anything else,” Tharp said.

“Many mentors constantly say, ‘Be a leader, not a follower’ but many people don’t know how to be a leader. Because of being an Eagle Scout, I learned these skills and I’m able to apply this to everyday life.”

Tharp explained that leadership isn’t the only skill that works like that, but it is the most common example of something that most Eagle Scouts have that give them an advantage over others.