Senior Simon Pobocik spent the first several days of his summer vacation building a storage next to the tennis courts at OHS. This 8x12 unit will hold tennis equipment for the teams such as ball carts, ball machines, nets, scorecards and more. “Right now the tennis equipment is being stored in a shared locker room, so I landed on building a shed close to the tennis courts for the Otsego Tennis program to store their equipment.” 

Pobocik is a tennis player, but the driving force is to be an Eagle Scout. ”This project is the last step in an extremely long and challenging journey. I have been a scout since the first grade and have learned many amazing things along the way. Completing this project will be the biggest accomplishment thus far throughout my scouting experience.”

As long as the project benefits the community, it qualifies for this final step. He talked with the school and got approval from the scouts and it’ll be ready to use soon. Right now, tennis equipment is in a shared locker room. “The locker room is a good distance away from the courts in which we play, and having the equipment in a closer location will make it so we can get to practicing much quicker and it will allow for more time towards the end of practice to actually practicing instead of wheeling the carts and other equipment back to the locker room,” he explains.

His years in Scouts has taught him leadership, problem-solving, decision-making, communication and taught him a number of skills in life. He says being an Eagle Scout is not just a rank or a way of identification, “but instead it means living by a code of honor, providing service to those in need, making responsible decisions, and owning up to your mistakes. It’s about being a friendly face and a helpful person, and most importantly doing the right thing simply because it’s the right thing to do. That’s what being an Eagle Scout means to me,” he says.

He’s proving that by helping out school programs with this project. But he says he did not do it alone. “I have had a massive amount of help from family, friends, local businesses, community members, and the school to make this project possible. Without their help this project wouldn’t have been possible.”