Congratulations!!!!

Paris High School junior Christopher Hutson has been awarded the highest Scouts honor, the rank of Eagle Scout, for completing extensive training as a Boy Scout and a notable service project. He has 41 badges, 13 of which are Eagle merits.

Hutson, who earned the rank Thursday, is a member of Lamar Avenue Church of Christ. He noticed that in the park, there were two trees with gnarled roots that posed a safety issue to the kids who played there.

“My solution was to build two rectangular benches around the trees to cover up the roots, provide a seating for the workers there, and for the kids, and it looks good scenery wise,” Hutson said.

Spending more than 240 hours planning and putting the project together, Hutson created an aesthetically pleasing method to help solve a problem he had noticed at his church. His Scoutmaster, Mike Taylor, said this is not the only time Hutson has shown initiative and leadership.

“We were at Paul Smith’s ranch, and I had come in and set an orienteering course for them to go out and do a course to acquire food that they would cook that evening. We had wrapped up everything, and it would lead them from one direction to another, and the patrol leaders were supposed to be leading their patrols. Well, one of the patrol leaders was a little confused, and he just wasn’t doing a good job, and that happens at times, but Chris stepped up, and he didn’t step in the way,” Taylor said.

“He stepped up and helped that patrol leader learn what needed to be done. And they followed through and even took the contest (finishing first).”

Taylor was enthusiastic in his praise of Hutson.

“Chris showed that weekend what it meant, really truly to have the heart of leadership, a heart for others, and to step up and take charge, and show that responsibility that goes with being a good leader and then implementing it, and then not only expecting it to be done, but to follow it through,” he said.

Hutson’s mom, Cynthia Hutson, is a single mother, and she is proud of all that the Scouts has done for her son, which includes providing a male role model when there was none for him at home.

“I feel that not only did my son gain his Eagle, but I gained mine as well. They’ve (the Scouts) helped me to gain some wings to soar and helped me to understand to let go sometimes. And I feel very confident in the fact that I’ve raised a young man now, and I know that he can do it,” she said.

Cynthia Hutson added that she sees her son as a role model to others in his community.

“I know with him, there were no black Scouts that I saw for him to, you know, be there to follow and to see as role models, so I want him to be that role model for other young men to be able to see that. It doesn’t matter what color you are. It’s open for everyone,” she said.

A 16-year-old junior, Hutson has been a Scout since he was in kindergarten, working his way up through the ranks of Cub and Boy Scouts. He is an assistant athletic trainer at Paris High, and he plays trombone in the marching band. Additionally, Hutson is a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo and often leads sermons at Lamar Avenue Church of Christ. Some of his pastimes include public speaking, photography and writing poetry.

After graduating high school, Hutson plans to complete paramedic training and join the U.S. Army.