EASTERN HANCOCK — The new logo on the elementary school playground is “pretty cool,” district officials said. What makes the design even more special is that a current student created it.
As far back as Eli Manship can recall, all the way to kindergarten, he’s loved being associated with Eastern Hancock schools. That’s why when it came time for the longtime Boy Scout of Troop 293 in Charlottesville to go for his Eagle Scout Badge, he knew he wanted to do something to help his school district.
“This is my favorite place ever,” Manship said. “I just love being here, at school, and I wanted to contribute back here.”
Manship, a freshman at Eastern Hancock High School, is in the midst of earning the rank of Eagle Scout, an honor given to a scout who has been a “Life Scout” and has earned a minimum of 21 merit badges. Some of the other qualifications include making sure the scout has demonstrated “Scout Spirit” and has demonstrated leadership within their troop, all things Manship has done.
“Scouting has strict requirements and policies so it’s a difficult task to earn an Eagle Scout rank, but it’s fun too because I got the chance to work with people I don’t normally get to,” Manship said.
In order to earn the Eagle Scout badge, Manship also needed to come up with a long-lasting community project, so he selected doing something for the EH school district.
“His goal was to make our amazing schools an even better place both now and in the future,” Superintendent George Philhower said. “His list was pretty impressive.”
Instead of doing just one project and calling it a day, Manship went well above and beyond and took on a main project with several different elements at the EH elementary playground area. He fixed a drainage area next to the basketball courts that was flooding, causing mud to be brought inside; reseeded the area that was dug up to reroute the water flow; resurfaced the basketball court and painted regulation lines on it as well as added the “Royal Pride” motto and a new EH logo that he designed.
Manship also painted a hopscotch pattern along the sidewalk, repaired the wet and muddy crossing area to the north with stepping stones and ground cover, built picnic tables with military-grade vinyl covers in “Royal Blue.” The last thing on his list is adding height-adjustable basketball goals, which has been scheduled.
“I really liked the painting, the court design and how it looks,” Manship said. “I designed it.”
Manship put in nearly 100 hours of work to complete the projects and spent an estimated $12,500, which he raised, including getting a grant from Ninestar worth $6,000. He started planning the overall project in April and began work in mid-July. Manship will have to present all the work to officials, and he hopes to hear by the end of the year that he’s earned his Eagle Scout badge.
Philhower noted district officials are grateful Manship selected the EH elementary school playground area to do his project because he could have done a community project elsewhere.
“When I first came to Eastern Hancock, people described things here as a family and something like this is kind of what a family does for each other — look out for the next generation,” Philhower said. “Eli is the model student when it means you have ‘Royal Pride.’”
Manship said he could not have done the work without the support of the community and thanked his supporters — Signorama, Otto’s Painting, Golden Painting, Mozzi’s Pizza, Family Leisure, Wilkinson Insurance, Mike Leonard Excavating, Daniel Tumelty at 84 Lumber, the Hancock Health Foundation, Joyner Homes, Greenfield Banking, Retta Livengood, Ninestar, the Charlottesville Lions Club and many people in the community who contributed.
He also thanked his scout master, Dan Larrison, and scout leader Joe Ricker, as well as Scout Master Ty Hunt and Scout Troop 293 for helping.
Manship noted many people were a part of bringing the project to life, and he especially thanked the people at the school district including the leaders, administrators, teachers, staff and school board for inspiring and encouraging him to support and to serve others as well as give back to the community.
