Gerard Beleckas started his education at The Hagedorn Little Village School, Jack Joel Center for Special Children in Seaford, and years later, he found a way to pay it forward with his Eagle Scout project.
To earn his rank and take the next step from being a Cub, he had to organize a project to help his community. He knew that he wanted to give thanks for a previous step in his upbringing.
Gerard Beleckas’s Eagle Scout Project
“I had to come up with the idea and where I wanted to do it, so I thought of my preschool,” Gerard said. “I wanted to pay it back since I went there and I thought it’d be nice to do something helpful there.”
After researching potential topics, he finally settled on a sensory board.
It was a big wood project that involved assembling toys and objects on the board, which had lots of materials and sounds.
Since the board is a freestanding wall with tactile objects, it is accessible to every student.
Gerard had help from younger Cub Scouts and acted as a leader, guiding them on his vision. He installed it at the end of May 2022 and cemented it as a part of the preschool’s playground.
“I was nervous at first that kids would not want to use it, but I saw pictures after the fact of them playing and it made me feel good,” Gerard said. “I was giving back a little bit of what they gave me in trying to help the different students there.”
Both he and his sister attended The Hagedorn Little Village School, so his dedication to helping his alma mater was touching to his family.
“It was so awesome and the school means a lot to us. He had a speech delay when he was younger and received services there,” his mother, Kaitlyn Beleckas, said. “The school not only helps the children, but they are so supportive of the families.”
Belecka makes Eagle Scout rank, continues to pay it forward
Gerard officially earned the Eagle Scout title at the end of August 2022 for his project, culminating a Cub Scouts journey that started when he was in first grade.
Even after finishing, he has continued to help with other Eagle Scout applications and has always wanted to lend a helping hand to his peers, along with doing community service and leadership activities on weekends.
“Scouts is about learning new experiences and building leadership skills,” Kaitlyn said.
“The whole premise of becoming an Eagle Scout is not just him doing the project, but directing other scouts and being a leader.”
