By Matthew Sockol
Staff Writer
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – A young man from Freehold Township has followed in the tradition of many of his family members by attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.
Zachary Simon, who is a sophomore at Freehold Township High School, was inducted as an Eagle Scout during a Court of Honor ceremony on Feb. 24.
Zachary is a member of Troop 155, which is chartered by the West Freehold School PTO, and has been part of the Boy Scouts of America since 2008.
With his achievement, Zachary joins his brothers Daniel Jr., Jacob and Kyle in reaching the highest rank in the Boy Scouts. His father, Daniel Simon Sr., is also an Eagle Scout and is one of five siblings who attained the rank.
The young man credits his older brothers for being his inspiration to join the Boy Scouts.
“I always wanted to be like (my brothers) and all of them were having successful scouting careers,” Zachary said. “I also wanted to go on all the camp-outs after they came home and told stories of what they did there.”
For his Eagle Scout project, Zachary installed roll-down window security shades on classroom doors at Freehold Township High School. In an emergency situation, a teacher will be able to unroll the shade and block the view from the hallway into the classroom.
The young man’s motivation for his project was a security concern he had with his school’s lockdown drills.
“During lockdown drills, there were too many students in one class to hide in the corner and not be seen,” Zachary said. “I experienced this dilemma every lockdown drill myself. So I wanted to create something that would fix this problem and keep the students safe. That is when the idea of shades came into my mind.”
Assistant Principal David Bleakley said, “Zachary worked closely with the administration to identify a safety concern and then generated a plan of action to address that concern. He was a pleasure to work with and showed maturity beyond his years.
“Zachary demonstrated excellent communication and organizational skills, he planned meticulously and executed his plan, and he delivered on his promises. There is no doubt the staff and students who report to Freehold Township High School each day are safer because of Zachary’s work on this project,” Bleakley said.
“I would like to thank everyone who helped me get to this achievement, my mother and father, the Freehold Township High School administrators, the adult scouting leaders, my fellow scouts and my friends for making this project a reality,” Zachary said. “I hope the shades help protect the students at Freehold Township High School for a long time.”
“As one of five Eagle Scout brothers myself, I am so blessed to see this great family tradition continue with my four sons,” Daniel Simon Sr. said. “My wife, Linda, and I are very proud of Zachary and his brothers for earning one of the most prestigious awards any young man can attain.
“We are grateful for the dedicated leadership of Troop 155, which has a great history and continues to provide outstanding support and overall experience for its scouts.”
