Teen with Down syndrome earns Eagle Scout badge

Scouts Honor

Bee News Services

E-Mail

Comments (0)

Text Size:

tool goes here

ORLANDO, Fla. — Nineteen-year-old Peter Becht — who couldn't write his own name until the second grade, who couldn't tie his shoes until he was 11, a boy with Down syndrome — is now a young man earning the highest rank a Scout can: Eagle. Last month in a Winter Park, Fla., church, 100 people gathered to celebrate the achievement.

In Scouting, he learned to swim across lakes and rappel down rocky cliffs and ride horses. In school, he explored theater and music. His skills on the drums are so impressive that his teacher is trying to organize a band.

Two years ago, Becht became the first person to serve on the board of the local Down syndrome association to actually have Down syndrome.

For his Eagle Scout community-service project, he raised money and organized the creation of a playground at the Down syndrome association headquarters. He led a crew of fellow Scouts and friends to put up fences, move gutters, plant landscaping, assemble playground equipment and paint a mural.

His Scout leaders didn't cut him much slack, either. He earned not only the requisite 21 badges, but an extra three to boot. He ran three miles for his fitness challenge, learned to chop wood and build a fire and pitch his own tent and hike mountains in Colorado. He also gave speeches on what it was like to have a disability.