MILLTOWN — Lauren Tyree, a junior at Saint Mark’s High School, has been named the 2024 American Legion National Eagle Scout of the Year.
Tyree, 16, was evaluated on a long list of qualifications, including level of commitment to scouting activities, leadership skills, community service, past honors and awards, Eagle Scout project, extracurricular activities, and career goals. She was honored at two ceremonies in New Orleans and was awarded a $10,000 college scholarship. Her acceptance speech is available to view at https://bit.ly/eaglespeech, and video of her with four other youth champions in New Orleans is at https://bit.ly/legionbroll.
“I have worked to make a difference in communities around the world,” Tyree said in a statement provided by Saint Mark’s. “I am so honored that an organization as esteemed as the American Legion, an organization so relentlessly dedicated to service, would recognize me for my service work.”
Tyree, a member of the legion’s Women’s Auxiliary, has compiled quite a resume. She volunteers for Saint Mark’s, her community and her Scout troop. She has started three nonprofit organizations: one that raised money for food banks during the covid pandemic, one that tackles post-covid loneliness by pairing students with doctors to served in the Dominican Republic, and one that charters Scout troops.
At Saint Mark’s, she is a lead delegate in Model UN, vice president of international service trips for Students in Action, and events volunteer for the Muscle Movement Foundation. Tyree also runs the audio for school Masses and, for the past three years, has produced a nine-camera video broadcast of the school’s graduation.
She is starting a new girls Scouting troop in West Grove, Pa., building a Scout camp on a land grant from a local township, running the National Youth Leadership Training for hundreds of aspiring leaders, and running troop ski trips, according to Saint Mark’s. A Scout for five years, her Eagle Scout project was building a gaga ball pit for her elementary school, as well as starting an annual fundraising dance.
Tyree plans on studying psychology or public policy in college, the school said.
