Local Eagle Scout Logan Mathews makes a difference

Logan Mathews poses at Runge Nature Center where he's worked this summer on an invasive species program to eliminate unwanted growth.
Logan Mathews poses at Runge Nature Center where he's worked this summer on an invasive species program to eliminate unwanted growth.

While most Eagle Scouts earn the honor at age 17, Helias Catholic High School junior Logan Mathews earned the title when he was only 14.

Mathews joined Cub Scouts in kindergarten and crossed into Boy Scouts in fifth grade. He is currently the junior assistant scoutmaster for Troop 4, where he works with younger Boy Scouts as a mentor.

Eagle Scout is the highest Boy Scouts rank attainable. In 2019, 8 percent of all Boy Scouts earned the Eagle Scout rank, and the average age of youth earning the rank was 17, according to scouting.org.

Mathews became an Eagle Scout and junior assistant scoutmaster for showing outstanding leadership skills. Boy Scouts has taught him public speaking skills as well as servant leadership, he said, which is the act of serving those you're leading.

"Boy Scouts has taught me how to be a good, effective leader, which is something that I'll always value," he said.

Mathews has also gained leadership skills from serving on Helias' Student Council, and he has gained perseverance through track and cross country as he pushes himself during each practice and meet.

After he graduates from high school, Mathews plans to double major in biomedical engineering and psychology, then attend medical school at Washington University in St. Louis to become a radiologist.

He discovered his interest in radiology two years ago when he had the opportunity to shadow a doctor at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis for Boy Scouts, which he described as eye-opening.

He has also participated in the EXPLORE program, where he visited St. Mary's Hospital and learned about different medical procedures such as surgery, imaging and pathology.

"I just loved it, and I love helping people and the idea of helping people - especially saving people's lives for my job is just something that is really appealing to me."

Mathews' scouting career is his proudest accomplishment, he said. It's given him many opportunities, such as attending the World Scout Jamboree, completing and serving on staff at National Youth Leadership Training, and completing many projects.

Mathews' latest project was an invasive species project as his first step to earning the William T. Hornaday Silver Medal, a Boy Scouts award for service in conservation and ecology.

Mathews developed this project with assistance from Runge Conservation Nature Center Manager Kevin Lohraff. With the help of about 20 volunteers, they spent more than 150 hours removing 10 invasive species from about 5 acres of Runge Nature Center in Jefferson City.

As part of the project, Mathews also filmed and edited a series of 12 YouTube videos to inform the community about why we should care about invasive species and how to identify and properly remove them, and he created a brochure with a map that will be available at Runge Nature Center for people to mark invasive species and turn it in for the species to be removed.

The silver medal award requires four projects, so Mathews' next project toward earning the medal will be building recycling bins to be placed on Adrian's Island, planning an E-waste recycling drive and hosting a recycling-themed poster contest at Runge Nature Center for seventh- and eighth-grade students in Jefferson City.

Becoming an Eagle Scout at an early age has allowed Mathews to focus on projects like this, which - if he earns the silver medal - will be his proudest accomplishment, he said.

"Doing projects like this - the Hornaday - that's probably going to be my crown jewel because this is a really rare thing," he said. "A lot of times people are hard pressed just to get Eagle."

For his Eagle Scout project, Mathews built more than 300 square feet of shelving for The Salvation Army. He has also helped other Eagle Scouts with projects such as putting fishing line recycling bins at Binder Park, building fire rings at a campsite and building butterfly houses.

While these projects and activities look good on college and scholarship applications, that's not why Mathews does them. He does them because he enjoys making a difference.

"What motivates me is just having an impact on the community and leaving something behind," he said.