ShawneeDispatch.com

It's been two years since Reid Chapman took on a monumental task for his Eagle Scout project, and now it is complete.

Mill Valley High School will officially dedicate the Character Counts Arena created near the football field by the sophomore, a member of Boy Scout Troop No. 351, Friday at the school's homecoming game. The arena takes the typical Eagle Scout landscaping project to a whole other level.

"When I took my project to the (Eagle Scout) board, they had some doubts that I would be able to do it, but doing a small project just didn't appeal to me," Reid said. "Sure doing that, I could have been an Eagle Scout two years ago, but it's a life experience, something I'll be able to take with me in the future."

The arena is 60 feet in diameter, rimmed by six 10-foot tall columns marked with the character traits taught diligently at De Soto schools: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Reid actually came up with the idea when he was in seventh grade, hoping it could be both a community gathering place and a home to school functions.

Soon after proposing and getting approval for his idea in the summer of 2006, school district officials put Reid in touch with a contractor the district has used for its projects in the past.

He worked on and off with some people at that company, all the while raising funds for his project, but Reid said it was soon clear that they were too busy to help him. It was July 2007 by that point, and some friends helped him get in touch with another contracting company. But again, Reid soon found they had too many other projects going on and wouldn't be able to help him.

Finally, one of Reid's contacts had him meet with Bob Graverholt of Cornerstone Engineering, who was able to put Reid in touch with all the right people.

"He was the one who really helped me get my project started after such a rocky start," Reid said.

Reid's mother, Millie Chapman, said she thought Reid had become disillusioned after two large companies in the area had failed to come through for him, so making contact with Graverholt was critical. She said at their first meeting, Graverholt sat down with Reid for four hours to discuss the project.

"He saw something in Reid that reminded him of his own son, and they just clicked," she said. "And the very next day, the phone calls started pouring in because of Bob Graverholt."

But while Graverholt counseled and guided Reid, and other professionals helped out, Reid did most of the work.

"I did have a lot of individuals help me; it was mostly the stuff I wasn't able to do on my own, like the sandblasting and the grading," he said. "I did as much work as I could."

The design for the arena has gone through some changes through the process, with different arrangements for the columns and also a location change for the arena from near the football field scoreboard to near the concession stand.

In the fall of 2007, the columns were finally put up.

"Some of the parts were more difficult than I thought they would be, like getting the columns in the ground and getting them together," Reid said.

The columns included six pieces that had to be bolted together, which Reid said was probably the most difficult thing, taking four days for all of the columns, which were installed just before the winter made it impossible to continue.

When the weather warmed up again, Reid bought a centerpiece for the project, originally intended to be a fire pit but currently serving as a planter. He created a walkway around the centerpiece with imprinted bricks donors purchased for the project, and placed benches around it imprinted with the names of major donors.

Though he thought he would have to raise about $10,000 for the arena, Reid said it came out to only $7,500 because so many companies donated items - namely the columns themselves, which were donated by Continental Capstone.

"I was real pleased the help that everybody was able to give me," Reid said.

Millie Chapman said a lot of companies told Reid what they were going to charge him in the beginning, but as the project grew, they would reduce the cost.

"That was what was so neat about the project, they all saw something special in Reid," she said. "They all saw how, if he could work through this, he would be able to do great things one day."

For now, Reid can finally take some time to relax.

"After Friday, the project will still be a big part of my life, but it won't be as demanding," Reid said. "It won't be mom yelling at me - 'Reid, you need to call some people.' The majority of my Saturdays and the majority of my summer, I was working."

Reid still needs to finish up a booklet on his project, explaining his motivation to complete it and the support he received, to move on in the process of becoming an Eagle Scout. But now he should be able to focus a little more on his future career ambitions.

"I'm interested in becoming an aerospace engineer for NASA, because that's always fascinated me," he said. "I'd like to design satellites and robotic parts that they send into space."

Millie Chapman said she didn't think her son quite realized what completing the project signified. She said she recently tried to explain her view to him as they were finishing things up at the arena, that as he had worked through all of the challenges along the way, he had truly developed the leadership skills and met the goals of the Eagle Scout.

"I said to him 'When you started this project it was bigger than you, but now, you're bigger than the project,'" she said.

The dedication will take place at 6:30 p.m. Friday before the start of the football game.