TWO FROM NDP EARN EAGLE SCOUT STATUS

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February 26, 2021

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

David Brouns and Michael Kenny are the latest students from Notre Dame in recent years to receive rare honor.

Notre Dame junior David Brouns and freshman Michael Kenny earned the rank of Eagle Scout, the highest award given by the Boy Scouts of America. According to BSA, only about 4 percent of the nearly three million scouts nationwide earn Eagle Scout status.

The two bring the number of Notre Dame Prep Eagle Scouts to more than 20, joining fellow students or alums Adam Martin, Nalin Fox, Kalan Hand, John Kenny, Austin Greif, Thomas Frost, Kevin Cragg, Logan Hand, Mitchell Ballew, William Ballew, Anthony VanDieren, Logan Verheyen, Brennan Eagle, Tyler Obear, Ryan Flaherty, Ryan Dau, Erik Egner, Connor Verheyen, Jack Stouffer, Joe Lombardo, Nathan White, and Chris, Matthew and Peter Dondanville who have received the honor in recent years.

For his Eagle Scout project, Brouns helped a non-profit therapy retreat in Ortonville called Berthet Ranch convert an addition next to a garage into a greenhouse/three-season room that they use to teach younger children the basics of horticulture.  

"The project entailed the installation of two windows, a door, insulation, ship-lap siding and a workbench," Brouns said. "It also included painting, clearing and moving dirt, and framing. Total time spent was nearly 400 man-hours and the project took about three months." 

Kenny's project was to build an eight-foot-tall, welded-wire fence and install an irrigation system at Dutton Farm's farm-to-table garden in Oakland Township.

He said the fence prevents any "pesky animals" from getting to the fresh produce that employees at Dutton Farm work so hard to grow.

"Also, the irrigation system will reduce the need to constantly water the crops," said Kenny, who's been in scouting for 10 years. "To raise money for this project, I collected more than 16,000 returnable cans and bottles from neighbors in the Oakland/Rochester area through the Nextdoor app, a neighborhood-based social media app." 

Kenny also says he's looking forward to getting back to a sense of normalcy at school once the pandemic winds down.

"I'm currently a freshman and I have absolutely loved my first year here," he said. "I wasn't sure what to expect coming to NDP as a new student this year, especially during these unprecedented times, but NDP has done a great job making the school a safe and welcoming environment for all students. The teachers are all amazing and I am learning so much about not just the different subjects in school, but about valuable life skills that will serve me for a lifetime. I'm very excited to continue on my journey at NDP and I cannot wait to see what's next!"

For Brouns, who's been a scout for nearly seven years, his time at Notre Dame began a bit earlier than Kenny. 

"I came to Notre Dame in the fourth grade," he said. "Because I hadn't attended any other high schools, I cannot really comment on how NDP stacks up against other schools. However, Notre Dame Prep has done a good job in providing me with all the classes and extracurricular activities I could ever wish for."

For information on enrollment and registration at Notre Dame, please visit the admissions section of our website here.

Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org

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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. Notre Dame Preparatory School enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower schools enroll students in pre-kindergarten through grade eight. All three schools are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the National Association of Independent Schools. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school’s home page at www.ndpma.org.