Tri-Towns Bureau

SIDNEY — The Eagle Scout project of a Masonville teen will provide local students a bridge over possible future troubles.

Matthew Jones, an 18-year-old senior at Sidney High School, completed a bridge and handrails this fall to help students evacuate the Masonville Elementary School during emergencies. Principal Patricia Doyle said the escape route was needed to meet state requirements.

Eagle is the highest rank attainable in Boy Scouts. Jones has been involved with Scouting since first grade, when a student at Masonville. He expects to receive his Eagle award in June.

When he heard about the project from Troop 59 Scoutmaster John Seeley, Jones said, he knew it was right for him.

"I always had an interest in construction," he said. "I was originally going to clean up a local cemetery and inventory the gravestones, (but) I thought this would be different."

It also fit in well with his other interests. He is active in emergency services as a volunteer with Cartwright Hook and Ladder in Sidney.

The evacuation route consists of 225 feet of wood and rails that crosses a dried creek behind the school, Jones said. It extends up a hillside to an alternate site for buses to pick up students. The supplies for the project were donated by area businesses, he said. Members of the Scout troop, as well as family and friends, helped Jones with the bridge.

"It is extremely impressive that people are willing to come out and dedicate themselves to school and community," Doyle said of Jones' efforts. She said his attitude is shared by other members of the family.

The path will be used during the winter to practice evacuation plans, Doyle said. Besides an emergency route, she said, it can also be used as a nature trail for students.

Doyle asked Jones to explain his project during a recent meeting of the Sidney Central School Board of Education. In recognition of his accomplishment, Superintendent Nicholas Nuciforo presented him with an award.

"Being an Eagle Scout myself," Nuciforo said, "I recognize the amount of work and planning that goes into a leadership project like this."

At that meeting was school board President Dennis Porter, who is also chairman of the Foothills Scouting District. "It's nice to see a long-lasting project that will benefit the community," he said.

Jones said he plans to enlist in the U.S. Navy after he graduates in June. Eventually, he said, he would like to have a career as a firefighter.

But wherever he moves to, he said, he plans on helping the local Scout troop or starting another. Every community should have a troop, he said. Through Scouting, "you get to learn so much."

———

Mark Boshnack can be reached at (607) 563-1493 or starsidney@wirelessthinktank.com.