Eddie Bedell, 18, has officially been part of the scouting world since he was in first grade. He started in a troop in Riverhead that his mom, Emily, led before heading to Wading River and East Hampton, ultimately finishing his scouting tenure with a troop in West Islip. Despite what the paperwork may say, Mr. Bedell was truly a scout from birth. He was meant for this — it was in his blood.

“My family has always been big into scouting,” Mr. Bedell said. “My mom got the highest rank in the Girl Scouts. My grandpa was a pack leader in East Hampton. All my uncles were in scouting. It was inevitable that I would follow in their footsteps.”

Over the years, Mr. Bedell worked hard to earn badges every time he attended a camp. Attaining Eagle Scout wasn’t always something he desired, but as the badges started to pile up and he grew older, it became apparent that the highest rank was within reach.

There are numerous requirements to be considered an Eagle Scout. One of them is that a scout must earn at least 21 merit badges in total, with 14 of them specifically tied to Eagle Scout requirements. Some of these required badges include personal fitness, communication, family life, first aid and even cooking. During his time with the scouts, Mr. Bedell earned 34 badges.

“The badges are really geared towards your interests, which I thought was super cool,” he said. “But the required badges definitely challenged me, including the one that had me conquer my fear of public speaking. Everything you do in Scouts translates to the real world. You learn so much and truly become a well-rounded individual.”

A scout also has to serve in a leadership position for at least six months, demonstrate Scout Spirit, attend a Scoutmaster conference, complete a significant community service project and then take part in a final Eagle Scout board of review.

Mr. Bedell took his time deciding what to do for the community service project was something. His intention was to leave a lasting impact on the town he grew up in.

“I wanted to do something at Aquebogue Elementary School,” Mr. Bedell said. “I had so many great memories there as a kid. Some of the best teachers I ever had were in that school.”

His first idea was to create a raised garden bed, but that was shut down because of it being a potential tripping hazard. While walking around the playground at Aquebogue, Mr. Bedell noticed that the picnic table by the trees that was there when he was a child had become dilapidated. Creating a new table became the first part of his contributions to Aquebogue.

“I wanted something that would last long, so I used composite,” he said. “I also made it wheelchair accessible because I feel like people with disabilities aren’t seen enough. I made it octagon-shaped, so now they can pull right up to the table and have someone to the left and right of them.”

Mr. Bedell was also inspired to make a bench in commemoration of his favorite teacher, Keri Stromski, who was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer and passed away at age 48 in 2021.

“I was always very close with the Stromskis,” he said. “She was a teacher in Aquebogue, but I was also in Troop 161 with her son. I wanted to honor her. She loved Winnie-the-Pooh in her classrooms, so I chose a Winnie-the-Pooh quote.“

Mr. Bedell’s bench that sits by the back of the school reads, “You’re braver than you believe, stronger than you seem and smarter than you think.” 

It’s a quote that he took and held on to his entire life.

Eagle Scout has to be reached before the scout’s 18th birthday. Mr. Bedell got all the requirements completed a week before he turned 18.

“It was a long road with a lot of steps and paperwork, but I’m glad I stuck with it and reached Eagle,” he said. “It’s a major achievement, and I’m proud to be able to say that I did it.”

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Her quick thinking — along with that of school nurse Dawn Carrera, security guard Tarrence Laird and school resource officer Kaley Castantine — helped ensure the boy got the care he needed.

The four staff members were honored by the Riverhead Board of Education at its Oct. 23 meeting for their response to the emergency during the two-hand touch football game. The unidentified boy’s injury was not revealed.

“In those moments, you see real heroism and people doing great work for our kids and really care for our children. And, you know, I received notification that there was a situation in Aquebogue, and it was handled as they were telling me about it. It was already done,” said superintendent Bob Hagan at the BOE meeting. “But in the end, what I can say is that we are just so proud to have great people working here in this district.”

Ms. Almonte, of Medford, said she was at lunch when the incident occurred as she described what unfolded that day in an interview with the Riverhead News Review.

Something felt off, and the cafeteria was unusually quiet, she recalled.

“Immediately one of my colleagues walked in and said, ‘Hey, did you hear what happened with your student?’ And I said, ‘No,'” Ms. Almonte said.

Ms. Almonte walked out to where her class was at recess and saw the ambulance. Next, she saw the student’s mom was with him, and the first responders were already helping him. She asked if she could go to the student.

“I didn’t know the extent of the injury, and I didn’t know if they would allow me to, but they said yes,” said Ms. Almonte. 

After hugging the boy’s mom, she knelt down next to the injured student as the paramedics worked on stabilzing the injury. 

“I didn’t look at the injury because I knew that if I actually knew what was wrong with him, that I was going to sort of demonstrate that on my face. I didn’t think I’d be capable of holding it together for him if I was concerned about what was going on there,” Ms. Almonte said. “But he had a large team already kind of working on that, thankfully. So I wasn’t so worried about the physical injury at that moment.”

Paramedics initially discussed transporting the student by medevac helicopter, but ultimately took him to the hospital by ambulance, where he received treatment.

The boy is already back in school and has even begun making short trips without his crutches, Ms. Almonte said.

While Ms. Almonte helped the injured student stay calm, she also had a classroom of other students to worry about.

When it came time to go back inside, she helped them cope with what some of them witnessed. They also made cards for him and talked through what had happened.

“I was kind of checking in on them and there was tears and you know, we were talking about how he’s in the best hands, he’s exactly where he needs to be, for whatever the case is,” Ms. Almonte said.

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This year’s science fair — which took place last Wednesday afternoon — was slightly different than previous years’ fairs for two main reasons.

This year’s fair included participants from both the school’s new Junior Scientists club and visitors from Riverhead High School’s Science Olympiad program, according to assistant principal Gary Karlson. 

The older students entertained the younger, would-be scientists by making handmade lava lamps and making clay with household ingredients like cooking oil and food dye. Members of the Olympiad team also walked through the fair checking out the projects and leaving encouraging notes on participating students’ projects.

“We collaborated this year to start a Junior Scientists club as one of our after-school programs to try to really increase participation and really engage students that had an interest, but wanted to be supported by the school,” Mr. Karlson said, adding that the scientists club was launched last December. 

The club joins the broad roster of Aquebogue Elementary School’s after-school enrichment program, which also includes, among others, violin, ukulele, chess, indoor soccer and theater.

Mr. Karlson said the program was originally limited to a dozen students, but it’s been expanded to accommodate 14 participants, who have been meeting weekly this year. 

Mr.Karlson said that roughly 10% of more than 450 students at the school participated in the science fair, while a full half of the Junior Scientists club took part in this year’s science fair.

“To know that 50% of the club students felt empowered to do a project outside of school — that tells us that there is something there that we have to continue to support.”

Ten students from the Riverhead High School Science Olympiad program attended the science fair, Mr. Karlson said. 

The Science Olympiads program advisor — physics and science research teacher Riley McHugh — said the invitation for the club to participate in the science fair this year was very meaningful to them.

“It means a lot because it’s giving back to the younger kids in the community, showing them what some of the older kids can do in science and showing them how cool science is,” he said. “These are kids who dedicate a lot to science, so it means a lot to give back and to show them how important science is.”

Olympiad team president and class of 2023 salutatorian Jennifer Alonzo Moreno said she hopes her club’s presence at the fair inspires the younger generation to be involved.

“It shows that we really like to be involved in our community and it shows that we really want to be out there and be available for the younger kids too,” Ms. Alonzo Moreno said. “Hopefully they can see this as a potential future in joining the club and joining other types of clubs similar to this, as long as it piques their interests,” she said.

The winners of the Aquebogue science fair are:

Kindergarten

First place: William Hale  

Second place: Mason Smith 

Third place: Elias Reither 

First Grade

First place: James Sanders 

Second place: Gabriella Falcetta  

Third place was a three-way tie between Lena Fox, Mylah Zecena and Analee Huret Huertas.

Second grade

Kylie Shields won first place 

Marilla Pendelton won second place 

Joanna Kosinski won third place 

Third Grade

First place: Konstantina Panagopoulos

Second place: Violet Zaleski 

Third place was a tie between Alfredo Carrizal De Jesus and Sofia Martyniv.

Fourth grade

First place: Connor MacLeod 

Second place: Ryan Shields 

Third place was a three-way tie between Abigale Hale, Niko Panagopoulos and Savannah Kramer.

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