By Staff
CONGRATULATIONS Eagle Scout Lenton Ray McLendon Jr., left shakes hands Tuesday with B. Noel Evans, local scout executive. McLendon was one of 80 Eagle Scouts nationwide chosen to receive a $1,500 scholarship from the National Eagle Scout Association and the first from the Choctaw Area Council so honored. Photo by Anna Wright/The Meridian Star
By Steve Gillespie / staff writer
July 2, 2003
Lenton Ray McLendon Jr. plans to use a $1,500 scholarship from the National Eagle Scout Association to earn a degree in chemistry. He wants to teach college-level courses.
McLendon, 18, started Scouting when he was in the first grade. This week he became the first member of the Choctaw Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America to be awarded an Eagle Scout Association scholarship, according to the council's Scout executive, B. Noel Evans.
McLendon was selected as one of 80 recipients from across the country out of a field of 1,554 applicants.
Winners of the scholarship are chosen by a committee that reviews the accomplishments of applicants, which must be currently enrolled in Scouting.
They also must have an Eagle Award, the highest rank of Scouting obtainable; be a graduating high school senior; show a strong record of participation in activities outside of Scouting; and have the endorsement of a volunteer or professional Scout leader.
McLendon is a member of Boy Scout Troop 7, sponsored by St. Patrick Catholic Church. He is the son of Mary and Lenton McLendon Sr., and he graduated from Meridian High School this year.
He also attended St. Patrick School. His community service project that earned him his Eagle Scout Award was to restore booths used in the school's annual MayFest celebration. He earned his Eagle Award in 1999.
McLendon said he will either attend Meridian Community College or the University of Southern Mississippi.
McLendon works at Meridian Community College as a lifeguard and a tutor. He said he plans to continue to participate in Scouting as a volunteer.