Two McLean High School students were awarded their Eagle Scout award this past Sunday, April 30th at a Court of Honor ceremony held at the McLean LDS Stake Center. Jackson Payne, 16, a junior and Spencer Johnson, 18, a senior, earned the highest award in the Boy Scouts of America.

Payne is a member of Boy Scout Troop 822 of the McLean First Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS). Johnson is a member of Boy Scout Troop 821 of the Falls Church Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Payne’s Eagle Scout service project involved the refurbishment of the McLean High School Observatory, located in the school’s lower courtyard and originally constructed in 1967. Over the years the observatory had fallen into disrepair and became less of a focal point in academic studies. Several dozen local youth participated in the observatory’s face lift, which benefited science and astronomy lovers at McLean.

Johnson’s Eagle service project was done in conjunction with Billion Graves, the world’s largest resource for cemetary data that digitizes headstones and connects the information to the database to Family Search, which enhances genealogy and family history efforts worldwide.