Boy Scout Troop 578 congratulates five scouts that have recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout.
Scott Wong, Avery Doami, Tyler Terada, Jake Nagamoto and Landen Kawaguchi achieved this highest honor at their Eagle Court of Honor on July 31.
The Eagle Scout rank is the highest award a Boy Scout can achieve. A candidate must be active in his troop, hold a leadership position, earn at least 21 merit badges (including 13 Eagle required badges), complete a leadership service project benefiting his local community, and receive letters of recommendation.
The rank of Eagle Scout is a culmination of many years of dedication, leadership and passion that each of these five young men have most deservedly earned.
Scott Wong, son of Nanelle and Kurt Wong, is currently a senior at John F. Kennedy High School in La Palma. He is a trombone section leader in the school’s marching band as well as a member of the National Honor Society. He recently participated in the Team USA U18 selection camp for dragon boat. Unfortunately, the World Games in Hong Kong for dragon boat, where Scott would have represented Team USA, were cancelled due to COVID-19.
Scott began his scouting career as a Tiger Cub in Pack 578 and later crossed over into Troop 578. He has held various leadership positions within Troop 578 such as scribe, historian, Lightning Bolts patrol leader, troop quartermaster, troop chaplain’s aide, assistant senior patrol leader, and instructor, and is currently serving as the troop’s senior patrol leader.
Throughout his time in scouts, Scott has enjoyed many different outings. His favorites included summer camp at Camp Cherry Valley on Catalina Island and Snow Camp up in the Angeles National Forest.
Scott has actively participated in the Chinese paddling sport called dragon boat for the past six years. Due to his love for the sport, he decided to work with one of his dragon boat teams, Team DPW, for his Eagle project. For his project, he designed and built two boat racks for the team’s OC-1 canoes. These canoes are used for training and needed to be stored properly. Thank you to Coach Nathan Salazar and Project Advisor Len Futaba for helping him see through the completion of his project.
After high school, Scott plans on attending a four-year college with an Air Force or Army ROTC program. He hopes to use what he has learned in scouting and apply it to other aspects of his life.
Avery Genshin Doami, son of Daryl and Lily Doami and grandson of Rev. John and Koko Doami, recently graduated from Cerritos High School in Cerritos. Aside from scouting, Avery has participated in youth programs provided by Orange County Buddhist Church (OCBC), such as Daion Taiko, Jr. Young Buddhist Association, and SEYO basketball.
Avery began his scouting career with OCBC Cub Scout Pack 578 prior to crossing over to Boy Scout Troop 578. He gained leadership experience through various positions with the Cyclone Patrol and troop, including scribe, outdoor ethics guide, assistant patrol leader, patrol leader, patrol instructor, trail to first class instructor, and chaplain’s aide.
Some of Avery’s favorite trips are shotgun shooting and rock climbing in Joshua Tree and the annual week-long summer camps, where he completed many of his 35 merit badges and had great fun with his fellow scouts.
OCBC has been Avery’s second home throughout much of his life and he hoped to find a way to help out during the pandemic. He designed, planned, and led, with the guidance of advisors Edwin Wakabayashi and Kevin Tanioka, the construction of five oak hand sanitizer stands that are strategically placed around OCBC, along with the purchase of two drip trays that were not packaged with the dispensers.
Avery is grateful to his parents for nudging him forward and for the guidance and support that he received from Troop 578, the scout families, and the OCBC Sangha on his scouting path. In the fall, he will be attending Cal State Long Beach, majoring in management information systems.
Tyler Terada, son of Seiju and Chris Terada, graduated from Marina High School in Huntington Beach. Throughout high school, Tyler stayed active within the Orange County Buddhist Church community, participating in basketball as well as several other youth group events like the Junior Young Buddhist Association, Kizuna, and Daion Taiko.
He started his scouting journey as a Tiger Cub in Pack 578, later transitioning to Troop 578 as he entered middle school. During his time within Troop 578, he experienced several new activities and made several relationships, venturing to trails and campgrounds all around Southern California. As the years passed, he grew as a leader, going through the positions of scribe, historian, troop quartermaster, and patrol
leader, and ending his career as an instructor.
Culminating his scouting journey, Tyler decided to build a project for his group Daion Taiko, After being in the group for so many years, Tyler decided to give back to Daion Taiko by building a set of studio mirrors to help enhance the performance ability of its members.
Moving on from high school to college, Tyler will use his leadership skills he has developed over the course of his childhood to his beginnings at UC Irvine, pursuing a major in mechanical engineering.
Jake Kenji Nagamoto, son of Glen Sr. and Paula Nagamoto, is a graduate of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana. He was a four-year member of the Varsity Wrestling Team and was co-team captain his junior year.
Jake joined Cub Scout Pack 578 of Orange County Buddhist Church as a Tiger Scout and crossed over to Boy Scout Troop 578 in 2014. He held many positions in the troop such as historian, scribe, assistant patrol leader, Cyclone Patrol leader, instructor, and assistant senior patrol leader. Jake enjoyed his scouting years and appreciated the leadership skills he gained from his experiences in the troop.
Jake chose LePort School in Huntington Harbor to complete his Eagle service project. The school has a book depository program. With the help and guidance of his Eagle advisor, Assistant Scout Master (ASM) Edwin Wakabayashi of Troop 578, Jake created an outdoor reading area for the students. He cleaned and beautified an outdoor garden and built two new benches for the area.
Jake was honored to be escorted by his older brother, Glen Jr., for his Eagle Court of Honor ceremony. Jake comes from a family of scouting. Glen Jr. earned his Eagle rank in Troop 578 in 2019. His father, Glen Nagamoto Sr., earned his Eagle rank with Troop 719 of Gardena, as well as his uncles Steve and Robert Nagamoto. Jake’s grandfather, Dr. Robert Kenji Nagamoto, instilled the value of scouting in him and his brother at an early age. Jake’s grandfather started in Boy Scouts in 1942 while being interned at the Amache Relocation Center in Colorado. He remained active in Boy Scouts and received the prestigious Silver Beaver Award from President Gerald Ford in 1978. Jake is a fourth-generation scout of the Nagamoto family.
Scouting has been a great experience for Jake and has instilled in him a passion for helping others. In the fall, Jake will be attending Cal Baptist University, where he will pursue a career in chemical engineering.
Landen Kawaguchi, son of Teri and Kevin Kawaguchi, is a graduate of El Dorado High School. Along with playing volleyball for three years, he was a member of the California Scholarship Federation and took multiple AP classes throughout his time in high school.
After he crossed over from Cub Scouts, he began his journey with Troop 578 as part of the Kuma Patrol, where he took on multiple leadership roles. These included patrol leader, troop outdoor ethics guide, and finally assistant senior patrol leader. Throughout his time in the troop, he enjoyed Japan Jamboree, Northern Tier, the Troop
hikes, and Rock Creek.
Landen did his Eagle project for The LAB at Beechwood Elementary school in Fullerton. He attended this school’s childcare program when he was younger and felt like he should give back to them to show thanks for all that they had done for him. Working alongside The LAB, Landen built a planter box to allow the program to teach the children about sustainable living and eating healthy.
The next steps for Landen are to attend the University of Hawaii, Manoa, majoring in environmental sciences. Practicing “l(fā)eaving no trace behind” on campouts and seeing the beauty of nature in various outings, inspired Landen to pursue a career in helping the environment and improving the Earth.