An Eagle Scout with Troop 28 in Rocky Grove earned all the merit badges offered by the Boy Scouts earlier this year, and it was a goal he set for himself “a long time ago.”
Andrew Rugh, who graduated last week from Franklin High School, earned 138 merit badges. He was required to earn 21 badges to become an Eagle Scout, according to Boy Scouts of America.
Each badge had different requirements, said Rugh. He could complete some in a few hours, while others would take several months to complete, he added.
“I learned a lot of stuff and had unique experiences I wouldn’t have had otherwise. I definitely learned a lot and am a better person from it,” Rugh said as he reflected on his years of work earning all the merit badges.
He is the son of Chad and Christina Rugh, and he has two younger brothers and a younger sister. The family resides in Franklin.
Rugh said he learned people skills, working with others, teaching and leadership during his time as a Boy Scout.
Christina Rugh, who is the Venango County coroner, said about 8% of Boy Scouts become Eagle Scouts but less than 0.5% of them earn every merit badge.
Though no official tally of Boy Scouts who earn all the merit badges has been kept, 520 scouts have been confirmed to date as having earned all the badges, according to meritbadgeknot.com, a website not affiliated with the official Boy Scouts of America but that is dedicated to recognizing scouts who have earned all the merit badges.
The site notes its tally is incomplete, but it is a testimony to the hard work of the many Boy Scouts who have submitted their stories to be told.
The point of each merit badge, Andrew Rugh said, was to “get a basic understanding of the topic and careers in the topic.”
He said his favorite badges to earn were for small boat sailing, archery and law. The archery and small boat badges were fun to earn, and he found law interesting since he also enjoys watching court cases, he said.
Christina Rugh noted that earning all the merit badges pushed him to try things he otherwise wouldn’t have tried, such as welding and metalworking.
While schools were shut down during COVID, Andrew worked on earning merit badges, mostly online, to keep learning, his mother said.
Before COVID, earning merit badges took Rugh to a variety of places.
In 2018, Christina Rugh said she organized a trip for the local Boy Scouts to Philadelphia to earn their oceanography and American heritage badges. Several weeks later, she said they hiked many miles at Gettysburg, Antietam and Harper’s Ferry.
Andrew Rugh and other Scouts also went whitewater rafting at Ohiopyle and spent the night at the Cleveland Zoo in Ohio, among other adventures, Christina Rugh said.
Andrew’s parents have been very involved in scouting, and Chad Rugh has served as the local Boy Scout district executive.
In addition, Andrew Rugh also earned the Roman Catholic religious emblem. Christina Rugh said that with the Boy Scouts each denomination has its own religious emblem and since his family is Roman Catholic, Andrew earned that emblem.
For his Eagle project, he installed outdoor stations of the cross at the St. Thomas More House of Prayer in Cranberry Township.
Rugh plans to attend Chatham University in Pittsburgh to study physical therapy. He said his time playing soccer and enjoyment of sports got him thinking about physical therapy.
