Submitted by Jacqueline Pisano of Cicero District 99
Like most high school seniors, Gabe Kotwasinski has some pretty major and important decisions on the horizon, both short and long term.
Between juggling classes and baseball practices and games at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, preparing for college in the fall and other obligations, the past year has undoubtedly been a very busy one for the Cicero teen. Yet despite a jam-packed schedule, there’s one goal in particular over the past year which has remained on the top of Kotwasinski’s to-do list: becoming an Eagle Scout and achieving the coveted Eagle Scout Service Project.
A cornerstone accomplishment for the Scouts BSA, or Boy Scouts of America program, earning the title of Eagle Scout and accomplishing the Eagle Scout Service Project is no quick and easy feat. Since its inception in 1911, only 4 percent of total Boy Scouts have earned the opportunity to qualify as an Eagle Scout, which is the highest rank attainable in the program. The rank of Eagle Scout, which has to be earned by someone who has been a scout for at least six months and earned a minimum of 21 merit badges, must also plan, develop and lead something called the Eagle Project — a service project which demonstrates both leadership and commitment to duty.
Following inception of a project, the scout must complete a full Eagle Scout board review from a local council on the project, and see through from start to finish the leadership project with the goal of performing to serve for the benefit of a religious institution, school or community at large. And, on Sunday, March 3, Kotwasinski got to see his Eagle Project come to total fruition as he was joined by his father, a scout leader, and two fellow scouts in erecting three Little Free Library structures outside of Cicero’s Drexel, Goodwin and Lincoln elementary schools.
Launched in 2009 by a Wisconsin man, Little Free Library is a “take a book, share a book” free and nonprofit book exchange program which consists of the construction of a small, typically wooden box structure placed in an outdoor communal space with the goal of serving as a no-frills, friendly and unique way to inspire literacy throughout a neighborhood and expand book access to people of all ages.
When it was time for Kotwasinski to reflect on whether he wanted to achieve Eagle Project status after completing more than five years in the Boy Scouts, finding a project focused both on helping youth in his hometown and encouraging an environment open to the joys of literacy was an idea that resonated with him and was the catalyst for inspiring him to install Little Free Libraries of his own across Cicero.
“Growing up, I didn’t read a lot, and I feel like it just might have been because it was hard to go to the library all the time with my parents being busy with work,” Kotwasinski explained. “With the Little Free Libraries, I feel like this is going to make it easier for kids to simply go and grab a book, read it for a few days, and drop it back in the library. It makes it easier for someone to have a book to read.”
So last fall, with the guidance of his father and fellow scouts from Boy Scout Troop 92 (sponsored by St. Mary Church in Riverside), Kotwasinski began the project planning process. In just over five months, Kotwasinski oversaw the development of project proposal, materials construction and project sponsorship, with donations courtesy of Home Depot in Countryside, D&K Sheet Metal & HVAC of Berwyn and the Cicero Public Library. After weeks of logistics planning, March 3 was set as assembly day, coordinating logistics with Cicero District 99 as to where specifically each new Little Free Library structure would be placed outside of the respective school buildings selected.
For the installations, Kotwasinski was joined by his father, Kerry Kotwasinski, and fellow scouts Evan McMullen, a Riverside resident and senior at Riverside Brookfield High School, and Will Tomczak, a Riverside resident and sophomore at Fenwick. After installation of each library, which took approximately 15 minutes per structure, Kotwasinski says he felt proud of achieving the goal, hoping that the new literacy hubs will not only encourage an environment in town to help foster a love of reading, but also a message for local kids on how participating in scouting still has relevance in today’s ever busy and modern world.
“Honestly, what has kept me in scouts was the fun I’ve had with all of my friends — going to summer camp and working on merit badges,” he said. “Scouting is still important, and Cicero kids should join the scouts because it’s a good way to learn a variety of skills and keep you involved. It’s a good way to meet new people and grow those bonds with people.”
A graduate of St. Mary School in Riverside, Kotwasinski is now looking forward to this spring and fall, when he will graduate from Fenwick and prepare for his first semester at Illinois Institute of Technology, beginning his collegiate career playing baseball and working toward a degree in biomedical engineering.