Posted on 09/04/2009 5:39:39 PM PDT by kathsua
Lucas Wondra has Down syndrome and communicates with a few words, sign language and a PDA with a speaker and voice software. But when it comes to the Boy Scouts, he concedes no disability.
On Monday, Lucas, a 16-year-old freshman at Hutchinson High, became an Eagle Scout, the highest rank in the Boy Scouts of America and the latest in a collage of medals and merit badges covering his uniform.
Scout Master Bill Whitlow said Lucas is the first Scout with Down syndrome from Troop 301 to achieve his Eagle rank.
"I feel like it's been a community effort," his mother, Leann Wondra, said. "The school helped with physical therapy, occupational therapy and communications therapy so he could earn merit badges."
He also had the support of church leaders, his parents, brother Evan and sister Alicia and all his friends in Troop 301.
"While Lucas achieved his Eagle, the troop also benefited," his father, Korey Wondra, said. "I'm not sure who benefited more. How many times do kids get a chance to hang out with a kid with a disability? And Lucas is a cool kid to hang with."
A few years ago, when Lucas was a Cub Scout, his parents were debating whether and how he could advance into Boy Scouts.
His mother felt he could do it all along, but his father freely admits he had doubts until he and Lucas' younger brother, Evan, went to a Scout summer camp in Colorado and Korey saw a Scout from a Texas troop who also had Down syndrome. He made a note of the troop number on the Scout's shoulder and looked up the Scout master, who told him that Danny had just completed the requirements for Eagle Scout.
Korey came home prepared to let Lucas give it a try.
In fewer than four years, Lucas has earned 28 merit badges.
He loves cooking, almost as much as eating, so that was a natural one.
Physical fitness wasn't a problem. He runs the 100, 200, 400 and 800 meters and relays in the Special Olympics, so five 10-mile hikes and a 20-mile hike to earn another badge wasn't a problem.
He loves photography. "So we just gave him the digital camera and he did his thing and put them all on the computer and created his slide show," his mother said.
Communication was more of a challenge, especially before he had the PDA, or personal digital assistant, talker to help. So his mother created a paper sash covered with icons instead of merit badges. Lucas then was able to talk about himself by picking out icons of things he liked or disliked.
He did a presentation on professional wrestling - one of his favorite things - on a computer with talking software.
He fulfilled another requirement by serving as a chaplain's aide, during which he used his PDA talker to offer a thought for the day and lead others in the Lord's Prayer.
For his Eagle Scout project, he led a group of Scouts who created the horseshoe-shaped John Baldwin Memorial Garden at Reins of Hope, which aims to aid people with physical, mental or emotional disabilities through therapeutic horse riding.
"The troop is really proud of him," Whitlow said. "When he first came into the troop, he didn't interact with other people, other than his family, that much. But after a few months, he really blossomed. He did really well with all things."
And Whitlow said that the Scouts and the leadership of the troop learned a lot from being around Lucas.
"When he started in the process, we didn't have any hesitation, but we didn't know what we were doing, either," he said.
"So we just took it one step at a time. We had to modify some things. For instance, he couldn't swim. But he could walk 20 miles, so he did hiking instead of swimming."
Korey Wondra remembers being in a tent with 10 boys who at first wanted to know what Down syndrome was, whether it was contagious and why Lucas couldn't talk.
But now, he said, those Scouts look out for Lucas. If someone starts to say something rude to him, they protect him, and they watch out for him during camps and other activities, Korey Wondra said.
"That's been one of the interesting things," Korey Wondra said. "They've taken him in, and he's taken them in. They've really bonded."
"... I'm really hoping these boys take what they've learned from Lucas, from being around him, and take that through their lives."
Twenty years ago, his mother said, children like Lucas might have been hidden in a back room. Today, it still might be easier to park them in front of the television and let them play video games than to work with them.
"It's scary putting kids in a situation where they might fail, but we felt we needed to give him the opportunity," Leann Wondra said.
And Lucas has done anything but fail.
"It gives me hope that he can be a productive member of society and an accepted member of society," she said.
As a Scoutmaster who will have 8 Scouts, including my own son, as “Eaglets” (Working on their Eagle Service Projects), I am pleased and proud of Lucas and his Troop, who are living the Scout Oath and Scout Law!
Great story! Thanks.
I earned my Eagle badge in 1992, and one of the proudest moments in my life was pinning my badge on my son in 2002. Congrats to Lucas. This is a wonderful story. Maybe some years from now, Lucas can pin his badge on his son.
As someone who never made it past First Class, all I can say is “Way to go LUCAS!” And good job to the rest of the scouts and leaders in the troop!
Mark
Lucas Wondra succeeded in obtaining the rank of Eagle Scout. This is a status the vast majority of Boy Scouts, myself included, never achieve. Despite remarkable achievements like this, people with Down Syndrome may well end up being the first class of human being the murderous eugenicists succeed in eliminating.
So if you received Eagle in 1992 at, say, age 18 you then pinned Eagle on your son in 2002?
Your son was 11 when he earned Eagle if he was born the year you received yours.
I hope I'm wrong but at first glance the math doesn't add up.
I earned Eagle Scout in 1973, the year before I enlisted in the Marines in 1974.
Major congratulations to you Lucas. You are now a part of the 2%. Your achievements humble me. As a scouter and proud father of two Eagles, I salute you.
Troop 90 Buckeye Council
First one in his year group to get there. ~30 or so Merit Badges, including Shotgun, Rifle, Archery, First Aid, Emergency Prep, Rock Climbing, Whitewater Rafting.
His Eagle Project: Leading a group of Scouts in making some physical therapy aids for the local Veteran's Home. Pretty easy to make (hand tools and basic hardware store parts); just reverse-engineer from the catalog...
There was quite a flurry of Eagle Courts of Honor for a number of older boys starting a few months after Bob's award (kind of an odd coincidence...).
Bob now has a small business as an independent contractor fabricating and assembling items for Comcast. And a great cook, too! Very helpful and capable - none of the usual trouble that teens get into. Getting there, just on his own schedule. Served as best man at his older brother's wedding.
Diagnosed at 2 yrs old, the Dr. quack suggested that we institutionalize him. Thank God we connected with Dr. Ray Romanzcyk at SUNY-Binghamton - what a great program to get started in at that point in time!
I am so very proud of my son, Bob.
If there were no more troublesome people than the mentally handicaped, it would be a nice, gentle world.
Sorry, typing challenged. Make that 1962.
Me too. Fat fingers and little keyboard with 6 right above 9.
Really dangerous for a contractor doing bids on a PDA phone.
Congrats to you and your Eagle Scout son.
Thanks so much for telling us about Bob. Congratulations to him and to your family.
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