Eagle Scout's Project Helps School for Students With Disabilities

Students at in Morristown dance, exercise and make music to interactive DVDs and CDs as part of their physical education and music curriculums.

When the school, which serves students ages 3 to 21 with multiple disabilities, wanted a better way to store its multimedia materials, they found Alexander Louis Peña was the person for the job.

Peña, a junior at Montville Township High School, attended a leadership development course at the school and wondered if there was anything the school needed.

The school said it wanted its CDs and DVDs better organized, and the project became Peña's Eagle Scout project. To accomplish the goal, he built four wheeled carts to store and transport the materials.

"He saw the project from beginning to end," Regional Day School principal Elaine Goodman said.

Goodman said the carts also can store books, and that the carts make the materials more accessible and brings them to eye-level for the students so they can select titles based on picture.

"The carts he built were phenomenal," she said.

Peña said 30 Boy Scouts helped with the project. Individuals cut, assembled, painted and organized the carts, taking 117 man hours to complete. Managing such a large team was a new experience.

"Leading a small hiking trip isn't the same as leading a whole troop," Peña said.

Peña began his Boy Scout career as a Tiger Cub at . Now a junior at , Peña is a member of the history and drama clubs, has been a kindergarten mentor for three years and volunteers for Pathways for Exceptional Children. A history buff who participates in Revolutionary War reenactments, Peña said he is considering becoming a teacher.

He recently was honored by the Montville Township Board of Education, where is mom, Dr. Karen Cortellino, is the board president.

"Over the years I've watched the Board of Education honor a number of Eagle Scouts," she said. "Tonight that Eagle Scout is my son."

She said becoming an Eagle Scout is the culmination of a life's work and that they are very proud of him.

Peña is a member of Boy Scout Troop 1, the oldest Boy Scout Troop in New Jersey.

"We were very grateful that alex chose our school," Goodman said. "He did a wonderful job."