A Los Alamitos High 10th-grader has been honored by the school board for his Eagle Scout project to benefit his old elementary school.
Alexander Bystrom was recognized by the Los Alamitos Unified School District board for creating a giant colored map of the United States in the center of the Los Alamitos Elementary campus. Bystrom also raised $237 in donations for the school, said Principal Gary Willems.
Bystrom said the project took several days to complete. He used a pressure washer to strip off the faded remnants of an old map on the concrete of the lunch area. He then taped down a 30-by-40-foot stencil and used chalk to outline the states. Finally, he said, “we started painting from the inside out.” Bystrom thanked “my parents and the people in my troop and my scoutmasters” for their assistance in the project.
The vividly-colored map has a powerful effect on students, Willems said. “We use it in all of our grade levels to teach about the 50 states, and our kids can go there and show their friends and parents how much they know.”
In presenting the certificate of recognition to Bystrom, Rick Larson, assistant principal at Los Alamitos Elementary, said, “We appreciate the hard work you’ve done, not only to become an Eagle Scout, but to represent our community with such poise and such class. We’ll be thinking about you for many, many years to come.”