James Giangrgorio and Jack Viscovich earn Eagle rank

Two scouts with Boy Scout Troop 214 in Rockville Centre worked tirelessly over the past year for the opportunity to join the four percent of scouts in the United States to achieve the ranks of Eagle Scout.

James M. Giangregorio and Jack R. Viscovich climbed the necessary ranks throughout their scouting career in preparation for their Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony on Saturday at Central Synagogue – Beth Emeth.

​​Two scouts with Boy Scout Troop 214 in Rockville Centre worked tirelessly over the past year for the opportunity to join the four percent of scouts in the United States to achieve the ranks of Eagle Scout.

James M. Giangregorio and Jack R. Viscovich climbed the necessary ranks throughout their scouting career in preparation for their Eagle Scout Court of Honor ceremony on Sunday, June 9 at Central Synagogue – Beth Emeth. 

To become Eagle Scouts, they both were required to earn a minimum of 21 merit badges and plan, budget, coordinate and complete a project to benefit the community, using only donated materials. 

Giangregorio is a senior and high honor roll student at South Side High School, where he has shown his ability to balance a highly rigorous IB school schedule, Boy Scouts, and his extracurriculars such as the Drama Guild, Film Club, Italian Club and Quiz Bowl. He also acts in drama plays and musicals. Following graduation, he will be attending Temple University where he will major in Music Technology. 

He joined Rockville Centre Cub Scout Pack 31 in September 2012, and progressed through the ranks, under the expert guidance of his dad. During his time as Cub Scout, he enjoyed going on trips including overnights aboard the Battleship New Jersey and camping at Schiff Scout Reservation on Cub Family weekends with his dad and three brothers. 

In 2017, he achieved the Arrow of Light badge and crossed over to Boy Scouts. Giangregorio has earned 38 merit badges including ones for shooting, coin collecting, and movie making. He progressed through the ranks independently, fulfilling various youth leadership positions along the way.

His project consisted of the restoration of the outdoor space at The Phillips House Museum on Hempstead Avenue in Rockville Centre. With the help of scouts, troop leaders and parents, his Eagle Scout project was a great success. 

Some of the tasks included the restoration of two outdoor benches and constructing a third bench, power washing a millstone, removing vines that were overtaking the fence, raising an anvil that sunk into the ground, repainting the entrance sign and weeding the garden. 

Viscovich also joined Rockville Centre Cub Scout Pack 31, where he was fortunate to be with a group of neighborhood friends and two creative dads who took on the roles of leaders. Walking around the corner each week for their meetings was always an exciting opportunity for something new. From trips to the Auoseum to overnights aboard the Battleship New Jersey, the boys created memories for a lifetime while learning so much. 

He crossed over to Troop 214 with one of his leaders from Cub Scouts, Mr. G, as an assistant leader to Mr. Plonsky. He was surrounded by a dynamic team including Diana Worman, troop committee chair, who worked tirelessly to guide him along the path to Eagle. 

If you were to ask Viscovich what his favorite aspect of scouting is — he would hands-down say “camping.” He loved going out to Schiff as a Cub Scout, and later, to Onterora. Through Camp Workcoeman, he gained many merit badges. 

Viscovich loved building Pinewood Derby cars as a Cub Scout and would compete in the races each year. As he got older and moved on to Boy Scouts, he continued to attend the Derby, only now as a volunteer assisting the younger scouts.
For his project, Viscovich participated in a program in which children read aloud to shelter dogs. This program fostered his passion to care for shelter dogs and eventually led to the adoption of his dogs, Shadow, and the development of his Eagle project. 

Jack raised the money, purchased materials, designed and with the help of his mentor and members of his troop built agility structure for dogs at the Town of Hempstead Animal Shelter to enjoy.