Brown: Roosevelt teen works toward goal in scouting

Walk into Centennial Avenue School in Roosevelt and about the first thing you'll see is a stairwell. When children left for summer recess, the place behind the stairwell was full of stacked chairs and a few shovels.

When they come back in a couple of weeks, they'll find the place transformed - into a quiet spot, a tranquil area. An almost sacred space. They'll find plants, two tiny water fountains, handmade benches, pillows, and in a separate corner, a rocking chair.

And they'll have Robert Bruin to thank. He learned how to lay tile and build benches to create the spot as his Eagle Scout project. He stuck with it, even when things got tough.

"I used to say the Scout laws: that a Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, reverent," Bruin said. "For the first couple of years, it was like I didn't get it.

"Now, the laws aren't laws; they're a way of life."

Bruin, who belongs to Troop 300 in Hempstead, refused to quit, refused to stop. Even after he left another troop he had called home for six years.

When Bruin's mother, Beverly Bruin-Reddic, was looking to put her son in Scouts, she did her research. "I wanted to find the best Scout troop on Long Island," she said. She said she found it in Merrick, where Bruin, according to his current scoutmaster, Timothy Turner, managed to accumulate 19 merit badges - an impressive number and just two short of what was needed to become an Eagle Scout candidate.

But last year, Bruin and his mother said, they were stunned when he was asked to leave. The Merrick troop's scoutmaster, Woody Blaufeux, said Friday that he and Bruin "came to a parting of ways" because he didn't participate enough. But Blaufeux said he was pleased that Bruin had decided to stay in scouting with another troop.

Bruin and his family, who live in Roosevelt, decided very quickly that he would continue - with Troop 300 in Hempstead, which had recently celebrated its first-ever Eagle Scout. Bruin would have to work hard if he wanted to become the troop's second.

"Had he quit, even for a month, he would not have had enough time to make Eagle Scout," Turner said. That's because Bruin, among other things, had to spend six months as a Star Scout and a Life Scout before being eligible. And he is 17; once he turned 18, he would be too old.

Bruin went into his senior year at the Upper Room Christian Church school in Dix Hills determined to reach top rank. He even told his basketball coach that he had to skip practice on Wednesdays so he could go to Scout meetings.

"I got to a point a long time ago where I would tell my friends, 'Yeah, I'm a Boy Scout, and if that's a problem, we can part ways,' " Bruin said. "I haven't lost a single friend."

Turner said he counseled Bruin to take a leadership role in his new troop.

"He had to do his schoolwork, look for a college, look for a scholarship and complete his scouting," Turner said. "It is rare that a high school senior would want to take all that on. It was impressive."

Two weeks ago, Bruin and his troop mates, along with two adult volunteers and a number of local businesses, began construction on his Eagle Scout project - the new lounge area at Centennial, where his brother, Cameron Reddic, attended school. The team, whose work was funded by the school's PTA and by some businesses that made donations, started early in the morning and more than once had little choice but to work well into the next.

Even then, Bruin had a deadline. He had to get the project finished before leaving for South Carolina, where he is attending Claflin University on an academic scholarship. He plans to major in education and go on to law school.

"This young man had ideas, he had a vision and he was very meticulous in his planning and execution," said Barbara Solomon, Centennial's principal. "The children, the school and his community are better as a result."

Bruin left for college on Friday. He is to go before a Scout board of review when he returns home for winter break. And, if all goes well, he would have an Eagle Scout ceremony come spring. He plans to invite several people important to him, he said. They will include his old troop mates and leaders.

"I have friends there," he said.