Scouting News

Wantagh twins give back to the schools

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Brendan McKenna, seated, was helped by volunteers, from left, Kieran McKenna, Logan von Runnen, Jack Bruno, Brendan von Runnen, Jack Bendetto and Carl Bloom in building three spirit benches for Wantagh’s elementary schools at the end of May.
Brendan McKenna, seated, was helped by volunteers, from left, Kieran McKenna, Logan von Runnen, Jack Bruno, Brendan von Runnen, Jack Bendetto and Carl Bloom in building three spirit benches for Wantagh’s elementary schools at the end of May.
Andrew Hackmack/Herald

Brendan and Kieran McKenna have been quite busy lately. The 13-year-old twins from Wantagh finished up their community service projects, in the hopes of becoming Eagle Scouts in the coming months.

The Wantagh Middle School seventh-graders are members of Boy Scout Troop 96 and are looking to earn the Eagle rank which is scouting’s highest honor.

Brendan recently built three spirit benches for Wantagh’s elementary schools. On May 28, he and a group of volunteers put the benches together, which were then delivered to the buildings.

Each bench was painted based on each school’s mascot — Buzz the Bee for Wantagh Elementary School, Bubbles the Dolphin for Mandalay Elementary School and Forester the Bear for Forest Lake Elementary School. The art work was done by members of the art and fashion clubs at the high school.

Brendan, after priming the wood, delivered it to the high school and let the artists do the rest. After getting back the finished product, he and his helpers went to work. “They’re really important,” he said of his volunteers. “I wouldn’t be able to do it if it weren’t for them.”

He got the idea for the project from his mother, Christine, who works at Southwoods Middle School in Syosset where there are also spirit benches. “I thought it would be cool if we could do this for our elementary schools,” he said. “I’m doing this to build spirit in the schools.”

Before he could start, Brendan had to get approval from his scoutmaster, and meet with Wantagh Superintendent of Schools Maureen Goldberg and Facilities Director Marty Abrams. The Board of Education then had to approve it.

Brendan has been planning the project since last summer, and said he is proud to contribute to his community.

Kieran also did a project for the schools. He built three Little Free Libraries, with one going to each elementary school. While he initially wanted to clean up the courtyard at Wantagh Elementary School, he said the principal there gave him the idea for the libraries, which serve as a community book exchange.

People who use a Little Free Library are not obligated to return a book they take. They can keep it forever, and also leave books for others. “All they have to do is open up the door and take one,” Kieran said.

He started working on the libraries in January by getting all the of the supplies. Kieran and Brendan did most of the construction with the help of Alex Sharpe, a neighbor of his grandparents who does woodworking as a hobby. The libraries were finished in April and delivered to the schools.

“I feel it’s successful,” Kieran said, “because I hear stories from the parents and the kids that they love it.”

Kieran added that Wantagh is a community known for its strong academic reputation, and he wanted to contribute to that by doing a project that supports literacy, especially for the town’s youngest readers.

The twins both held fundraisers at Smashburger on Wantagh Avenue to raise money for the supplies for their respective projects.

Troop 96 Scoutmaster Andy Zuch said he was pleased with the work the McKenna twins did. “It’s nice that they’re doing projects that give something back to the elementary schools in the community,” he said.