Teenagers get a bad rep for being unruly, making bad decisions and being all around lazy. I work with a lot of kids in this age range whether it be through Boy Scouts, Venturing or theater. In my time volunteering for these organizations, I have met a lot of really terrific teenagers. Kids that are helping other kids, helping their community, or just doing well in school and being kind to others. My mission- to feature some of these great teenagers and share with the world that our future generation is in some great hands.

Today, I want to talk a little about Ben. Ben is a 12 year old Boy Scout in my son’s troop. He is the first one to sign up for any service project that troop has to offer. He always has a smile on his face and a warm hello.

Ben is currently volunteering at a horse farm that takes in old, abused or disabled horses. He gets up early in the morning to go muck the stalls. That’s definitely not everyone’s idea of a great thing to do on a Saturday morning, but Ben says that he enjoys it. He likes being around the horses and helping out. Some days, he gets to brush and groom the horses. Eventually, he hopes to be able to ride one. Until then, he’s content to muck the stalls.

The project started out as a service requirement for his rank in Boy Scouts, however, he is past the number of hours he needed for the rank but intends on staying with them until the end of summer.

Here are some pictures we took on our mini photo shoot: