Leucadia teen crafts music cabinet for Eagle Scout project

ENCINITAS — Starting in 2019, girls were welcomed to join the Scouts BSA program, formerly known as Boy Scouts of America.

Scout BSA Troop 2000 in Encinitas is now celebrating its second female troop member to complete an Eagle Scout project.

Leucadia resident Olivia Lupson, 16, a sophomore at San Dieguito Academy and one of six founding members of the all-girls Troop 2000-G, recently designed and constructed a large wooden storage cabinet in the school's music department for her Eagle Scout project, taking one step closer to the distinguished rank.

Troop 2000 has two groups — Troop 2000-B for boys and Troop 2000-G for girls — and no co-gender groups are allowed in Scouts BSA programs as of current rules.

"I joined my troop in February of 2019," Lupson said. "Five girls were the siblings of boys already in Troop 2000, and we needed at least six girls to start a girl's troop. So I was the sixth girl, meaning I’m part of the founders of this troop."

Troop 782 of Solana Beach and Troop 713 of Del Mar are two other troops allowing girls to join the ranks.

In Troop 2000-G, Caitlyn Marsh, one of the first six girls to join, also earned her Eagle Scout ranking and mentored Lupson on her journey toward achieving the Scouts’ highest achievement.

When Lupson was finally ready to take on her final Eagle Scout project to earn her rank, she thought long and hard about what she could do. Lupson, a percussionist proficient in xylophone, glockenspiel, timpani, bells, snare drum and drum kit, decided to draw on her passion for music as inspiration.

"Music, it's kind of my thing outside of Scouts. I’ve been playing in fifth grade, and then I played through middle school, and now I’m a sophomore in high school playing in the advanced band," Lupson said.

She went to Jeremy Wuertz, music director at San Dieguito Academy, to ask if she could create anything to improve the department.

"I wanted to do something for music," Lupson said. "I asked my music teacher if he needed any project done in the music department, and he has a mute cabinet for brass instruments that students use. Students need to use the cabinet a lot during rehearsals, and our cabinet is currently not very safe, it's pretty old, and it's falling apart."

She started the project in February when she first began developing ideas. Then she had to plan, outline and propose her project in writing alongside an Eagle Scout project counselor. The development process took several months to get funded and approved.

After months of preparation, measuring and buying materials, Lupson finished the cabinet on May 29 and installed it in the SDA music department's student storage room. Lupson said she hopes the final steps to complete her rank will be done by the end of the year.

Looking back on her Scout experience, Lupson has thrived within her troop.

When she first joined, Lupson was an assistant senior patrol leader, the second-highest youth leadership position in the troop. In August 2021, Lupson was promoted to senior patrol leader, responsible for leading and coordinating troop meetings.

Lupson is also taking the opportunity this summer to further help other Scouts as a counselor teaching various merit badge activities at the Emerald Bay Scouts Summer Camp program.

"I’m going to be teaching merit badges for the Handy Craft section, which is like the art merit badges, such as woodworking, leatherwork, art, and sculpture work," Lupson said.