Student creates Sensory Path for Eagle Scout project

Information provided by the Hollister School District. Lea este articulo en español aquí.

Ever since Hollister High School senior Jake Varnes finished his time as a student at Cerra Vista Elementary School, he wanted to find some way to give back to the school. He found a path toward doing just that with his Eagle Scout project. 

Varnes and others helping him with the project have developed what’s called a Sensory Path on walkways outside at Cerra Vista for the project needed for him to gain Eagle Scout status. A Scout since his early years attending Cerra Vista, Varnes learned about the prospect of creating a Sensory Path, which is an area with directed movements meant to engage students’ minds as they expend energy. 

The Sensory Path includes painted figures such as a sunflower, lady bug, a caterpillar, shapes and stacked blocks, just to name a few. 

Varnes noted how P.E. teacher Kristy Burchard, also a local Scouts troop leader, mentioned teachers’ desire for a Sensory Path and encouraged the project theme. 

Varnes went to work on the project that included everything from researching the right paint for an outdoor pathway to calculating a budget and coordinating the team of helpers who came out to assist. He met with teachers to consult about details a few days prior to Veterans Day weekend when Varnes and the volunteer team came out to do the physical work such as stenciling and painting. 

Cerra Vista Principal Tami Ortiz was on board from the outset as well. Ortiz noted that Burchard has a lot of elementary students in her Scouts troop. She said it was a community project. 

Ortiz in mid-November noted how Varnes had to wrap up some finishing details to the artwork ‒ such as adding months of the year with the sunflower design and days of the week with lady bugs scattered in another spot of the sidewalk ‒ and was set to write papers to complete the Eagle Scout process. He had to do so before turning 18 in December. 

She said there are plans in the works for a celebration at the school once Varnes is notified about the Eagle Scout status, likely sometime in January. Like other staff members, Ortiz was excited about the positive impacts for students from the new path. 

Ortiz underscored the difficulty of juggling such a project with everything else going on for a senior like Varnes such as college applications and pursuing scholarships. She said a very small percentage of Scouts earn Eagle status. 

Varnes recollected how originally, there were talks of less-intensive projects such as shade structures or sandboxes. His parents were involved along the way, and his father Ken Varnes came away quite impressed with his son’s commitment to what became a much larger project.