 "Photo: Ken Muir")
Being a Boy Scout has been life for one ambitious Texas Tech freshman whose involvement in the organization didn't end when he turned 18 years old.
Chris Root, a business major from Austin, said he joined the Boy Scouts of America in the first grade and was involved in the organization until his senior year of high school.
Involvement with the Boy Scouts is more than just tying knots or learning first aid, Root said. It is "fun shenanigans, unexpected events on camping trips and leadership building."
"It gets you ready for everything you need in life," Root said. "I use everything I used in Scouts - it actually applies."
Eagle Scouts, he said, are Eagle Scouts for life.
Root laughed as he recalled one of his favorite memories as a scout: a two-week trek through the mountains at Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico, he said.
Getting to know and look up to the young men in his 18-person troop, Root said, gave him a sense of leadership while bonding with his friends.
Now, in his first semester of college away from his hometown troop, Root said, he has the opportunity to carry out a family business that involves his favorite pastime - Boy Scouts.
His father, Kirk Root, a jewelry designer and owner of two Kirk Root Designs jewelry stores in Austin, said he and his son have created an Eagle Honor Ring that will commemorate the highest rank: Eagle Scout.
With artistic skills in the family, Kirk Root said, he and his son combined their design ideas to create a signet-style ring with an engraved eagle head on top with a pine bark finish - both Chris' ideas, Kirk Root said.
The word honor is engraved on top of the rings, so when an Eagle Scout wears it, he said, they see it.
"It's to remind you that everything you do," Kirk Root said, "you do it with honor."
The current Eagle Honor Rings look like "high school rings," Kirk Root said. Therefore, they wanted to design a unique and contemporary ring that would appeal to all Eagle Scouts, regardless of their age.
He said he wanted to make something classy, mature and a reminder of the ethics of Boy Scouts.
Although he "tries to keep the kids out of the business," Kirk Root said, he made an exception for Chris because he was passionate about the ring design project.
"Chris is very talented in the arts," Kirk Root said, "much more than me."
As the CEO of the Eagle Honor Company and with his son as the president, Kirk Root said Chris is getting a taste of the business world.
He said Chris wrote a 26-page business document to get approval from the Boy Scouts of America for the creation of the Eagle Honor Ring.
His son's role as president, Kirk Root said, parallels both business and jewelry design - two areas Chris is studying.
In the future, Kirk Root said, "Chris will be the front face of this product."
For Boy Scouts young and old, Chris Root said, the ring is a must-have.
"It's a small thing that symbolizes the message of Boy Scouts," he said, "and something you will have for the rest of your life."
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