Eagle Scout from Massachusetts earns all 139 merit badges, joining very small group
ANDOVER - An Eagle Scout from Andover, Massachusetts has joined an elite club. Jimmy Poirier has earned all 139 merit badges available to Boy Scouts.
Less than one-percent of all Eagle Scouts go on to finish all of the badges. The 18-year-old senior at the Essex North Shore Agricultural and Technical School in Danvers in now part of that very small group.
"It took a lot of work, determination and dedication," said Poirier, whose last badge was bugling. "It means a lot to me and it means a lot to scouting."
1,000 hours to earn 139 merit badges
Poirier estimates he spent more than 1,000 hours working to earn all 139 badges. They have not all been easy. Scuba diving, for example, took several lessons and a certification test. He said bugling, climbing and dentistry were his most challenging.
"All those things I wasn't really interested in doing but it was a good opportunity to explore, maybe find an interest," Poirier told WBZ-TV.
Darrin Johnson, the Boy Scouts Chief Program Officer, said it is an incredible accomplishment that speaks to the young man that Poirier has become.
"Watching him develop as a leader, and his communication skills and watch him become more skilled and really adventurous in what he's willing to try," Johnson told WBZ.
How many badges to be an Eagle Scout?
It takes 21 badges to become an Eagle Scout, a feat that only about four-percent of Boy Scouts achieve. Johnson himself only had about 40 badges.
For Poirier, he hopes that his extra large sash full of badges can help inspire the next generation to join the scouts.
"It makes me feel happy and it makes me feel proud of myself and scouting in general," said Poirier.
Poirier plan to continue his advocacy with the Boy Scouts and work to get as many people to join as he can.
