Beth Tfiloh Student Guy Taylor Builds an Outdoor Classroom for his Eagle Scout Service Project

April 8, 2021 Simone Ellin, Associate Editor

Guy Taylor, of Boy Scout Troop 97, stands by his outdoor classroom at Beth Tfiloh's high school. (Provided photo)

Anyone strolling by Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School recently will likely have noticed something new added to the high school campus.

It’s an outdoor classroom, designed by eighth grade student Guy Taylor. The classroom — with four 12-foot-long, hand-built benches set up in two rows, a white board and a podium — fulfills the community service requirement that Guy, 14, needs to qualify for becoming an Eagle Scout.

Guy is a second-generation member of Boy Scout Troop 97 in Pikesville. His father, Marty, was a member of the same troop and is also an Eagle Scout.

Guy’s grandfather, Harold Taylor, was a Boy Scout in his youth and has been an assistant scout master with Troop 97 for 33 years.

Troop 97 has operated for 73 years and has been historically Jewish.

When deciding on an Eagle Scout service project, Guy, who lives in Pikesville, says he knew he wanted to do something for his school.

“My sister, Maya, actually thought of building an outdoor classroom,” says Guy, who felt the concept made sense due to the pandemic. “You’re wearing masks inside. It’s a lot harder. And also, sitting in the same type of classroom for eight hours, it kind of gets a little boring. So just going outside is different.

“We had outdoor spaces at our school before, but none of them were really like a class that you could learn with, like a whiteboard and things like that. So this will hopefully be something that every type of class can do, not just like a lecture or something like that.”

Once he formulated his idea, Guy spent time researching what the outdoor classroom would look like. He consulted with Dr. Zipora Schorr, Beth Tfiloh’s education director, to get permission for the project, and they decided where the classroom should be built.

Guy then visited Lowe’s and Home Depot, solicited community donations, organized volunteers and found a landscaper to help with the project.

Before the classroom was installed, Guy and a friend spent three-and-a-half days building wooden benches for the space.

The following weekend, Guy, a couple of school friends and members of his troop spent the day readying the location and installing the benches.

“We took out all the grass, we made the holes. It was a lot of work, but a lot of people were there,” says Guy. “I think at one time the most was, like, 25 people.”

Guy says the classroom is currently being used by students, and he looks forward to using it himself next fall when entering high school.

“It’s definitely a good feeling because when I decided to do something at my school, I knew that I would see it all the time. So I knew that it had to be something that I would be proud of.”

Guy’s not the only one who is proud. “Both myself and my wife are Beth Tfiloh graduates,” says Marty Taylor. “So Guy is a second-generation BT kid. We are very active in the school and in the synagogue. So he knew that if he did something like this here at BT, not only would it be a source of pride for him but for our entire family.”

Taylor says 6% of Boy Scouts earn the rank of Eagle Scout.

“Those who do earn it are usually much older than Guy,” he says. “Being an Eagle Scout myself, it’s pretty incredible to have my son also be an Eagle Scout. When Guy was at the right age to become a Scout, it was kind of like a no-brainer. It was a great opportunity for he and I to do things together, and also to get out and get dirty and to go camping and to build fires. If you saw him going to Scouts, building fires and cutting things and chopping wood and tying knots and doing all the things that Scouts do, I mean, it’s his happy place.”

Guy says completing his Eagle Scout project has afforded him a stronger sense of confidence.

“I definitely had a lot of help, but I also learned a lot throughout it,” he says. “It definitely taught me a lot about getting things done. We actually went and did it. And I think it turned out great.”