Glencoe Eagle Scout renovates junior high space

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Nick Robbins

Updated: March 10, 2012 8:34AM

Nick Robbins, a junior at New Trier High School, has helped refine an oasis.

The 17-year-old conducted his Eagle Scout project this past summer, renovating the Glencoe Junior High Project space, called the Oasis, at Central School.

Nick, who was 16 at the time, began the planning process for his scout project well over six months in advance of the actual job. The planning and approval process alone for an Eagle project is quite extensive requiring roughly 50 hours to complete.

Nick’s mission was to help solve noise concerns and paint the Glencoe Junior High Project’s Oasis Student Center space, located in the lower level of Central School. The Oasis, designed to provide a relaxed atmosphere where students can play recreational games and socialize with other students, is exactly as the name suggests – a break from the often hectic student schedule. It is open for students during lunch recess and after school. It is a large room with plenty of comfy couches and an array of game tables and other activities for students.

After a few Eagle board reviews, Nick made final revisions to his plan and was ready to take action. His proposed plan included invaluable consultation from his parents, Celeste and Terry Robbins, owners of the design firm Robbins Architecture. As a result, paint colors were chosen that lightened the space and added fun design elements to make the large space very comfortable and welcoming.

After a few delays due to other school initiatives, the plan was set to paint the space over Memorial Weekend and completely the soundproofing with special-order sound proof tiles, at beginning of summer break. The paint project went off without a hitch and Nick managed the volunteers over the course of the long weekend.

The soundproof tiles ended up being a much more lengthy process as initial approaches for securing the soundproof tiles failed, explained Kathy Lindburg of GJHP. The type of adhesive that would typically secure tiles did not work, so Nick had to set out and problem solve for solutions.

“What we found particularly impressive about Nick, is that he never stopped working through solutions and went well beyond the expectations. This Eagle Scout project clocked closer to 300 hours well exceeding the 100 hour minimum requirement for an Eagle project,” she said.