A group of students at a school in Eagle Grove is working to raise money for a project to remember a classmate who was killed this summer when a tornado ripped through a Boy Scout camp in western Iowa. Aaron Eilerts and three other Boy Scouts from Nebraska died in the storm. Aaron was also a "Character In Action," or C.I.A., agent at Robert Blue Middle School in Eagle Grove.
The school’s guidance counselor and C.I.A. leader, Beth Stephas, says other C.I.A. members are selling buttons and wristbands to raise money for a Boy Scout Park in Aaron’s former hometown of West Point, Nebraska.
The park, where Aaron is buried, will include a gazebo, plantings and a painted mural of Aaron and another Boy Scout saluting the grave. Stephas says the words ‘Eagle Grove’ and ‘Robert Blue Middle School’ will be engraved in bricks located in the park.
"We just want to remind the people of West Point, Nebraska of the strong connection that we have with them now, because Aaron was our friend for three years here in Eagle Grove after his family moved to our area," Stephas said.
The buttons and wristbands include the question ‘What Would Aaron Do?’ They are available for two-dollars each by calling the school at (515) 448-4767 or by e-mailing Stephas at bstephas@eagle-grove.k12.ia.us .
The Robert Blue Middle School C.I.A. Agents will be one of the groups honored this Saturday evening during a Character Counts in Iowa Awards Ceremony in West Des Moines.