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Noah Watson, a member of Boy Scout Troop 202 and a resident of Locust, has earned the Boy Scouts of America’s highest advancement award, the Eagle Scout Rank. Only 2 percent of Boy Scouts ever earn their Eagle.

Noah, 17, of Locust, earned 39 merit badges for his Eagle Scout rank. Twenty-one are required to earn the Eagle Scout award.

For his Eagle Scout project, Noah added new equipment in the dog play area at the Officer Jeff Shelton Memorial Park in Locust. He raised $5,135 for this project.

A senior at West Stanly High School, he plans to attend Lees McRae College in Banner Elk this fall where he will major in pre-veterinary medicine with a minor in wildlife biology.

“I’d like to thank my longtime Scoutmaster Richard Sides,” he said, “along with my mom and dad for helping me with my Eagle Project, all my fellow Troop 202 Scouts and all the adult leaders who help organize our meetings and campouts.”

Noah was honored at a ceremony at 2 p.m. March 27 in Locust at Locust Presbyterian Church.

He has been on a number of scouting trips — including an 11-day backpacking adventure through the Philmont Scout Ranch in New Mexico last summer. He has also traveled with Troop 202 to Yosemite National Park in California and Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado.

Troop 202 has been active in the community through The Big Serve, picking up trash along Running Creek Road through the Adopt-A-Highway program and volunteering at West Stanly Christian Ministries.

It meets at 7 p.m. Tuesday and charters out at Locust Presbyterian Church.