In today’s day and age, security is one of the main concerns of people in this country, especially in schools. The harsh reality is school shootings are on the rise and it’s no longer a responsibility of just the higher up officials to tackle this problem, and a student at FTHS is trying to combat this concern. Zach Simon, a sophomore and aspiring Eagle Scout, recently installed security shades on each door of our high school, and the Patriot Press recently sat down and talked with him about his project.

Q: Hi Zach, I was wondering if you could tell me a little about your project and why you did it?

Hello, and my project was building all the lockdown shades on the door windows in Freehold Township. The shades sit on top of the doors and when there is a Lockdown, the teachers drop them to cover up the door window. Then intruders cannot see inside the classroom at all. I did this because for an Eagle Scout project, my leaders always tell you to do something that means something to you. Township, even only after one year, is like a second home for me, so I wanted to improve the school. This was the one way I thought that would make the biggest impact to everyone.

Q: How did this idea come to you? Did you have to get it approved by anyone specifically?

As I was brainstorming ideas to do, my F\father actually suggested it as he wanted someone to do it in his school. I thought it was a great idea that could affect everyone that walks in the school, so I decided to do it. I brought the idea to the administration at Township and they approved it, as they always welcome an idea to make the students here safer.

Q: What was the process of making the blinds for the window. Was it a lot of trial and error? Did you have to come to the school during the summer for any of it?

Creating the shades took a while. First I had to come up with a blueprint of what the shade would look like. Then the prototype, as well as getting every step approved by administration. Later my volunteers and I had to make all 140 door shades. We did not do it all in one shot, as it took the length of the whole summer to make them all. Finally, we installed them all about a week before the first teachers week. There was a lot of trial and error into making the first prototype, it took my family and I about a good five different tries to make the shade we wanted. I made many trips to the school during the summer, one to measure all the windows, and two trips to install all the shades.

Q: Was there any point in time you wanted to switch projects to something easier, more fun, etc? Why or why not?

There was a time that I thought I wanted to switch projects to something easier. Once was while I was measuring all the door windows and realizing how many shades I was going to have to make. Another time was when I was in the process of making the shades and about a week into working on the shades for hours each day only completing a fifth of the shades. But with my family, volunteers and I, we finished them all.

Q: Who was the most instrumental person in helping you complete this project? Explain.

Dr. Bleakley was the most instrumental person in helping me. He was the one who approved the project, the prototype, and was there for every step of the way. He was always generous enough to give me his time in the morning so I could meet with about something I changed or another topic. He also donated a lot of his summer in order to help me go along with the process. Whenever I had a question he was always quick to communicate with me, which helped tremendously. Overall, he was a big factor for the success of this project

Q: How will this project help you become an Eagle Scout, and why is this so important to you?

In order to obtain the rank of  Eagle Scout you need to plan and carry out a project that will affect your community, and this was was my project. So this will be a big factor of why I get my Eagle Scout rank. This is so important to me because scouting is a huge part of my family. All my brothers are Eagle Scouts, as well as my Dad and all his brothers, so I would love to be the next one to join the ranks with them.

Q: Are you planning on taking this project any further, like putting it in other schools?

No I am not planning on taking this project further, as I would be too large of a task for my family and I. But if people wanted to come to me for the blueprints on how to make the shades, I would gladly help.

Q: Any last words of wisdom for anyone looking to do a project like this?

It is going to take a while, so you need to be patient. My first meeting to start the project with Dr.Bleakley was in January, and my process to become Eagle is still ongoing. It takes a lot of patience, and with that comes planning. If you have a good plan that could be followed and some patience, then a project like this can be a huge success.