Effingham County Schools Superintendent Randy Shearouse considers the Boy Scout Law a model for how a young man should conduct himself.

The dozen qualities a Scout is expected to exhibit include being trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous and kind.

“If you look at the Scout Law, to me, that’s what it’s all about,” Shearouse said last Friday at a breakfast the local Boy Scouts district hosted at the Effingham College and Career Academy.

“I feel like the natural thing to do is allow the Boy Scouts access to our students,” he continued, “because of the lessons they teach, the work ethic, the projects they do. It just really helps them become young men, and it helps them really give back to society.”

To thank Shearouse for his loyal support of scouting programs, the Boy Scouts of America’s Twin Rivers District presented him its 2014 Good Scout Award.

As Twin Rivers district executive Will Britt explained, Shearouse does more than just say he supports scouting. He strongly encourages principals to allow Boy Scout leaders to visit Effingham schools throughout the year and talk to students about scouting.

“The response is always ‘yes,’” Britt said. “Some other superintendents and some other people say, ‘We’ll help you, we’ll support you,’ but that’s not what this man does. This man says, ‘Please accommodate the Scouts so that they can present their program.’ That’s a big difference.”

Scout leaders make an approximately five-minute presentation to students, primarily in elementary schools. The Scouts also visit sixth-graders, Britt said, and might expand to include seventh and eighth grades as well.

Shearouse’s Good Scout Award was the first presented by the Twin Rivers District, which was formed after the Boy Scouts’ Coastal Empire Council and Okefenokee Area Council merged to form the new Coastal Georgia Council. The district serves Effingham, Screven and north Bryan counties.

“Everything we’re doing is new,” Britt said.

After receiving the award from Britt and longtime Boy Scouts volunteer Clayton Dasher, Shearouse referenced the Scout Law. He said its tenets parallel the “soft skills” that local employers routinely tell educators they are looking for in potential employees.

“Don’t we want every young man to have those skills?” Shearouse said. “Our employers tell us all the time, ‘We can’t find workers who show up on time. We can’t find workers who have a good work ethic.’ The Boy Scouts start very early on teaching them how they’re supposed to be a good citizen.”