Cool Kid Jacob Linder repairs school facilities to become Eagle Scout

BREA, Calif. (KABC) -- This week's ABC7 Cool Kid is Jacob Linder, who has followed in his father's footsteps to soon become an Eagle Scout.

Since he was 10 years old Jacob has been working toward the goal of earning the coveted rank.

"It's going to mean a lot to me because my dad was also an Eagle Scout, so it also shows how much I've progressed," Jacob said.

Becoming an Eagle Scout has been a lengthy process for Jacob, but now the 15-year-old is only one project away.

"The school used to have some water polo shooting boards but they broke a couple of years ago and then they've gotten rusty and hard to maneuver," he said.

He decided to build three water polo boards from scratch for his school team, which he also plays on.

"The boards are going to be placed up against the edge of the pool, and how it's going to work is they are going to be rebound boards," Jacob explained. "So the players are going to be able to throw the balls at the boards and then the balls are going to bounce off the boards and come back to the player."

"So it's kind of like shooting practice but without having a goalie or a goal," he added.

To get the funding he needed, Jacob held fundraisers and started a GoFundMe account. He raised $800 worth of materials.

He now spends weekends cutting, sanding down and painting the wood boards with a little help from his friends.

"Both his mom and I are so proud of everything he's accomplished," his father Darrow Linder said.

He says the project has taught the Brea Olinda High School sophomore leadership skills, an important Eagle Scout virtue.

"Having to go through and think through those things ahead of time and learn through mistakes along the way is really an important part of the whole process," Darrow said.

Jacobs plans to complete the project in the next few months.

"If I become an Eagle Scout then the other scouts will kind of look up to me more and I'll be more of the example to them," Jacob said.

Know an amazing young person making a difference in the community? Learn how to nominate them to be an ABC7 Cool Kid at abc7.com/coolkids.