Community Corner

Whiz Kids: Dan D'Ostuni

Carol Booth details how Dan recently earned the rank of Eagle Scout in Suffield after completing a project to set up science experiments for elementary school students as well as his love of lacrosse and interest in marine biology.

Dan D’Ostuni is a rising senior at Suffield High School, a varsity athlete in both wrestling and lacrosse. More recently, Dan became an Eagle Scout. He was awarded the title of Eagle Scout for his work in the elementary schools of Suffield. Dan has been involved with Boy Scouts since becoming a Tiger Cub in first grade. 

His Eagle Scout project involved helping to build science programs in Suffield’s elementary classrooms.

“I worked on creating a science room,” Dan said.

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With the cooperation of the school, which volunteered to purchase the necessary fixtures, storage units and supplies, and the Suffield Foundation for Excellent Schools, which donated the actual science equipment, Dan followed the mandated list of science experiments approved by the state.

Dan said he “created bins with science experiments in them for each grade, labeled them, and put them on moveable shelves.”

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He then cleaned and prepared a separate room to store it all in. 

Each experiment is designed with three bins filled with all the supplies needed for the classroom. Dan said this is actually an ongoing project.  His Eagle Scout project involved creating one science experiment (unit) per grade, but there are five possible state units in total for each grade level.  It is a huge project and it is set up so others can continue to build on it.

“I knew I had an interest in working in the schools and in science,” Dan said, when asked about how his project started. “So two years ago, over the summer I met Rachel Manzer, the science coordinator at that time.”

Manzer expressed her need for the science labs and the project began to develop from there.

“It’s all about leadership,” Dan said, when asked how being a scout helped him see the project through to its conclusion. “The Boy Scouts do an excellent job at teaching leadership. We have troop leaders, but it’s mostly run by the older boys in the troop. It teaches you how to organize groups and build teams."

From the beginning, looked up to those older kids in his troop. He grew up and into the role of leader himself.

“I really enjoy it and I want to be a role model for others now,” he said.

According to D’Ostuni, “The games [in the Boy Scouts] are tied in to skills and learning that can be used in your future life. Boy Scouts helps with discovering yourself and leading others.”

After high school, Dan would like to combine his love for playing lacrosse, his favorite sport, with his goals of undergraduate and master’s degree studies in biology and marine biology.

If you are interested in finding out more about Boy Scouts in Suffield, you can contact Cliff Barron at 860-254-5544.


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