Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Scout’s Honor


A Cedar Brook Elementary School second-grader who saw a struggling child in a swimming pool’s deep end, and then jumped in to save a life was awarded one of Boy Scouting’s highest honors on Monday, June 2, in a campus ceremony.

Sherwood Elementary Assistant Principal Merrie Thomas, who is active in local Scouting, presented the National Honor Award to Isaac Warshaw during a 3 p.m. ceremony held in the gym at Cedar Brook Elementary, 2121 Ojeman.

Isaac is a member of the Sam Houston Council, Pack No. 186. About 50 people, including members of Isaac’s Cub Scout pack and adults with the Sam Houston Council, attended the after school event. His mother is a kindergarten teacher at Cedar Brook Elementary.

The National Honor Award, also known as the Boy Scouts Meritorious Award, is one of the highest and rarest awards issued in Scouting. Since Boy Scouts began, the honor has been awarded less than 2,500 times nationally.

Wolf Scout Isaac, according to the award nomination, quickly jumped into a deep swimming pool owned by a friend of the family when he observed a 3-year-old who had jumped off a diving board struggling to keep his head above water.

Isaac pulled the drowning child onto his back, and then held onto the child as he swam to the side of the pool. The child struggled with Isaac, which is typical of drowning victims. Aided by the child’s father, Isaac helped revive the 3-year-old who had swallowed a lot of pool water.

When asked about the risk he took by jumping in, Isaac reportedly said, “I didn’t even think about that. I made my choice to save [the boy].”

At Cedar Brook Elementary on Monday, Isaac described everything with one word. “Happy!”
“I want to be a lifeguard when I grow up. I want to save people,” he added. Isaac is a member of his neighborhood swim team, and he has taken swim lessons since the age of 3. From Scout training, Isaac learned how to identify if a swimmer is in real trouble in the water.

“This act of courage, heroism and skill demonstrates how Scout Isaac Warshaw used situational awareness and swimming taught by Scouting and his coaches,” his nomination states.

“Thank God and the Boy Scouts for planting the seeds in our son to help someone in a difficult situation,” Issac’s mother, Esmeralda Warshaw, told nominators. Her words for the other Scouts were simple and direct.

“When you see someone in trouble, you help them. I feel so proud of Isaac. He did this without thinking, and everything came out well,” she added.

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