All four have held many leadership positions in Troop 535 and have been active Scouts for years. To qualify for Eagle Scout rank, Scouting's highest honor, a young man must earn a minimum of 21 specific merit badges in broader areas such as leadership, community service, survival training and life skills. Some badges are mandatory; Scouts can choose their favorite subjects for other badges.

Less than 1 percent of all American Boy Scouts choose to attain the rank of Eagle, which, along with the prerequisite badges, involves deciding on a major community service project, planning a course of action, obtaining materials, raising funds if necessary and recruiting Scouts and other volunteers for assistance.

Bromage, now 15, is one of the youngest members of Troop 535 to become an Eagle, having achieved that rank at 14. His project consisted of building raised garden beds for the preschool on the Saratoga High School campus. Bromage is a sophomore at Saratoga High, where he is a Scholar of Distinction and competes on the track team.

In his troop, Bromage, who holds the Arrow of Light Award, has served as a senior patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, assistant patrol leader, patrol leader and troop instructor. He is also a recent graduate of the Santa Clara County Sheriff's Teen Academy.

A freshman who plays on the Saratoga High baseball team, Finnegan is in his ninth year of Scouting. He conducted his Eagle Scout project on behalf of Sacred Heart Church, where he is an active parishioner and member of the parish's youth ministry.

For his project, he served as committee chairman of the Kids' Games Program, reorganized and improved the program and did repair work on the equipment. Finnegan is a troop guide who in the past served as an assistant patrol leader and patrol leader. He has also won several merit awards, including the Arrow of Light.

A Saratoga High graduate and now a University of Nevada freshman, McAllister began Scouting in 1990, when he was a first-grader. For his Eagle project, he led a team of volunteers to tear down 16 old basketball backboards on the high school campus and installed newly painted boards and refurbished rims. He also included a stenciled falcon—the school's mascot—on each board.

In his years as a Scout in Saratoga, McAllister held several leadership positions, including troop librarian, patrol leader and senior patrol leader. He also holds the Arrow of Light Award and is a past recipient of the Saratoga Rotary Club's citizen of the year award.

Williams is a 16-year-old sophomore at Westmont High School and has been a Boy Scout for nine years, over which time he has served as troop guide, patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader and senior patrol leader. He holds both the Order of the Arrow and Arrow of Light awards.

His Eagle project took place at the Sub-Acute Saratoga Hospital on Sousa Lane, where he demolished the decaying support structures of the convalescent hospital's billboard sign, rebuilt and repainted the sign and its supports, built a planter box beneath the sign and planted it with flowers. Williams plays several school sports, is a cartoonist for the Westmont school newspaper and serves on the school yearbook staff and homecoming committees.