Matt shows the way for others to go

Thanks to 17-year-old Matthew Nadareski, parishioners at St. Joseph's Church in Greenfield Center now know the way to go.

The Saratoga High senior chose his parish as the site for his Eagle Scout project. Post-Mass traffic snarls prompted him to think about putting up one-way and other traffic signs to assist parishioners in an orderly exit.

He also put up a flagpole, completed additional landscaping projects outside the church and made a sign for St. Joseph's parish house to replace the old one, which had been slightly obscured from the road.

"You can see [the new sign] from pretty far down the road," he noted.

Help

When it came to doing the work to fulfill his ideas, the teen relied on others, noting that Scout rules did not allow him to do any of the physical work. He directed other Scouts and family members as the work was completed.

He especially relied on the advice of his grandfather, a carpenter, and his father, who works in traffic control.

To obtain the traffic signs, he wrote to a traffic control office in Albany and asked for old signs. He also raised money and negotiated for discounts from local companies.

Rewards

The result was an experience that honed his communication skills and his leadership capabilities, Matt said.

"It was hard," he explained. "You have to plan out the entire project and organize everything about it. I had to go between each of the little areas that were happening, and everything turned out nice.

"It brought out the leadership quality. I didn't really know I was a leader in that sense. I thought I fit into a certain place and followed along."

Scouting

Matt has amassed more than 40 merit badges. He has also earned four Eagle Palms, honors that go above and beyond the Eagle Scout award.

As a troop instructor, he explained, "I help the younger kids get their requirements done. I help out as much as I can."

Merit badges "give kids something to look forward to. They're really broad-ranged, and they show you what's out there -- from geology to astronomy."

Future plans

Matt hopes to attend SUNY/Brockport next year for its computational science program. He'll do computer programming, learn about the history of technology and get experience doing high-level math.

Eventually, Matt hopes to go on for a master's degree and doctoral studies in the field.

Programming and computer applications for mathematics first began to fascinate him when he started to write simple programs on his graphing calculator to do everything from check his calculus work to play games between classes.

What's out there?

In his spare time, Matt enjoys amateur radio, video games and science-fiction books, especially the "Dune" series by Frank Herbert.

He is a member of Saratoga High's NASA club, which recently took a trip to Arizona State University to work with researchers mapping the surface of Mars and looking into the sky.

"We were really lucky to take pictures with the satellite," he said. "The scientists knew what level we were, so they eased us into what they were talking about, and we got to analyze pictures. I like wrapping my head around the notion about how big or small we are."

(11/15/07) [[In-content Ad]]