The National Catholic Committee on Scouting awarded $2,000 scholarships to two recent high school graduates in the archdiocese who are Eagle Scouts: Paul Kariuki, Academy of Holy Angels in Richfield, and Matthew Korf, St. Thomas Academy in Mendota Heights.  

Kariuki and Korf were among nine Scouts nationwide awarded NCCS scholarships June 20, which recognize service and leadership in four areas: church, community, school and Scouting. Both are members of the Order of the Arrow, the Boy Scouts of America’s Honor Society.  

Kariuki, a parishioner of Nativity of Mary in Bloomington, will attend the University of Mary in Fargo, North Dakota, this fall, and Korf, a parishioner of St. Ambrose in Woodbury, received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

The senior class president at Holy Angels, Kariuki participated in campus ministry, theater productions, soccer and speech teams, and in Brooklyn Park-based nonprofit BestPrep’s Minnesota Business Venture summer program, which prepares students with business, career and financial literacy skills through hands-on experience. 

Kariuki earned three of the four religious emblems offered by NCCS, which recognize Scouts’ growth in their faith. An altar server and lector at his church and school, he also served as usher, youth group leader, religious education teacher and children’s liturgy reader. Kariuki also volunteers with the youth group at Nativity and St. Bonaventure in Bloomington, leading faith-focused events for middle schoolers. 

In Scouting, Kariuki served as troop scribe, patrol and senior patrol leader, and staff member with National Youth Leadership Training. For his Eagle Scout project, Kariuki planned and executed the redesign of a classroom used by his parish’s religious education preschool program.

A top 20 student in his class at St. Thomas Academy, Korf participated in Model UN, Boys State, band and foreign language club, Nordic skiing and baseball, and was a team captain of the varsity cross country and swim teams. His community involvement has included volunteering for Junior Achievement, serving as a program facilitator with inner city youth for Minneapolis-based Pab’s Pack, which fills and distributes backpacks to chronically ill children, and Coon Rapids-based Feed My Starving Children, which sends volunteer-packed meals to children in need around the world. Korf also served as an altar server, usher, youth group member and vacation Bible school teacher.

In Scouting, his service ranged from troop chaplain to assistant senior patrol leader, crew leader at both Florida Sea Base and Northern Tier High Adventure. He earned all four NCCS religious emblems.

For his Eagle Scout project, Korf built a raised garden bed with fencing at St. Ambrose School to support its STEM program and help children with ADHD through horticulture therapy. Produce from the garden is used in the school cafeteria and the garden’s flowers adorn the altar during Mass.