Curbell Donates to Eagle Scout Project
Curbell Plastics, Inc., one of the nation’s top suppliers of plastic sheet, rod, tube, tapes, and fabricated parts, made a small but important donation towards a big project. There was just one challenge: the donation was for clear acrylic sheet during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jonathan Deitchman, then a Life Scout, needed to fulfill the Eagle Scout Service Project requirement to apply for Eagle Rank, the highest achievement in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA). “This project signified that I learned to be a leader, and worked other people, while also doing something to help the community in a fun and interesting way,” Deitchman explained. Interested in STEM, he approached the director of the A.J. Read Science Discovery Center at SUNY Oneonta to ask if his Eagle Scout Project could serve the Center in some capacity, to which the answer was yes.

The project, Mission to Modeling an Astronomical Rover Simulation (M.A.R.S.), would be an 8’ ft x 10’ foot representation of a Martian landscape. The display would serve as a visual and physical sensory experience for young children and act as home base to a fully-functional Mars Rover slated to be developed by another team. “There was a lot of research and development involved,” Deitchman shared. “We had to do a lot of experimentation like, how to get the landscape to look like Mars using foam insulation board, CelluClay , Kid- Krete, and paint. We had to test which ratios of ingredients and colors looked best and would be durable enough for a rover and younger kids touching it.” Understanding part of the display would need to be safeguarded to preserve its appearance and functionality, Deitchman specified acrylic sheet as a durable yet transparent shield. However, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was almost impossible to find material in the right size.

It was then Curbell Plastics Syracuse Inside Sales Manager Pat Silkey learned about the project. Due to the high demand of large acrylic sheets used as social distance barriers, transparent material options were limited, but that didn’t stop Silkey from trying his best to meet Jonathan’s specifications.

After two years and a total of 530.75 recorded project hours, the Mission to M.A.R.S. Eagle Scout Service Project was officially completed and dedicated as the A. J. Read Science Discovery Center’s first permanent display in May of 2021. “I am proud of the work I put into this project and of all the volunteers and companies that helped out, including Curbell Plastics and Mr. Silkey,” Deitchman said as he reflected on the long, research-intensive, and pandemic-interrupted process.

For more information, contact Beth Summers, Curbell Plastics, Inc., 7 Cobham Dr., Orchard Park, NY 14127, 888-287-2355/716-667-3377, E-mail: bsummers@curbellplastics.com, Web: www.curbellplastics.com.