Kai Engevik, 14, has found memories of his younger years at Woodridge Elementary School.

The school had a large U.S. map on the its center court area that had been painted by a scout from Troop 438 many years ago for his Eagle project.

Each day during recess, students would play the “map game” in which a person who is “it” would call out a state name and the others would have to race to it without getting tagged. The game never ended unless everybody quit.

During 2006/2007 the school was torn down and a new one was rebuilt, but the old map was gone. In its place, a new playground was built to the side with a yellow outlined map of the United States.

When the school, at 12619 S.E. 20th Place, opened up in September 2007, Kai approached the principal, Liz Ritz, and asked permission to paint the map in a variety of colors for his Eagle project. Within several months, he had the OK.

Kai spent the remaining months planning and organizing the project to be painted when the school year ended. On June 25, Kai’s Eagle project began at 5:30 p.m. A total of 18 scouts and adults from his troop joined him in painting the map.

Kai’s parents donated the food and had a friend of the family, Jeff Mattox, who enters BBQ contests with his professional BBQ pit, cook hamburgers and fries for everyone who worked during the evening. The weather cooperated and the project was completed by about 9.

Today, children who spend their summer at a camp at the school’s childcare facility can go out and play on the new map. Come September, other students will have the benefit as well.