Jon Thaler, son of Kaylene and David Thaler of Redmond, recently earned the Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout Award.

Jon, 18, is dual enrolled as a member of Crew 613, sponsored by the Redmond Third Ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Crew 518 of Sammamish.

For his Eagle project, Jon partnered with Reach Out and Read Washington State to build a library of books and improve language and literacy skills in children from King County. Jon collected more than 500 children’s books and with help from volunteers cleaned, sorted and inventoried the books, and built shelves to store them at the International Community Health Services building in Bellevue. These books will be distributed to children and teens as they come in for medical and dental check-ups.

Jon has been a den chief and volunteer youth archery staff at Sammamish Trails Cub Scout Day camp for many years. Jon attended the BSA National Jamboree in 2013, and earned his 50-miler award. He and his family were awarded the Sammamish Trails District Scouting Family of the Year award in 2012. Jon has participated in many high adventure and outdoor activities including rafting on the Lower Salmon River, a week sailing on the Puget Sound, and many weekend hiking and camping activities.

Jon, a recent Redmond High graduate, plans to continue his education in computer security and information technology as well as working toward his goal to be an entertainer in media.