Dennis Scholl: Leader, role model and mentor

Despite splitting his time among the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Sunrise Optimist organization, charitable fundraisers, his family and work, Dennis Scholl remains committed to guiding local youth with a relaxed patience.

Scholl, a finalist for the Freedom Torch Award for Community Service, has served as a role model, mentor and leader for the Boy Scouts in Troop 61 since 1990, when he became the troop’s scoutmaster. 

Scholl said the reason he commits so much of his time to various charitable organizations is because he loves helping children.

“It is important for kids to do good and have exposure to people who do the right things, and to do things they just can’t do with their family. It is something I enjoy doing,” Scholl said.

Local Boy Scout Troop 61 has graduated 40 young men who achieved the Eagle Scout rank under Scholl’s tutelage, but he shies away from taking any credit for the accomplishments of the Scouts he has mentored.

“It’s their work, it is not mine, in the sense that they have to accomplish it,” Scholl said. “I guide them and try to make sure they are going in the right direction, but it takes a commitment from both the family and the boy to make that rank.”

Linda Hoffman, committee secretary and merit badge coordinator for Troop 61, said she nominated Scholl for the Freedom Torch Award for Community Service because he is an unsung hero in the community.

“He is one of those little people that you maybe don’t hear about. They are quiet and gentle, and they really don’t want the recognition. But I feel like Dennis needs that recognition,” Hoffman said.

Hoffman said Scholl deserves as much credit for being a role model to the young people he mentors as for the time he puts toward serving the community. 

He impresses positive moral values, responsibility, preparation and the spirit of community service in all the people around him, she said.

“He is a very good example,” Hoffman said. “He gives of himself 150 percent everyday, and I don’t know where he has all the energy to do all this,” Hoffman said.

She described Scholl as a very relaxed, good leader who has shown tremendous dedication to the community since he moved to Sedalia in 1980.

“Dennis has hung in there even though his child is not in our troop anymore. He has so much dedication to Boy Scouts, so I really give him credit,” Hoffman said. “We meet every Tuesday all year round, and at every meeting Dennis is there supporting and mentoring to improve their individuality and improve their freedom of choice.”

The most rewarding part of his service to the Boy Scouts is “watching the boys try to figure something out and seeing them accomplish their goals,” Scholl said. 

He said his leadership strategies focus more on teaching young people how to solve a problem rather than providing them with solutions.

“You have to let them enjoy themselves and communicate and just explode a little bit, because they don’t get to do that at home or at school,” Scholl said. “The real goal is for them to take what they learn in Boy Scouts away with them when they are done.”