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Six teenagers who entered Scouting together a dozen years ago as Tiger Cubs became Eagle Scouts in a joint Court of Honor on Saturday.

To earn the Eagle rank, the highest in Boy Scouting, a scout must fulfill requirements in leadership, service and outdoor skills, according to the Boy Scouts of America Web site.

"It means quite a lot to finally make it there," said Patrick Wilkerson, 17, a junior at Urbana High School. "It takes a lot of hard work, dedication, responsibility and leadership."

Max Borchardt, 17, of Clarksburg, Henry Lupari, 16, of Germantown, Derek Post, 17, of Damascus, Daniel McDermott, 16, of Boyds, Robert Smith, 16, of Clarksburg and Wilkinson of Monrovia have risen in the ranks of Scouting together for more than a decade. Each has earned 30 to 40 Merit Badges, Post said.

The troop meets at Neelsville Presbyterian Church in Germantown.

"They all helped each other move up through the ranks," Troop 489 Scoutmaster Karl Moline said. "Any camp or campout, if one was there, all were there. A lot of credit goes to the parents."

Even though two of the boys moved out of the community in recent years, the love of Scouting and their friendship kept them together since they started as kindergartners in Pack 1307 at Clarksburg Elementary School. They always looked forwarded to being together every Monday night for meetings.

"They're friends in Scouts and out of Scouts," Moline said. "As a group, they're always together and have been for a long time."

To become Eagle Scouts each teenager was required to complete a service project.

"We went to each other's projects and helped on project day," Wilkerson said.

Some paired their projects.

Borchardt dismantled a play set at Kehilat Shalom in Gaithersburg that was no longer wanted and Smith reassembled the play set at Congregation Or Chadash in Damascus.

McDermott removed invasive plant species from Black Hill Regional Park in Boyds and replaced them with native species. Lupari repaired and restored a fence at the Little Bennett Regional Park golf course in Clarksburg. Wilkerson created a nature trail at Friends Meeting School in Ijamsville and installed bird feeders, squirrel feeders and bird houses.

Post made a footbridge over a creek at the nonprofit Blue Ridge Center for Environmental Stewardship in Loudon County, Va.

The young men said their favorite Scouting experience was spending 11 days last summer at Philmont Scout Range in New Mexico.

"We voted on what we wanted to do in our time there and I was pretty much the guy that kept us going," Smith, a junior at Clarksburg High School, said. Smith was the crew leader for the camp.

This summer several of the boys are going sailing in the Bahamas at the Scouts' Florida National High Adventure Sea Base.

"They've been an outstanding group," Moline said. ""They brought a lot to the troop. Before they joined we were a very small group and not very active. ... As a group they've been very active kids."

The boys plan to continue in the troop until their 18th birthdays.

"We're going to stay in our troop as long as we can, then probably join a Venture Crew," Post, a junior at Damascus High School, said.