Ten Naperville friends who became Boy Scouts together will advance today to the rank of Eagle Scout.

Keith Davis, Calvin Warren, Scott Willis, Zachary Wilson, Vishal Pandya, Matthew Quigley, Frederick Hines, Victor Mui, Matthew Gorgol and Michael Harvey are being recognized by Troop 100 in ceremonies at Wesley United Methodist Church in Naperville.

Nationwide, only 2 percent of Boy Scouts become Eagle Scouts, said Tom Hurley, staff adviser to the council advancement committee at Three Fires Council in St. Charles.

So it's most unusual, Hurley says, for 10 teens from the same troop to receive the honor at the same time.

Troop 100 is a part of Three Fires Council, which is the local chapter for the Boy Scouts of America.

The Eagle Scout ceremony, Hurley said, "sends chills down your back."

It also will be a bittersweet occasion because Davis will be at the University of Chicago Hospital while his friends attend the ceremony.

The 18-year-old has had three heart surgeries, according to Rekha Pandya, Eagle and activities coordinator for Troop 100, and will not be able to participate.

But the Scouts say Keith will be in their hearts and minds as they gather today.

"I'm fine with it being with a lot of guys," Vishal Pandya said. "It kind of shows unity and working together. It actually looks better."

Hines, a freshman at Howard University, agrees.

"When we were younger, we would all talk about who would probably make it and who wouldn't make it," Hines said.

"Now, we are all doing it at the same time. So it's kind of a good thing."

Having so many Scouts going for the honor was an advantage, the teens say, because they could motivate each other to face the challenges and finish the journey.

They all had separate Eagle Scout projects that were both time-consuming and required a group effort.

Wilson had an even more difficult time because he moved with his family to Worthington, Ohio, in August, right in the middle of his project - building book cases for Little Friends Inc. in Naperville.

In Ohio, he says, he built five park benches along an exercise path with the help of an Ohio Scout troop.

"It all worked out," Wilson said. "I didn't want to move but it turned out fine."

Through various projects and camping activities, the Scouts learned responsibility, leadership, unity, independence and organization at an early age.

"We became independent really fast because we had to prove to the adults that 13-year-olds can take on the responsibility normally accepted by older kids," Warren said.

"We just set it up through example and they learned to trust us," he said.

"I think that it really plays a large part in our development in school and in life and all that," Vishal Pandya said.

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