FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 12, 2026
For more information:
Alison Harrison, Marketing and Communications Director
James Parnell, Scout Executive
Virginia Beach, Va. – John M. Scheib, a member of the Boy Scouts of America Eagle Scout class of 1986, has been selected by the National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) to receive its highest Eagle Scout honor – the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award. He was presented with the award on April 29, 2026.
As a youth, John was the first Eagle Scout in Troop 25 (Waynesboro, VA). As an adult, he served as an Eagle Scout mentor in Troop 419 and as a founding assistant Scoutmaster in Troop 5587, both in Virginia Beach. He also served as an assistant Scoutmaster in Troop 587 in Virginia Beach.
John is the proud father of two Eagle Scouts – Will and Ava. In 2023, he was honored as a recipient of the NESA Outstanding Eagle Scout Award by the Tidewater Council, Boy Scouts of America.
Today, he is president of Scouting America Tidewater Council, the fifth-oldest Scouting America council in the United States, established in 1911. Today, the council serves approximately 4,000 youth and 1,700 adult volunteers in the Virginia cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach, and the North Carolina counties of Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Pasquotank, and Perquimans.
John is a Vigil Honor member of the Order of the Arrow (OA), Scouting America’s honor society. He has served as a Chapter Advisor and Associate Lodge Advisor in Tidewater Council’s OA Blue Heron Lodge, as a Host Lodge Advisor, and as a Shows Advisor for several Section SR-7A Conclaves. He was on the training staff at the 2018 and 2020 National OA Conferences.
Blue Heron Lodge bestowed John with the Silver Heron Award in 2016, the same year in which his son, Will, received it. The Silver Heron Award is presented to no more than two members of the lodge each year. It recognizes individuals who best exemplify cheerful service in their local lodge, chapter, unit, and beyond Scouting.
He is a Wood Badge Eagle and a two-time graduate of Scouting America’s National Camp School. He has volunteered at summer camp for nine summers, even delaying a new career position to volunteer as the Tidewater Council’s Pipsico Scout Reservation Camping Director for a summer (2021). He later took summer vacations in 2022 and 2023, and part of 2024, to reprise that role.
During his tenure, youth attendance at Pipsico grew 35%. In 2025, Scheib authored a book about his experiences as a camp director, Awesomeness: Secrets to Camp Success.
Scheib is a partner at Gentry Locke Attorneys, having previously served as a senior leader at Norfolk Southern Corporation. He has been recognized multiple times as a member of the Virginia Legal Elite.
He holds a B.A. in American Government from the University of Virginia and a J.D., magna cum laude, with the Order of the Coif (which recognizes the top 10% of graduating law students for academic achievement), from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law, where he served on the Villanova Law Review.
John received the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award at the Scouting America Tidewater Council Recognition Banquet on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, at the Khedive Shrine Temple in Chesapeake.
==
About the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award
The Distinguished Eagle Scout Award (DESA) is the National Eagle Scout Association’s (NESA) highest honor for Eagle Scouts. NESA established this award in 1969 to recognize Eagle Scouts who achieve extraordinary national-level recognition, fame, or eminence within their profession or service to the nation and have a strong record of voluntary service to their community. Stringent criteria begin with a minimum of 25 years of “Time in Service” from the official record date an Eagle Scout rank was earned. NESA defined this requirement by the average time most nominees need to establish a career, gain peer recognition, receive awards, gain fame/eminence, and other factors considered for DESA selection.
About the National Eagle Scout Association
The National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) is an organization of individuals who have earned the rank of Eagle Scout in Scouting America. NESA’s objective is “to serve Eagle Scouts and, through them, the entire movement of Scouting.” NESA administers several scholarships for Eagle Scouts, both academic and merit-based.
About Scouting America Tidewater Council
Established in 1911, Tidewater Council is the fifth oldest Scouting America council in the United States. Today, the council serves approximately 4,000 youth and 1,700 adult volunteers in the Virginia cities of Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, and Virginia Beach, and the North Carolina counties of Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Pasquotank, and Perquimans. To learn more about Tidewater Council or to sign your child up for Scouting, visit TidewaterBSA.com, email [email protected], or call 757-497-2688.
About Scouting America
Scouting America provides the nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training, which helps young people be “Prepared. For Life.®”
Scouting America welcomes all of America’s youth into its programs. Scouting aims to give them fantastic experiences in the outdoors, and elsewhere, where they can grow in a safe environment. More than 130 million Americans have participated in Scouting’s programs since its founding. Today, almost one million youth are served by 500,000 adult volunteers in local councils throughout the country.
To learn more about Scouting America’s mission, or to sign your child up for Scouting, visit BeAScout.org.
###
Distinguished Eagle Scout Award presentation, April 29, 2026
(from left):
Scouting America Tidewater Council Scout Executive James Parnell
Distinguished Eagle Scout and Scouting America Tidewater Council President John Scheib
Scouting America Tidewater Council Commissioner Kate Sklat