Pacific Beach resident Nathan Kamphaus, 17, spent the last two weekends digging and pouring concrete to build a shade structure for students to sit under while they learn about native plants in the garden at Pacific Beach Elementary School. Kamphaus, a La Jolla High School senior, chose this as his last project on the way to earning his Eagle Scout designation. The native plant garden was created by another Scout as an Eagle Scout project, and since Kamphaus was a student at Pacific Beach Elementary, he decided to build the structure. The garden, which has native plants from throughout the San Diego area, can be used as an outdoor classroom, but there was no place in which the students could view the garden while being protected from the sun. The main thing about choosing this project is that the native plant garden serves an educatioal purpose for the students, he said. Kamphaus said he originally joined Scouts with eight friends and that most of them are still in Scouting. He likes the friendships built through the program and also “meeting people and going to camp outs,” he said.