Teen of the week: A 'Quiet leader' | Maryland Gazette (HometownGlenBurnie.com)

As a young Boy Scout, he took part in highway cleanups around Pasadena and food drives for local food banks. Since then, he's grown into roles as a hunting safety instructor and as a leader both at Chesapeake High School and in Scouting.

Bradley became an Eagle Scout in late 2006 after he built steps on a viewing platform at MeyerStation, an Odenton nature reserve. Now 17, the senior thinks that achievement earned him a place at the Merchant Marine Academy.

"I think it helped a lot," said Bradley, son of Linda and Wayne Schatz of Pasadena. "It showed leadership and that helps with their decision."

Like other service academies in the United States, applicants must obtain a recommendation from a congressman or senator. Bradley was recommended by U.S. Rep. Wayne Gilchrest, R-Kent.

This year, about 40 high school students from Maryland were recommended for admission to the maritime academy in King's Point, N.Y.

Considered the fourth U.S. service academy, the school produces officers for the nation's commercial shipping fleet. Its graduates are required to fulfill their service obligation on their own by providing annual proof of employment in occupations approved by the U.S. Maritime Administration. They must maintain their Coast Guard-issued merchant marine officer's license for a period of at least six years.

Bradley said some of his friends who attended the academy spoke highly of it.

"Even though it's a military academy, it's not quite as strict as some of the other ones," he said. "They told me that you have to think of it as a game, and you'll get through it."

The academy also boasts a 100 percent job placement rate for graduates, Bradley said. He plans to study marine engineering.

A National Honor Society member, Bradley plays the trumpet in Chesapeake's marching band, jazz band, concert band and orchestra. He began playing trumpet in fourth grade.

His leadership abilities are evident as a musician, said marching band instructor Stephen Cherry.

"He's just a very well-rounded student. I don't think I've ever seen him lose his temper," Mr. Cherry said. "He's just a great student."

Bradley loves the outdoors and frequently goes on skiing trips with his family. Last summer, he went on a backpacking trip with the Boy Scouts to the Philmont Scout Reservation in New Mexico, where he hiked 120 miles in 11 days.

Four years ago, he kayaked 60 miles with Troop 412 in Pasadena at the Boy Scouts' Sea Base high adventure camp, and was awarded the 250 nights National Camping Award and the C&O Canal Medal for biking the whole Canal over several years, his father said.

During the summer, he's on staff at Camp Spencer in Baltimore, a Scouting camp where he has served as an aquatics instructor and lifeguard. He's now junior assistant scout master for troop 412.

He's also a member of the Magothy River Sailing Association and an assistant hunting safety instructor with the state Department of Natural Resources.

The holder of 73 merit badges, he was named to the Boy Scout's prestigious Order of the Arrow honor society in 2005 for his service to the organization, and is now a chapter chief.

His parents called him a "quiet leader" who has always been mature beyond his years.

"Pretty much anything I ask him to do, he'll do it," Mrs. Schatz said.

Bradley considers his Eagle Scout project probably the most challenging thing he's ever had to do.

"It only took me about six months, but I had the idea in my mind for about three years," he said.

His dad, too, is an Eagle Scout, while Mrs. Schatz is a former den mother.

"The Boy Scouts really fit with our lifestyle, our beliefs," she said. "It definitely taught Bradley a sense of leadership and responsibility."