When Alpharetta High School Junior Ricky Barillas needed to come up with a project for his Eagle Scout award, the decision was not difficult.

As a member of leadership for the school's band program, Barillas is one of the team responsible for loading and unloading the band truck for all away games and competitions.  As a 'roadie' for the band, Barillas knew from experience what a time consuming and arduous task this was , especially as the truck was not outfitted to transport cumbersome equipment and large instruments.

Barillas enlisted the help of Dave Pratt, a band parent and mechanical engineer, to draw up the plans for a shelving unit that could be permanently installed in the truck. It would take Barillas several months of planning to come up with the perfect shelving system which would accommodate all of the band equipment and keep it safe on long road trips.

Of course a project of this magnitude does not come cheap. Barillas was responsible for raising all of the funds needed to purchase materials complete the task. He was successful in raising the money needed and even able to donate extra back to the band program.

The project was not without its difficulties, but with some ingenuity, Barillas managed to come up with a finished product which would not only make loading the truck much more efficient but also protect some very expensive instruments. By project's end,  Barillas and his construction crew would have spent more than 93 man hours in installing a custom shelving system which would truly benefit the Alpharetta High School Marching Raider Band.