Do you remember the accomplishments of your high school classmates? You may recall faces, identify friend groups, maybe even pinpoint a few of the colleges peers went on to attend. But it’s not likely you’re acquainted with the details of their grade school achievements years after graduation.

Current students at Northern Highlands Regional High School in Allendale, NJ, however, will always know 27 of their classmates have earned at least 21 merit badges in the Boy Scouts Northern New Jersey Council and completed projects that tremendously benefit the Allendale community.

That’s right – the high school is bustling with Eagle Scouts. Ages 17 and 18, 27 young men who roamed the halls at Northern Highlands Regional last semester have achieved Scouting’s highest rank.

“I think when all of us first joined Boy Scouts, it started mainly as a social thing, and it just grew from there,” Eagle Scout Michael Novak told Cindy Hsu CBS New York.

This impressive flock’s service projects ranged from repairing bridges to making xylophones for children in the hospital, many of these tasks totaling more than 200 hours to accomplish. Often one Eagle Scout service project betters a community significantly. Multiply that times 27 and you can begin to understand the influence these Scouts have on Allendale.

Overseeing time-consuming service projects and balancing school priorities is the ultimate challenge for many Eagles – it’s meant to be. But that didn’t stop more than two dozen young men in the school from reaching for the rank.

“I was doing my project while applying to college so it was a little bit busy,” Eagle Scout Andrew Masters told Hsu.

Learn more about the challenges and pay off associated with becoming an Eagle Scout for these 27 high achievers in CBS New York’s video below.