Cole Raymond attended the National Boy Scout Jamboree this summer where President Donald Trump gave a speech, making him one of the few students to have witnessed the president in action.

The senior from Middletown spent 10 days in July at the Summit Bechtel Family National Scout Reserve in West Virginia where the Jamboree was held. The reserve hosts the Boy Scouts of America (bsa) once every four years to hold the National Jamboree and in 2019, it will host the World Jamboree.

This was the 24th National Boy Scout Jamboree but the first time Raymond attended despite the fact that he has been involved with Boy Scouts for 10 years.

Raymond was joined by over 30,000 other scouts and leaders at this year’s Jamboree. There, Raymond had the opportunity to participate in outdoors type activities. These activities included white water rafting, hiking, adventure courses and trading patches with other scouts.

“They had a lot of fun things to offer,” Raymond said referring to the activities at The Jamboree.

But the highlight of Raymond’s trip was seeing Trump give a speech.

In his address to the Boy Scouts, Trump said, “Boy Scout values are American values. And great Boy Scouts become great, great Americans.”

The speech was not favored by all. BBC shared that some parents thought the speech was too politicized. CNN shared that the Boy Scout’s executive chief, Michael Surbaugh, apologized afterwards to anyone the speech may have offended.

“His speech was not appropriate for the event so the bsa executive’s apology on Trump’s behalf was definitely needed,” Raymond said.