Wendy Studner admits that her 17-year-old son, Jackson, is “a little bit different. He is so far out of the box. Sometimes I just say, 'Where in the world does he come from?'”

Jackson appears to be busier than any other two people. He is a top student and president of the student body at AIM Academy, an independent college prep school in Conshohocken, where he rides on the mountain bike team. The Jackson family lived in Chestnut Hill for 18 years but moved last year to a 10-acre farm in Unionville, Chester County, where Jackson grows plants, does leatherwork, builds terrariums, constructed a greenhouse, which he is currently winterizing, and helps care for goats, sheep, horses, ducks and raccoons. “And he is a good kid,” said his proud mom. “He has never given me one minute of trouble in his life.”

Jackson is also a talented magician, “The Amazing Jackson,” who entertained crowds at three Harry Potter Festivals in Chestnut Hill and at parties and other private events by making playing cards disappear and then reappear, among other tricks. (He is partly self-taught but also took many lessons with professional magician Rick Safire, of Cherry Hill, NJ.)

But Jackson's most impressive accomplishment is probably his 65 Boy Scout merit badges (he belongs to Troop 3 in Ambler), more than three times the number needed for Eagle Scout (21). According to the Boy Scouts of America website, about eight percent of all Boy Scouts become Eagle Scouts.

Jackson's nuclear science merit badge (yes, there is such a thing) might be his most impressive, but he also built an Ironman suit with a 3-D printer, which took a total of 800 hours! “I am considering metal casting it,” said Jackson, who unsurprisingly plans to major in engineering in college, “which will take 1,000 more hours.” (He doesn't know yet which college he will attend, although he won third place — and $1,000 — in an entrepreneurial contest last year sponsored by Drexel University. His dream school would be Massachusetts Institute of Technology.)

Jackson's latest ultra-ambitious Boy Scout project, which will make him a “4 Eagle Scout,” the highest possible rank, has been his current effort with the Chestnut Hill Conservancy & Historical Society. “Kate O'Neil (of the Chestnut Hill Business Association) helped connect Jackson to the Conservancy,” said Wendy. “She is wonderful, just as she was helping with the Harry Potter Festivals.”

The “4 Eagle Scout” project requires at least 100 hours of work, must show leadership and must be beneficial to the community. It also must be finished before the Scout's 18th birthday; Jackson's 18th birthday will be Oct. 18. He has put in 150 hours so far “and has many more hours of paperwork to do this weekend.”

He has led a group of volunteers, four adults and five Scouts, in creating 18 historical markers with his 3-D printer for historically significant buildings in Chestnut Hill. Ten of the “badges” have already been installed, and the Chestnut Hill Historical Society (CHHS) has the other eight. “We installed them, secured them and made sure they work,” said Jackson. “It took many research hours to get the PETG (recyclable polyester thermoplastic), which we ordered from Amazon, for the badges.

“You tap your phone on any of the tags that say CHHS, and it will pull up a website. I threw up a mock website that will link to the CHHS website, which has information about each location as well as an audio reading. It was a nightmare to put it all together.”

The Conservancy's fifth annual Night of Lights, their innovative public art installation, will transform Germantown Avenue into an interactive display of local history, architecture, shopping and dining from Friday, Oct. 8, to Saturday, Oct. 17. There will be many free activities as well as special ticketed events organized by the Conservancy's friends and partners — including horse drawn carriages, guided walking tours, self-guided walking tours.

For a list of Night of Lights events, visit chconservancy.org. For event tickets, visit night-of-lights.ticketleap.com/admin/events. For a list of locations with Jackson's historical markers, call 215-247-9329. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.