The Path to Eagle

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The Path to Eagle

• Troop 5, Ann Arbor, Michigan

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Purpose

• This presentation is for Eagle Scout candidates
  and their parents
• We want to inform them of the requirements to
  reach the Eagle Scout rank
• National, District and Troop requirements
• We want Scouts to understand everything that will
  be required of them, to prevent future
  misunderstandings

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Overview

• Who is eligible to be an Eagle Scout?
• The path to Eagle
• Eagle projects

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Whos eligible to be an Eagle?
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Age Requirements

• All Eagle requirements must be completed before
  the Scouts 18th birthday!
• These include
• All required merit badges
• Eagle project
• Eagle Board of Review
• The single greatest reason for Scouts not
  reaching Eagle is they run out of time

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Merit Badges

• An Eagle Scout must complete 21 merit badges, of
  which 12 are required
• The 12 required merit badges are Camping
  Citizenship in the Community Citizenship in the
  Nation Citizenship in the World Communications
  Emergency Preparedness or Lifesaving
  Environmental Science First Aid Cycling or
  Hiking or Swimming Personal Management Personal
  Fitness Family Life.
• Merit badges are not always correctly logged with
  District and National keep your blue cards!

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Positions of Responsibility

• Life Scouts are required to have ???? months in
  a leadership position
• Examples SPL, ASPL, Patrol Leader, Quartermaster
• The Troop Committee is required to review the
  Scouts performance in this position they must
  actually do the job to get the credit!

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Rank Requirements

• Scout must be a Life Scout in good standing
• Scouts occasionally run into difficulties because
  of problems with their advancement
• Example A Scout might have difficulty if he
  received Star rank without having completed the
  required number of Eagle required merit badges at
  that time
• All rank advancements are scrutinized carefully
  by National Council

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Scout Spirit

• The Scoutmaster and the Troop Committee are
  required to evaluate whether the Scout exhibits
  Scout Spirit
• Scouts are expected to live up to the Scout Oath
  and Law
• Scouts are sometimes rejected because they did
  not meet the requirements for Scout Spirit

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Participation

• Troop 5 requires that its Eagle candidates
  participate in the life of the Troop
• Examples Meetings, Camp-outs, Fund Raisers
• Candidates who have been inactive for an extended
  period will be expected to demonstrate their
  commitment to the Troop
• Candidates will be evaluated on a case-by-case
  basis

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The path to Eagle
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Complete all requirements

• Complete all requirements for Eagle Scout (merit
  badges, Scout Spirit, leadership, participation,
  etc.)
• It is not absolutely necessary to complete all
  merit badges before starting an Eagle project,
  but it is strongly recommended

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Scoutmaster Conference

• Have a conference with the Scoutmaster, and tell
  him of your interest in becoming an Eagle
• The Scoutmaster and the Scout will discuss the
  Scouts idea for an Eagle project
• The Scout must receive formal approval from the
  Scoutmaster to proceed on the path to Eagle
• The project may be rejected, or sent back for
  more work
• The Scout may be rejected for reasons of Scout
  Spirit, or the Scout may be required to
  demonstrate Spirit or Participation

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Advancement Review

• Once the project is approved by the Scoutmaster,
  the Troop Advancement Coordinator will request
  the candidates advancement record from District
• The Advancement Coordinator will review the
  Scouts records
• The Advancement Coordinator and the Scout will
  create a plan for resolving any missing
  requirements or discrepancies

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Present the Eagle Project Proposal

• The Scout must formally present the Eagle project
  to the Troop Eagle Committee and to the District
  Eagle representative
• This typically occurs in two meetings
• The Eagle Committee must unanimously approve the
  Scouts request to proceed on the path to Eagle
• The project may be rejected, or sent back for
  more work
• The Scout may be rejected for reasons of Scout
  Spirit, or the Scout may be required to
  demonstrate Spirit or Participation
• The project must be approved by District

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Do the Eagle Project

• And then a miracle happens

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Present the Eagle Project Proposal

• The candidate must present the completed Eagle
  Project to both the Troop Eagle Committee and to
  District
• The project must be approved by the Benefactor,
  the Eagle Committee and by District

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Eagle Application

• An application for the rank of Eagle is signed by
  the Scoutmaster and the Troop Committee
  Chairperson, and reviewed by the Troop Eagle
  Committee prior to the Board of Review

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Letters of Reference

• The candidate gives the Troop Eagle Committee the
  names of five references
• The Eagle Committee requests references from each
  of the people named
• The candidate is not involved in this procedure,
  and in no case is allowed to handle the letters
  of reference
• The completed application and the letters of
  reference are forwarded to the Council Service
  Center for certification

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Eagle Board of Review

• May take place after the Eagle project is
  approved, and the signed application and letters
  of recommendation have been received
• The Board of Review is composed of at least 3 and
  no more than 6 members, one of which must be a
  member of the District advancement committee.
• The Scoutmaster and relatives of the Scout may
  not participate, although the Scoutmaster may be
  present
• The decision of the Board of Review must be
  unanimous

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National Review

• The application, reference letters and
  advancement report form are returned to the
  Council Service Center
• Council then completes the processing and
  forwards the application to the national Eagle
  Scout Service
• The National Eagle Scout Service screens the
  application for accuracy.
• The National Eagle Scout Service must approve the
  candidates application before the Eagle rank can
  be awarded

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Age Requirements (again)

• All requirements except the Board of Review and
  the review by the National Eagle Scout Service
  must be completed prior to the candidates 18th
  birthday
• The Troop Committee and District will not view a
  candidates failure to plan properly as an
  emergency on their part!

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Eagle Projects
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Key Participants

• Beneficiary The person or group who will
  benefit from the project. If a group is the
  beneficiary, they must designate a representative
  to approve the project
• Project Advisor the mentor to the Scout during
  the project. This should not be either a relative
  or the Scoutmaster. It should be an adult member
  of the Troop

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Project Proposal

• After the candidate receives permission to
  proceed from the Scoutmaster, the next step is to
  prepare a project proposal
• The candidate should meet with the beneficiary to
  discuss the requirements of the project
• The candidate is required to find a project
  advisor
• The project proposal should identify clear,
  objective criteria that can be used to determine
  if the project is complete

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Project Proposal

• The project proposal should included a detailed
  project plan
• At a minimum, the candidate must fill out an
  Eagle Project Proposal form
• Proposals will be sent back for rework if they
  are not neat, grammatical, have spelling errors,
  etc.

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Project Plan

• Overall description of the completed project
• High level list of all tasks. This should include
  dependencies, skills and required resources
  (materials, tools and personnel)
• If any construction will occur, the project plan
  should include drawings (plan and elevation)
• Budget what money will be required and where it
  will come from

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Troop 5 Project Requirements

• Preference given to projects that will use Troop
  5 Scouts, instead of some other work force
• Projects should require 100 or more hours to
  complete
• Preference given to projects within the District
• Projects must demonstrate the Scouts leadership
  capability
• All projects will be evaluated on a case-by-case
  basis

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Committee Review

• Two parts presentation by the Scout and
  question and answer from the committee
• The presentation can utilize Powerpoint, posters,
  photographs, etc.
• The presentation should last about fifteen
  minutes
• At a minimum, the presentation materials must
  include the project proposal and the project plan
• Relatives of the Scout are not permitted to
  participate

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Committee Review

• The Troop Committee will interview the candidate
  about the project proposal and plan
• The Troop Committee may make suggestions for
  corrections to either the project proposal or the
  plan
• The Troop Committee will also interview the
  candidate about his Scout Spirit, participation
  and other Eagle requirements

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Committee Review Conclusion

• The Troop Committee may require that the Scout
  meet additional requirements if the Scout is
  judged deficient in either Scout Spirit or
  participation
• The project may be rejected, sent back for
  additional work, or approved
• The committee may require a second presentation
  if the plan is sent back for rework
• The committees decision must be unanimous

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District Review

• The Troop Eagle Committee will schedule a meeting
  with District following the project presentation
• Members of the Troop Eagle Committee will be
  present
• The District representative will evaluate the
  proposal to see if it meets District requirements
• Approval of the District representative is
  required before the candidate can continue with
  the project

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Project Workbook

• The candidate will be required to create and
  maintain a project workbook
• The workbook will include all elements of the
  project plan, which will be kept up-to-date
• The workbook will include a section for keeping
  all project correspondence (e-mail, letters, etc.)

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Project Workbook

• The workbook will include a section for finance,
  which will contain all receipts, as well as
  records from all fund raising
• The workbook will contain a project chronology.
  This will be a record of each project activity,
  including the names of the participants, how long
  they worked, and what was accomplished. It should
  include a photographic record of the project
• The project workbook should be reviewed with the
  project advisor on a regular basis

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Adult Leadership

• At least one adult leader must be present during
  all project activities. It would be better if
  there were at least two
• It is the joint responsibility of the adult
  leadership and the Scout candidate to maintain a
  safe working environment

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Material Requisition

• It is the responsibility of the candidate to
  obtain all materials and tools required for the
  completion of the project
• The candidate may be assisted by the project
  advisor, but the Scout is expected to have
  primary responsibility

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Scout Supervision

• The Scout is expected to supervise all work
  performed on the project. The Scout is expected
  to be the leader, not another worker
• The Scout is expected to make work assignments
  for all participants, and to verify that the
  assignments are correctly completed
• Adult leaders may make suggestions, but the Scout
  is expected to be in control of the work-site

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Project Approval

• There are three stages of project approval
• Beneficiary the Scout receives a signed letter
  from the beneficiary, which clearly states the
  project is complete and meets their requirements
• Troop the Scout meets with the Troop Eagle
  Committee and presents the completed project
• District the Scout meets representatives from
  the District Advancement Committee

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Troop Approval Presentation

• The Troop approval presentation will come in two
  parts a formal presentation by the Scout,
  followed by questions from the Troop Eagle
  Committee
• The formal presentation may include Powerpoint
  presentations, posters, photographs, etc.
• The Scout should bring his project workbook for
  review by the committee
• Family members are not allowed to attend the
  presentation

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Troop Approval

• The Troop Committee will compare the completed
  project to the proposal. Any discrepancies will
  be questioned
• The Troop Committee will review the contents of
  the project workbook
• The Troop Committee will review any additional
  requirements that were made at the original
  presentation

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Troop Approval

• The Troop committee will either approve, reject
  or send the project back for more work
• The Troop committee will reject the project if it
  feels that the candidate did not sufficiently
  meet the terms of original proposal
• It is recognized that projects will evolve over
  their duration. This will be taken into account
• The Troop committee may reject the project if it
  feels that the candidate did not live up to any
  additional requirements that were made at the
  original meeting
• The decision of the committee must be unanimous

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District Approval

• Once the project has been approved by the Troop
  Eagle Committee, the committee will schedule a
  meeting with the District Advancement Committee
  representative
• The candidate will make his presentation to the
  District representative
• Members of the Troop Eagle Committee shall be
  present
• The District representative will either approve,
  reject or send the project back for more work