TRAIL TO EAGLE

15 -- Yeah! I am a Life Scout

High School Driving

AP Classes SATs Girls

College Applications

171/2 Arrgh! I need to find an Eagle Project and finish my merit badges

WE WANT EACH SCOUT TO REACH HIS GOAL

This presentation is designed to help scouts

Understand ALL the requirements

Map out the steps to meet the requirements

Find resources to help him along the way

WHAT CAN THE EAGLE SCOUT EXPECT TO GAIN FROM THE

JOURNEY?

Common Sense Education and Skills Civic Responsibilities Employment Opportunities Academic Opportunities Leadership Opportunities A lifetime of Pride in your

achievement of Scouting’s highest honor

EAGLE SCOUT RANK

Eagle Scout is the highest advancement rank in Boy Scouting

In 2012, 57,976 Scouts earned the rank of Eagle Scout

Around 7 percent of all Boy Scouts earned the Eagle Scout rank in 2012

From 1912 to 2012, more than 2 million Boy Scouts have earned the Eagle Scout rank

BEYOND 1ST CLASS RANK Trail to First Class teaches core skills and BSA values Trail to Eagle focuses on Growth and Development while

reinforcing scouting values Merit Badges Leadership Service

For Star: minimum 4 months leadership and 6 Merit Badges (4 Eagle-Required)

For Life: minimum 6 months leadership and 5 Merit Badges (3 Eagle-Required)

For Eagle: minimum 6 months leadership and 10 Merit Badges (5 Eagle-Required) All requirements must be completed before the scout’s 18th

birthdayStay current on Requirement changes Cooking was added as an Eagle-required badge as of 2014.

GENERAL REMINDER ABOUT CHANGES IN REQUIREMENTS

Rank & Merit Badge requirements change frequently Updates are announced at the end of the year, effective

the following calendar year. Available on line at www.scouting.org For Merit Badges

A scout who has already started may continue under the old requirements, or he may elect to switch to the new ones, but he may not mix and match

A scout who is just beginning the badge should use the new requirements.

For Rank Requirements A scout who has already started may continue under the old

requirements until he has completed the current rank, then he must use the new requirements for subsequent ranks.

A Scout starting a rank after the requirements become effective must fulfill the new requirements, regardless of what is in his handbook.

2010 had changes at all ranks, and 2011 adds updates to some.

1. Be active in your troop, team, crew, or ship for a period of at least 6 months after you have achieved the rank of Life Scout.

EAGLE RANK REQUIREMENTS

Life to Eagle Scout Agreement Once you have attained the rank of Life Scout

you need to have a meeting with your Scoutmaster

You and your Scoutmaster will review the Life to Eagle Scout Agreement

You and your Scoutmaster will both sign the agreement

This agreement outlines what is required of you to fulfill the “Be active in your troop, team, or crew” requirement

Life to Eagle Scout Agreement (1).pdf

EAGLE RANK REQUIREMENTS

2. Demonstrate Scout

Spirit by liv

ing the

Scout Oath and Law

in your daily

life

What is Scout Spirit?

• What difference does it make what reason I have for getting Eagle?

• If you are trying to get Eagle for a bad reason, it’s less likely you will have good Scout Spirit

• If you are getting Eagle for a good reason, having Scout Spirit is almost automatic

•So what is Scout Spirit?

•“Scout Spirit” means putting the Oath, Law, motto and slogan into action in your everyday life

• At meetings• During our service projects• During our treks• In school• In church• At home• When you’re with friends• When you’re all alone• …wherever and whenever

Scout Handbook, p. 47

Tip for parentsGet familiar withthe Oath and Lawand catch your sonfollowing them

SCOUT SPIRIT – PART 2

List the names of individuals who know you personally and would be willing to provide a recommendation on your behalf, including

Parents/guardians Religious Educational Employer Other

They will be asked to write a letter of recommendation telling how you demonstrate that you live by the Scout Oath and Law in your everyday life

3. EARN A TOTAL OF 21 MERIT BADGES INCLUDING:

1. Camping 2. Citizenship in the Community3. Citizenship in the Nation4. Citizenship in the World5. Communications6. Cooking7. Emergency Preparedness OR Lifesaving8. Environmental Science OR Sustainability9. Family Life10. First Aid11. Personal Fitness12. Personal Management13. Swimming OR Hiking OR Cycling14-21: Eight badges of your choice

Choose only one merit badge listed in items (7), (8) and (12) for the 13 Eagle Required badges. Additional badges earned in those groups can be included in the “8 of your choice,” usually listed chronologically on the application.

PLAN AHEAD !

3 Include 90-day projects Family Life Personal Fitness Personal Management

Often offered at Summer Camp Camping (plus 20 nights of camping) Citizenship in the World Communications (partial?) Cooking Environmental Science & Sustainability First Aid Lifesaving/ Emergency Preparedness

Others needing planning Citizenship in the Community – 8 hours service Hiking/Cycling – long treks

4. While a Life Scout, serve actively for a period of 6 months in one or more of the following positions of responsibility in a Troop

Leadership Service Requirements

• Serving as a junior leader is a very important part of advancement on the Trail to Eagle

• Troops depend on junior leaders to function smoothly

• While you were on the Trail to First Class, the troop served you

• Now is the time for you to serve the troop—to give back what others gave you

•Many things about leadership you can only learn by doing—the Trail to Eagle is the trail to leadership

•Being a leader doesn’t mean sewing a patch on your arm—it means taking on a significant task and doing your best to help the troop, using everything you’ve learned about leadership

Your performance as a junior leader determines what kind of troop you have—what you do affects everyone

LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN A

TROOP

Patrol leader Assistant Senior Patrol

leader Senior Patrol Leader Venture Patrol Leader Troop guide Order of the Arrow

Troop representative Den chief Scribe

Librarian Historian Quartermaster Junior Assistant

Scoutmaster Chaplain Aide Instructor Troop Webmaster Leave No Trace Trainer*

Bugler counts for Star or Life, but not for Eagle*Must take approved training course to qualify

5. WHILE A LIFE SCOUT, PLAN, DEVELOP, AND GIVE LEADERSHIP

TO OTHERS IN A SERVICE PROJECT

The project should benefit an organization other than Boy Scouts and be helpful to any religious organization any school or your community

The project proposal must be approved before you start by the organization benefiting from the effort your Scoutmaster your troop committee and the council or district advancement representative

You must use the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook, No. 512-927 to download a writeable PDF of the workbook go to: http://

www.scouting.org/scoutsource/boyscouts/advancementandawards/resources.aspx

512-927_fillable.pdf The project must be signed by the benefiting organization and

Scoutmaster when completed

NOW THAT YOU ARE A LIFE SCOUT

Start thinking about your project now! Don’t wait until you are 17 ¾ to start.

It takes longer than you think! Idea Proposal Development Review

4 Approvals Plan Development Project Execution Final Report

Remember your P’s: Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Projects

Get the Workbook now and read though all the instructions

HOW DO I FIND A PROJECT?

Start with what you know and care about Religious Organization School – all levels Community -- does not have to be local

Parks Service Organizations Public Institutions National or International service organizations …and many others

AN EAGLE PROJECT IS A LEADERSHIP PROJECT

An Eagle Project is not Free Labor!An Eagle Project does not require you to build

something, but it cannot be a fund-raiser

An Eagle project is something you envision, create, coordinate and lead others to complete

THE PROPOSAL

Workbook specifies information be provided: Description and Benefit Giving Leadership Materials, Supplies, Tools Permits and Permissions Preliminary Cost Estimate Project Phases Logistics Safety Issues Further Planning Attach Photos/sketches or other materials as needed

EVALUATION OF THE PROPOSAL

Your proposal is the overview and beginning of planning

For your proposal to be approved, it must show the following: It provides sufficient opportunity to meet the

requirement, “…plan, develop and give leadership to others in a service project….”

It appears to be feasible Safety issues will be addressed Actions steps for further detailed planning are

included You on the right track with a reasonable chance

for a positive experience

APPROVALS

When your Proposal is ready, obtain approvals from all of the following:Unit LeaderUnit CommitteeBeneficiaryDistrict (must be last)

The Proposal must be approved before work or fundraising can start

FUNDRAISING

Fundraising is permitted only for securing materials and otherwise facilitating a project

It must be clear to all donors that the money is being raised on behalf of the project beneficiary (not BSA) Receipts for gifts or donations are provided by the beneficiary Any funds raised should be deposited to an account of the

beneficiary or the unit Excess funds are released to the beneficiary

Funding for the project may come from The beneficiary organization The candidate, or his parents and relatives The candidate’s unit, the unit’s chartering organization, or

parents or members of his unitFundraising from any other source requires Council

approval using the worksheet included in the workbook

THE FINAL PLAN After the Proposal is approved, the Scout fully develops

the Plan for the project Space is included in the Workbook for comments

received in the review process The Workbook specifies information be provided

Description and Benefit – changes from proposal Present Condition or Situation Project Phases Work Processes Permits and Permissions Materials, Supplies, Tools (higher level of detail than Proposal) Expenses and Revenue Giving Leadership Logistics Safety Contingency Plans Comments from your Coach

It is highly recommended you work with a project coach, in addition to consulting any experts, to develop your plan

PROJECT COACH

The Scout is highly encouraged, but not required, to work with a coach to develop his Final Plan

The coach may, or may not, have been part of the approval cycle of the Proposal The coach has no veto power over the Final

Plan. Design issues are between the Scout and Beneficiary

The coach helps the Scout improve plan by discussing plan strengths, weaknesses and risks

Consulting experts in the project area is also encouraged

IMPLEMENTING YOUR PROJECT

Integrate comments from review process into your plan

Have one final review of your project plan Buy/Collect your materials Schedule your volunteers and make it

happen! Don’t forget to

Keep a list of volunteers and their hours Take pictures Write good notes about how it goes

You will need them for your Final Report

THE PROJECT REPORT

The Final Report is a required part of the project and an important element in the Board of Review

The Workbook specifies area to be covered: Summary Changes Leadership Materials, Supplies, Tools Service Project Data (hours and volunteers) Funding Photos & Documentation Candidate’s Promise Completion Approval (Beneficiary and Unit Leader)

FINAL PROJECT EVALUATION

The Project is evaluated at the Eagle Board of Review based on The impact to the beneficiary organization Leadership provided by the candidate Evidence of Planning and Development

AND FINALLY…

6. Take part in a Scoutmaster conference All requirements and SM conference must be

completed before18th birthday!

7. Successfully complete an Eagle Scout Board of Review

Submit completed Eagle Rank Application to Council Office

Have troop request recommendation letters ASAP District Advancement schedules BOR with troop

as soon as application has been reviewed by Council and letters are available

BOR Must be completed before you are 18 + 3 months old; after that date requires an appeals process

START PLANNING YOUR COURT OF HONOR

Becoming and Eagle Scout is a tremendous achievement worth celebrating !

THREE THINGS TO TAKE AWAY FROM TRAIL TO EAGLE

• Eagle is a huge task

• Eagle is worth it

• Eagle is not something you get—it’s something you become

Tip for parents

Let your sonearn Eagle

THE END

Questions???

Want to schedule consultation to plan your path?

MIKE ROWE – DIRTY JOBSMike,

I'm not sure where I heard that you are an Eagle Scout, which brings me to my question. Could you PLEASE take a moment & post to my 13 year old son Kelby & encourage him to finish scouting (& anything else that will help with this?) Reason I'm asking is that he only lacks 1 1/2 – 2 years in reaching Eagle, but some of his buddies have got him to thinking scouting isn't cool at his age.Thanks much, GaryKelby,Your Dad asked me to drop you a line and say something inspirational that might persuade you to dig down deep and find the determination to make the rank of Eagle Scout. It's a reasonable request, from a father who obviously wants to see his son succeed. But here’s the thing – The Eagle Award is not really meant for people who need to be dragged across the finish line. It’s meant for a select few, and I have no idea if you have the guts to see it through.Statistically, I suspect you do not. Only one out of a hundred Scouts make Eagle, so if you fail, there will be lots of other people with whom you can share excuses. Quitting now might disappoint your Dad, but I doubt that he or anyone else will be overly surprised. Anytime 99 out of 100 people do the same thing, it’s not exactly a shock.I’m not trying to be cute with a bunch of reverse psychology. When I was 15, there was nothing that anyone could have said to me that would have inspired me to do something I didn't want to do, especially a stranger with a TV show. So I’m not going to assume you’re any different, or pretend that I have some influence or insight that you haven’t already heard from a dozen other people who actually know and care about you. I’ll just tell you straight up, that doing something extraordinary can be very lonely, and most people simply aren’t cut out for it.Being an Eagle Scout requires you to be different than most everyone around you, and being different is really, really hard. That’s why the award is called “an accomplishment.”Personally, and for whatever it’s worth, the best decisions I've made in my own life, are those decisions that put me on the outside of being cool. Singing in the Opera, working in home shopping, staring in the school play when the entire football team laughed at me, and especially earning my Eagle, were all choices that required sacrifice, hard work, and delayed gratification. I have no idea if you possess those qualities, or even envy them. But I can tell you for certain, that NOT getting your Eagle, will be one of the easiest things you’ve ever done.Anyway, I have no idea if you would prefer an easy life of predictability and mediocrity, or if have the passion to follow the road less traveled. Only you get to decide that.Good Luck,Mike