Congratulations on achieving Life Scout!

1 Congratulations on achieving Life Scout! You want to be an Eagle Scout? The rank of Eagle Scout must not be taken lightly it is a big step in a your life. It is a lofty goal that once accomplished, will follow you for the rest of your life. Advancement from Life to Eagle Scout cannot happen without your strong commitment, as well as the focused resources of the troop, the chartered organization, and your family. To achieve the rank of Eagle Scout you must earn a total of 21 merit badges (including all the required Eagle merit badges), serve for 6 continuous months in an approved leadership position, plan and complete the Eagle Scout Service Project, and demonstrate Scout spirit in your everyday life. If you have been active in the troop for 6 months and have completed all of the other requirements, the Scoutmaster will arrange a Scoutmaster conference, ensuring you are prepared for the Eagle Scout board of review. The first step in the Road to Eagle occurs after you are awarded the rank of Life. It is important that you seize the initiative and keep your advancement momentum going. Your first step should be telling the Scoutmaster that you want to advance to Eagle Scout. They will appoint an Eagle Scout Mentor to guide you along the road and act as a sounding board for your plans and ideas. The Scoutmaster will provide you the name and phone number of your Eagle Scout Mentor. It is up to YOU to initiate first contact. Taking the initiative is a part of leadership. While everyone will be there to help you when you need it, the process of becoming an Eagle Scout is about leadership, and leaders must learn how and when to ask for help. Your Eagle Scout Service Project undoubtedly will be the most time consuming aspect of achieving the rank. While the Eagle Service Project can be planned and executed before all your merit badges are complete, YOU MUST NOT start the actual project until your service project concept is approved by the Troop Scoutmaster, Troop Committee, and the BSA Southern Maryland District Advancement Chairperson. The planning, preparation and paperwork are the scout s sole focus in the initial portion of the service project. This paperwork phase is to reinforce the phrase that anything worth doing, is worth doing right. If you start your project before obtaining all required approvals, your work will not count towards your Eagle Service Project. There are no exceptions to this rule! Good Luck on your road to Eagle. Stay committed, strong, and focused. Believe in yourself and don t forget everything you should have learned along the road so far as you have progressed through the previous ranks. The Eagle inside of you is waiting to SOAR. Only you can make that happen! Respectfully, Your Troop 1778 Advancement Sub Committee

2 The purpose of this guide is to outline the Troop 1778 procedures for advancement from the rank of Life to Eagle Scout. This guide serves as a tool for the scout, the scout s family, and the troop, by detailing the process from the time a scout declares himself a candidate for eagle until the start of the actual Eagle Scout Ceremony. Responsibilities: Life Scout Complete all requirements for the Eagle Scout Rank. Scoutmaster Assign the Eagle Scout Candidate an Eagle Scout Mentor and review all Eagle Scout requirements to guarantee they are completed before the Scout Master Conference and Eagle Scout Board of Review Eagle Mentor Personally coach the young man and his family through each step of the process. The Mentor will contact the Advancement Chair and ask for an updated Troop Master print out. Keep in mind that Troop Master is a database of records that is maintained by our Troop. Troop Master is used to track all scouts/leaders and their training, awards, and accomplishments. The Mentor will go through the print out to ensure that it is complete and that the scout has the right 21 merit badges for Eagle Scout advancement. The updated and finalized Troop Master report will guide the Scout through the completion of the Eagle Scout Application. Troop Committee Advancement Subcommittee Ensure all advancement paperwork is up to date and schedules the Eagle Scout Board of Review after all requirements have been met. Troop Support the Eagle Scout candidate by helping with the service project and participating in the Eagle Scout ceremony as directed Scout Family Provide their scout support and direction throughout the entire Eagle Scout process and plan the Eagle Scout Ceremony. It is the Parent s responsibility to check the logs to ensure the Scout is recording everything. For the purpose of planning, the Scout should record time in increments of 15 minutes. For example, if a Scout talks on the phone to his Mentor for 11 minutes, that time is rounded up and recorded as 15 minutes. If the Scout works on his packet for 45 minutes, then he records 45 minutes and so-on. Parents need to resist jumping in and providing the Scout too much assistance. Parents should wait for the Scout to ask for help. Keep in mind that the actual Eagle Project is about how well a Scout can organize and follow a plan that he developed. The Mentor will check with the Scout occasionally prior to the start date of the project, but will generally only get involved if asked. As a parent, you may want to touch base with the Scout s Mentor if you are uncomfortable about your Scout s progress. The Mentor-Scout relationship Initial meeting: At their first meeting, the Mentor will provide the Scout with a Road To Eagle notebook. The book will provide the Scout a place to store ALL items dealing with his Eagle Scout process. It will also include the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook (both electronically on a disk and in hard copy), the

3 Mentor s contact information, sheets to log their time, a copy of the Troop Master report, an Eagle Scout Application and Worksheet, and a place for their blue cards. If the Scout is missing any blue cards for merit badges they have already earned, the Mentor/Scout must contact the Scoutmaster about getting duplicate cards. It is imperative that the Scout uses the log sheets that the Mentor gives them to record all meetings, phone calls, and actual work during the project. Eagle Scout Service Project pre-planning: Concurrently, the Mentor will help the Scout identify an appropriate Eagle Scout Service Project. While many boys and their families will have thought long and hard about what they would like to do for an Eagle Scout Project, many Scouts will require assistance finding an appropriate project. As necessary, the Mentor will assess the Scout s interests and then attempt to identify potential projects. The Troop generally prefers to seek projects that will benefit our sponsor organization, Lakeside United Methodist Church. If there are no projects that our Chartering Organization needs done (or that excite the scout), the Mentor/Scout will generally contact other charitable organizations in the Southern Maryland District (to include the Scout s church if other than Lakeside) to solicit their support. The Troop feels it is imperative that our Scouts support the needs of our local community. The Mentor will insure that any potential project is worthy and detailed enough to be considered a viable Eagle Scout service project. The standard Eagle Scout Service Project, for BSA Troop 1778 will result in AT LEAST 100 man-hours of work. Service Project Planning (Project concept selected): Usually, the Mentor will take the Scout to the organization that is sponsoring the project and introduce the scout to the organization s lead for the project. They will do a walk through with the Scout and the organization to ensure they agree on the basic concept of what needs to be done. Ultimately, the Scout must receive a signed letter from the sponsoring organization, asking for the Scouts assistance and providing specific, detailed approval for the proposed project. The Scout should bring a camera to this meeting so they can photograph what needs to be done. These photos will be electronically added to the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook at a later time. The Mentor will then assign the Scout a homework project. The Scout will be asked to write a 4-5 paragraph paper that describes the Eagle Scout Service Project in detail. This paper will actually complete the first portion of the Project Description in the Eagle Scout Project Workbook once completed and approved by the Scoutmaster. The Scout will also be asked to complete a list of materials they will need for the project, along with a Gantt-chart/time line to complete the project. During this phase of preparation and planning, and depending of the complexity of the project, the Scout and Mentor may actually have to meet again with the sponsoring organization to discuss the project in detail to include such things as basic blue prints/designs, paint and color schemes. Once complete (but not longer than two weeks later), the Scout will schedule another meeting with the Mentor. The Mentor will critique the write up and ask the Scout to make changes. Once the Scout has notified the Mentor that changes are made, the Mentor will have the scout call two other adults involved with the troop and have them read it and provide guidance. Once that external guidance is included, the Mentor will direct the Scout to take the write up, along with the BEFORE photos and seek the Scoutmaster s approval of the project proposal.

4 Approvals: With the Scoutmaster s approval, the Scout may begin to complete the first portion of the workbook up to the point where signatures are required. This process will require several meetings and each meeting forces the Scout to think in depth about planning the project and what will actually happen while the project is on-going. This back and forth may seem like a waste of time, but it will set the Scout up to succeed when its time to physically start the project. Once the Mentor is satisfied with the write up and detail, he will direct the Scout to meet with the Committee Chairman and the Advancement Chair so they can review the Eagle Scout Project Workbook. Assuming no changes or corrections were required during the Committee this review, the mentor will schedule meetings with the organization that is sponsoring the project, the Scoutmaster, and the Troop Committee. The Scout will discuss the project and the workbook with each and seek their signatures, approving the proposed Eagle Scout Project. Once the Sponsoring Organization, the Scoutmaster, and the Troop Committee have all signed the workbook; the Scout gives the workbook to the BSA Troop 1778 Advancement Chairperson. They take the package to the BSA Southern Maryland District Advancement Committee chairperson who reviews the concept and approves the package. Once the district has approved the packet, the Scout may begin his actual Eagle Scout Project. Day of Reckoning The Eagle Scout Service Project: During the day of the Eagle Scout Project the Scout should function as a leader. As a leader the Scout should ensure that everyone is fully employed, on track and safely working. The Mentor will occasionally ask the Scout how he thinks the project is going and what he could/would do different the next time. Ultimately, changes to the plan will be made on-the-fly by the Scout, and not by anyone else (to include adults that are helping). Obviously, for more technical projects, the Scout may have recruited skilled workers, and may ask them for their advice, but ultimately, the Scout makes all project decisions after weighing reasonable inputs. The Scout must function as the site Foreman or Supervisor. Its important for the Scout to exercise their leadership abilities over everyone involved both young and old. The Scout will want to arrange for pictures to be taken during and after the project is complete. The Scout may also want to take a few notes about his perception of how the project is going while the project is being worked. One of the things we hope the Scout learns is how to have a good plan, yet maintain enough flexibility and presence to make adjustments as required. For example, 27 April of 2002, one of our Eagle Scouts started their project (building a nature trail for a school). He had planned to complete the project the following Saturday. However, on Sunday, April 28 th an F5 tornado ripped through La Plata, Maryland, knocking down all the trees the scout was using for his nature trail and destroyed the two-foot bridges that they had built the previous day. The Scout was able to assess the gravity of the situation, and determined a reasonable change in plans. The Scout diverted his remaining materials to renovate/repair a near-by storage shed at the school. Neither the consequences of an F5 Tornado or the renovation of the shed were in this Scout s initial plan. The outcome, however, met the needs of the community and the intent of an Eagle Scout Service Project. If there are any major deviations from the originally approved Eagle Scout project, it MUST go through the entire approval process once again. Whew You re almost done! The minute the Eagle Scout Project ends, its back to the paperwork. The Scout should go home that night and begin writing the final portion of the project. Don t wait and fall into the trappings of

5 procrastination. The Scout will schedule meetings with the Mentor as needed to get the workbook completed. In most cases, this phase of the project should not take more than an hour or two of the Scout s time. Final Mentor meeting: A packet that symbolizes the completed work for Eagle include: A completed Eagle Scout Project; The completed Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook; All 21 required merit badge blue cards; A completed Eagle Scout Application Form; and A complete Troop Master printout. Once the Mentor is satisfied with the workbook, he directs the Scout to set up meetings with the organization that owns the project and the Scoutmaster (note the first set of meetings the Mentor set up. But, the Scout has grown into a true leader and must take responsibility for scheduling these remaining meetings). The Mentor-Scout formal relationship is complete. Scoutmaster Conference: Once the Scoutmaster holds his final Scoutmaster Conference with the Scout and actually signs the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook for the last time, the responsibility for the Scout and the Eagle Scout Package passes from the Mentor back to the Scoutmaster. The Scoutmaster Conference and signature date become the Eagle Scout Award date, upon approval by the National Capital Area Council. This date must occur before the Scout s 18 th birthday. The Scoutmaster will contact the Committee Advancement Chair and set up the Eagle Board of Review. The Scoutmaster has control of the Eagle Packet at this point to ensure nothing goes missing or is changed or rearranged in the packet. The Scoutmaster ensure the following Eagle Scout Requirements are complete: 1. Be active in your troop and patrol for at least 6 months as a Life Scout 2. Demonstrate Scout spirit by living the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your everyday life. 3. Earn a total of 21 merit badges, including all required Eagle merit badges 4. While a Life Scout, serve actively for a period of 6 months in one of the approved positions of responsibility found in your BSA Handbook (page 446) 5. While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. 6. Take part in a Scoutmaster conference 7. Successfully complete an Eagle Scout board of review. Eagle Scout board of review: Once the Committee Advancement Chair picks the date Eagle Board of Review date, they will contact the Scout and tell them when and where to appear. The Scout will wear their full class A uniform to the Eagle Board of Review. It is Troop tradition for the Scout to pick one person, by name, to sit on the

6 Eagle Board of Review. This person will present/introduce the Scout to members sitting on the Eagle Scout Board of Review.. The Eagle Scout Board of Review is normally scheduled on a separate night from the weekly Scout Troop meeting. The Advancement Chair recruits at least six members for this Board of Review (including the Scout s representative). One of the six Board of Review members must be the District Eagle Scout Advancement Chair they will chair the Board of Review. In the past, attendees have included a member of the Lakeside Church paid staff (the pastor preferably but could be extended to a trustee) and the Mentor. After the Eagle Scout board of review: Once the Eagle Scout Board of Review is complete, the Scoutmaster takes the completed Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook to the Council Headquarters in Bethesda and turns it over to them. They send the packet to the National Headquarters in Texas. They typically return the packet within nine weeks. The Eagle Scout Court of Honor Ceremony The Parents now take over the Eagle Scout Court of Honor Ceremony process: Parents plan the Eagle Scout Court of Honor Ceremony. The Troop Committee may help Parents plan the ceremony if the parents request assistance. It is the Parent s job to recruit volunteers to help. The first thing the Parents and Scout must do choose where to have the ceremony. They are responsible for making arrangements to reserve the facility (note: The parents can select any appropriate location for the Eagle ceremony). Parents should send out formal Eagle Scout invitations available at the Scout Store. Parents send out notification to dignitaries and VIP s. Traditionally, they will acknowledge receipt of the invitation with a certificate or letter of congratulations. A proposed starter list may be found at: http://www.macscouter.com/macscouter/eagle/addresses.html Parents should also put together printed programs also available at the Scout Store. Parents are also responsible for putting together the ceremony script. The Committee can assist by providing copies of scripts used at previous ceremonies. Parents and the Scout are also responsible for selecting the MC, guest speakers, and local officials as desired. Eagle Scout Ceremonies are Scout lead! For the ceremony, Troop 1778 and the National Capital Area Council will provide the following: Eagle Scout Certificate; Eagle Scout Pin; Eagle Scout Patch; Mother s Pin; Eagle Scout Plate For The Troop Plaque; Eagle Scout Neckerchief and Slide; -All of these items are for the scout to keep. There are other Eagle Scout ceremony items (candles and candle holders, display items, and velvet padded display) that parents can borrow from the troop for the ceremony. Just ask a troop representative for the location of the items.

Sample Eagle Scout Ceremony Parent & Troop Preparation Guide (C denotes Eagle Scout Ceremony date C-30 would therefore be 30 days before the Eagle Scout Ceremony) 7

Status Description Quantity When Plan & Gather supplies for Eagle Scout Ceremony Reception: C-90 Buy Eagle Scout invitations (suggest stationary from the Scout Store) C-90 Buy Eagle Scout Programs (suggest stationary from the Scout store) C-90 Eagle Scout Napkins & Cups (Scout store) C-90 Eagle Scout Plates (Scout store) C-90 Eagle Scout Table Cloths (Scout store) C-90 Print & Mail Eagle Scout Recognition Letters to Government Officials & Celebrities (mailing lists are on the C-80 internet) Print & Mail Eagle Scout invitations (might want to see if the last Eagle has a mail merge list you can use) C-70 Build Ceremony Script (see the scoutmaster or previous Eagle Scout Parent for a copy of the last script) C-60 Scout picks his MC and makes sure the MC agrees and will be available (MC is always a youth, usually a scout C-60 Plan Food & Drinks for reception (suggested) C-60 Invite Council Members talk to Scoutmaster for help with names and addresses C-60 Invite Local Politicians- For example, City Commissioners, mayors, elected officials, state representative, etc. C-60 Ask someone to help with the reception and folks to help with food (suggested) C-45 Music Selection if you want specific music or someone to sing C-45 If you want this announced, consider writing announcements for your Church Bulletin and Newsletter C-45 Suggest the family consider a gift to the scout possibly a frame or box for the Eagle Certificate and medal C-45 Turn in Final Ceremony Script to the Scoutmaster so the Troop can do 2 dress rehearsals & fill in all scout names C-30 Power Point Slide Show (suggested) of the Scout growing up, time in scouting etc delegate this if possible C-30 Music and Sound System if required get someone that knows how to run it (if using this at the LUMC) C-30 Confirm Troop bought items for scout- Eagle Neckerchief, Slide, Mother s Pin, Rank, Patch, and Medal. C-30 Get someone to take pictures C-15 Suggest Parents dig out Scout Memorabilia (pine wood derby, trophy, etc ) for a display at the reception C-14 Order the Eagle Scout Cake for the reception (suggested) Troop needs to practice/dry run the ceremony twice usually at the 2 Troop meetings prior to the event 8 C-13

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Sample spreadsheet of possible items for Eagle Ceremony and Reception NUMBER REQUIRED RESPONSIBLE FOR RESEARCH APPROX FUNDING COST SOURCE ITEM REMARKS Paid By Others FOOD: Butter Mints 1 bag $2.00 Purchased 10-19 $ 2.09 $ 2.09 Mixed Nuts 2 Types $10.00 $ 13.73 $ 13.73 Cake 2 Sheets $80.00 Food Lion $ 24.00 $ 24.00 Cookies 12 Dozen 0 contact 10-23 - 10 doz 11-2 $ - $ - Brownies 12 Dozen 0 contact 10-23 - 2 doz 11-2 $ - $ - Coffee 2 lbs $5.00 $ - Sugar/Cream 1 box/1 Jar $5.00 $ - Sweet & Low 1/2 box $0.00 Donated $ - $ - Punch 16 Liters $0.00 Punch Blocks & Ginger Ale $ - $ - UTENSILS: $ - Eagle Tablecloth 1 $5.50 Display Table Order # X02560 $ 5.50 $ 5.50 Plastic Tablecloths 3 $3.00 Food Tables Purchased 10-19 $ - Eagle Napkins 5 pkgs of 50 $11.50 Order # X02566 $ 10.60 $ 10.60 Plain Napkins 150 $2.00 Purchased 10-19 $ 2.09 $ 2.09 Plates 200 $15.00 Purchased 10-19 $ 15.04 $ 15.04 Serving Plates/Bowls 6 and 3 0 From Church $ - $ - Doilies 12 $0.00 Donated from Liz $ - $ - Forks & Spoons 200 F, 100 S $10.00 235 Forks, 85 Spoons Purchased $ 7.27 $ 7.27 Cake Knives 2 $0.00 Church? $ - $ - Punch Bowl 1 $0.00 Use Church Punch Bowls $ - $ - Punch Cups 250 $0.00 $ - $ - Coffee Cups 100 $1.00 $ - Trash Bags 6 $0.00 From Church $ - $ - DECORATIONS: $ - Eagles 2 $40.00 $ 42.50 $ 42.50 Candles 6 $5.00 6 Votives/holders $ 5.18 $ 5.18 Mirrors 2 $0.00 Donated $ - $ - Flowers 2 0 Donated $ - $ - Table Confetti 1 $2.00 Purchased 10-19 $ 2.09 $ 2.09 SET UP: $ - Display Table 1 0 Use Church tables $ - $ - Food Table 1 0 Use Church tables $ - $ - Drinks Table 1 0 Use Church tables $ - $ - Trash Cans 3 0 Use Church trash cans $ - $ - Camera 1 0 TOTALS: $197.00 $130.09 $58.60 $24.00 $47.49 Notes: We got donations from Food Giant for cakes and punch stuff FINAL COST Troop Cost Parent Cost 10