A Scoutmaster's Blog

I discovered an article today that I would like to invite you to read. It is written by Harry Joiner at the Marketing Profs Daily Fix blog. It is a great little article about the rank of Eagle Scout and what it can mean to an employer. I especially like the line he wrote, “Parents: If your son wants to pursue Scouting, don’t just let him — encourage him.” Do not forget to check out the comments people have left after reading the article.

You can read it be clicking HERE.

When a scoutmaster, troop committee, and council Eagle board review an Eagle project application there are a few things they keep in mind before approving it. How much planning is needed to organize and prepare the project? How will the Boy Scout show leadership during the project? Is it a worthwhile project for the community? What obstacles and challenges will need to be solved?

When I received an email from the council last month to inform me that Boy Scout Troop 68 has new Eagle Scout, it did not take me long to pick up the phone and call Mike to congratulate him. He is the seventeenth Scout of Troop 68 to attain the rank of Eagle Scout since I have taken over as scoutmaster. He is the eighteenth Scout to earn it in Troop 68’s history. (By the way, that is not Mike in the picture.)

During the last 25 years, the troop’s percentage of Scouts who attain the rank of Eagle is a little higher then the national average, about seven or eight percent. These boys earned the Eagle Rank because they wanted to earn it, not because they were told they had to earn it. I do encourage the boys to set Eagle as a goal, but when it comes down to it it is really their decision and no one else’s.

I have seen a lot more Scouts earn the Life Rank then I have seen earn the Eagle Rank. Sometimes the Scout waits too long to finish his Eagle Scout requirements and suddenly their eighteenth birthday has arrived. (Oops, too late!) Sometimes the Scout gets too busy with a part time job, or sports, or activities, or even (gasp) a girlfriend. All these things take time out of a young man’s schedule. And sometimes the Scout simply does not have the desire to earn the Eagle Rank.

I know of two times during the last two decades in which parents offered their son a car if they earned the Eagle Rank. For these boys it was like hitting the kill switch. They quit earning advancement and soon quit Scouting. It seems to prove my point when I say that a Boy Scout has to want to attain the award himself, or it will not be earned. Parents and troop leaders should encourage their Scouts and assist them when needed, but do not bribe them. I think a bribe cheapens the award and takes away some of the meaning of earning it.

Of the seventeen Boy Scouts of Troop 68 who have attained the Eagle Rank, I think only two were “strongly pushed” by their parents. The parents of the other fifteen were there to support their son but they left the decision, and the work, up to the Scout, which is the way it should be. After all, it is an award for the Scout to attain, not the parent.

I have heard of some troops who are considered “Eagle factories”. I am sure many of these troop’s have an excellent program that helps the boys to attain this rank. I also know there are some troops who kind of “push” the Scouts along to make as many Eagle as possible. I decided a long time ago that my troop would not be an Eagle factory. While I think it is great when any Scout becomes an Eagle, I do not think it is the troop’s responsibility to make it easy every step of the way.

For example, a Scout needs to reach out on his own to earn some of the merit badges. He needs to plan out, pick up the phone, and make his own appointment with councilors. By doing this he learns important communication and planning skills. He learns how to be resourseful and do things on his own. Now, I am not saying that our troop never brings in any merit badge councilors to our troop meetings. We do sometimes. But we do not go out of our way to bring in every councilor needed to earn the merit badges required for the ranks. Besides, we have other things we like to do besides working on advancement every meeting.

I guess what I have been trying to say is that a Boy Scout who wishes to earn the rank of Eagle Scout must be committed to the goal. He needs to demonstrate that he is resourceful, that he will not shy away from work, and that he is ready to prove himself worthy of wearing Scouting’s highest award on his uniform. No one else can, or should, do that for him.

Whoever says that one person cannot make a difference obviously has not met Eagle Scout Andrew Larochelle. Check out what he did by reading this article in the Philadelphia Inquirer which was posted on October 12th. It is great to see a Boy Scout making a positive difference in on country.

I have a scrapbook that few people have seen. In fact, I seldom take it out to look at it myself. It contains some old Scouting mementos. It has my BSA membership cards, merit badge cards, and Totin’ Chip card from when I was a Boy Scout. It’s pages include over twenty years of BSA cards from my stint as an assistant scoutmaster and scoutmaster of Troop 68. It also contains pictures from my elementary school years, a couple report cards, and my high school graduation program. All these things are interesting to look at once in a while, but the book also contains something that is really fun to read, or look at, depending on your point of view.

The scrap book contains fifteen comic strips that I cut from a newspaper when I was a teenager. These strips feature that wonderful dog we all know and love, Snoopy! What makes these strips so special to me is that they are the ones that feature Snoopy as a Boy Scout.

The strip begin with Snoopy as a Tenderpaw. Lucy teases him about being such a low rank to which Snoopy replies that he will work and work to reach the top and become a… Beagle Scout! As the story line continues we watch as the lovable beagle go out for a hike, and then becomes hopelessly lost. He is finally rescued by a Girl Scout selling cookies. Of course, Lucy is true to form and has to tell Snoopy how disappointed she is to see a Beagle Scout rescued by a Girl Scout.

The strip then goes on and we see Snoopy as the “Scout Leader” of a “patrol” that contains Woodstock and his friends. Did you know Woodstock’s friends were named Conrad, Oliver, and Bill? I like the strips when Snoopy talks about first aid and the evening meal with his troop.

I discovered, after a quick search on the internet, that Snoopy first appeared as a Scout on May 13, 1974. I was thirteen years old at the time. Wow, I did not realize that these newspaper strips were that old. You can see this first strip here and read about Lucy criticizing Snoopy on his new identity. The strip is found at the bottom of the page.

I also discovered that there are a couple Beagle Scout Snoopy toys available on Amazon.com. One plush Snoopy seems to come with a little book containing the Scouting comic strips. Hmmm… how much credit do I have left on my card? Oh boy! Looks like I have enough to buy two of them!

Mike called to schedule his scoutmaster conference for the rank of Eagle Scout. I had been looking forward to this call. He had finished his Eagle Project a week earlier, and his merit badges had been completed last May.

It got me thinking about this blog and the article I posted last September about scoutmaster conferences. There are a few additional points that I like to cover during an Eagle conference so I thought I would take the time to share them with you.

One of the first things we do is the uniform inspection. Troop 68 does not require a Scout to be in uniform from hat to socks, but we do require the belt, neck wear, and the shirt with all the patches in their proper place. Just as a person is expected to dress sharply for a job interview I like to see the Scout correctly dressed for his Eagle board of review and court of honor.

The Scout and I will spend several minutes talking about the merit badges he has earned on his way to the Eagle Rank. Which ones were the easiest to earn? The hardest? The most fun? Which ones did he enjoy the most? Which ones taught him the most? Why?

Holding a position of responsibility is a requirement that I like to talk to the Scout about. I not only like him to talk about the position he used for the Eagle Rank, but also discuss the other positions he has held during his tenure as a Scout. Which ones did he enjoy, or maybe not enjoy so much? What has he learned about leadership. Is it easy being a leader?

Of course, we also talk about his Eagle project. Projects seldom go as originally planned. It is interesting to hear about what did not go according to plan, and how the Scout was able to solve the problems that arose. Did he accomplish all his goals? I know the board of reviews will be covering this subject heavily so I try to prepare him during the conference.

My favorite portion of the conference is when the Scout looks back on his years in Scouting. I ask him what have been his favorite activities since joining the troop. What activities did he dislike? What are some of his best memories about Scouting? Who were the people who helped him the most during his years as a Scout? Is there anything he wished he would have done differently?

A scoutmaster needs to ask questions that are open ended, questions that require more then a simple “yes” or “no” answer. The goal is for the Scout to do most of the talking, not the scoutmaster.

As the conference comes to an end we take time to review his Eagle Project Workbook and get all the dates and information correct on his Eagle Application.

I enjoy the Eagle scoutmaster conference. It gives the Scout and myself a chance to really talk about what Scouting has meant to him. For the seventeen year old Scout it is probably the last time we will get to sit and chat about his last six years in Scouting. I just hope it will not be the last time we get to visit and chat. After all, he will soon be going off to college and begin a life on his own.

I have been fortunate. During my twenty five plus years as a scoutmaster I have had the privilege of seeing sixteen of my Boy Scouts attain the rank of Eagle Scout. It is always fun, and a little work, to sit down with them after they have completed all their requirements and fill out the Eagle Scout Application. Looking back on all those merit badges, terms of leadership, and dates of board of reviews always bring back memories for the two of us to talk about. We are careful to get all the dates right and all the information correct as the Eagle Scout candidate fills out a rough form.

There have been a couple times over the years in which the council has contacted me about merit badges listed on the application. They do not always have a record of them. They should have a record. After all, I can not get a merit badge to present at a court of honor unless I send the council an advancement form listing all the merit badges. I guess someone at the council missed recording it. Luckily, I have kept all the signed blue merit badge application cards. I make a copy of it (or scan it these days) and send the copy to the council. Problem solved.

In a recent blog BuffaloEagle from the Lone Star Scouter Blog wrote about the ten most commons reasons that Eagle Scout applications are rejected, as listed by the national office. I found it to be pretty interesting. Almost all of them deal with paper work and dates. I thought it would be great to post them here in this blog for my readers to see also. So, here they are. If reprinting this list saves one candidate trouble in the future it was worth posting it.

• No Council Number on Application. This requires the application to be removed from the daily work stack and placed in a special file until time is allotted to perform council lookups.
• Signatures Missing. This requires the rejected application to be mailed back to council. This oversight will cause a delay of at least four weeks because the postal service will be used.
• No Boy Scout joining date or wrong date. Failure to indicate Boy Scout joining date requires us to reject the application to request the proper date. This is because all requirements must be met after a boy joins Scouting.
• No Board of Review Date. We must have a board of review date to ensure all requirements were completed prior to the board of review. This date is also necessary since it is printed on the Eagle Scout credentials.
• Duplicate Merit Badges on application. A total of 21 separate merit badges must be earned. Any application that requires a correction to merit badges that are listed twice on the application will be rejected.
• Explanation for delay in board of review not furnished. We will ask for a letter when this time frame as described on the application is not met.
• Proper badges are not indicated in merit badge numbers 6 and 9.
• If six months leadership between Life Scout and Board of Review does not indicate sufficient time, we must return for correction.
• Valid leadership position between Life Scout and Board of Review. The only valid leadership positions are those listed on the 2000 printing of the Eagle Scout Rank Application. if it is not listed on the 2000 printing, it is not a valid leadership position. (NOTE: WE RECEIVE A LOT OF APPLICATIONS FOR ASSISTANT PATROL LEADERS).
• New Eagle Scout Rank Requirements (as of 1 April 1999) have not been met. Scouts having completed any Eagle Scout rank requirements after 1 April 1999, must earn the Personal Fitness merit badge and Cycling, or Hiking or Swimming merit badges. We must reject the application if it does not meet this new requirement.

I found this on one of the Scouting groups I belong to. It was too good to keep to myself so I wanted to share this with all of you. It is great to see other Scouters with a sense of humor. Thank you to Michael Conkey (who has a daughter who is dating an Eagle Scout) for posting this:

Dad’s Dating Rules for Scout Daughters

1. You may only date Boy Scouts that have achieved Eagle Scout rank.

2. You and your date must wear your scout uniforms at all times during the date.

3. If someone pulls into the driveway and honks, it better be UPS and not your date, as he will not be picking you up if he does so.

4. All activities on a date must count towards badge work, be acceptable under the Scout Law.

5. The only food on the date will be Girl Scout Cookies or Scout Popcorn and your date must agree to purchase a minimum of one case.

6. At least 2 members of your troop/crew or your leader must accompany you on a date as a chaperon.

7. There will be no Friendship squeezes, and the only thing you will do with your hands is give the scout hand sign and handclasp.

8. The only music you will listen to will be scout campfire songs.

9. The word “s’more” will not be spoken on the date.

10. You may only swap “Something with A Pin or a Patch”

11. On your honor you will only go to a nursing home, church or homeless shelter to perform service on your date.

12. As a Scoutmaster I can tie 100 kinds of knots, build a roaring fire that can consume anything, and dig a latrine at least 6 feet deep. I can hike 20 miles in a driving rain with a 75 pound backpack. I am very familiar with knives and guns. Please be home even earlier than you promise and don’t test my resolve to “Be Prepared” to protect my daughter.