DadScouts Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 This is just one reason I abhor the idea of scouts acting as foreman for a contracting project. These building projects require too much adult participation. I disagree. I think any 16 or 17 year old, who will be an Eagle Scout, is a year or two ahead of his peers in terms of maturity and leadership. As such I treat Eagle candidates as adults. If any idiot who can blow out 18 candles on a cake is an adult then an Eagle Scout who can blow out 16 or 17 candles is functionally an adult also. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DadScouts Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 Had, under the old system (pre-"concept approval"), a hospital's facility and paid staff go through all the details to get exactly what they wanted out of the project from the Eagle. He did a nice job. Project went to volunteer hospital board of directors for the rubber stamp approval and the wheels fell off. Big disagreements between paid staff and board of directors. He eventually dropped the whole thing and did a project at a library instead. It happens. Part of the process. About 50% of project ideas blow up due to no fault of the Scout. (Employee leaves, property sold, insurance issues, etc - but usually earlier in the process.) Other projects were cancelled where the Scout himself blew some steps and made it not workable, including one of my sons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 So, riddle me this Joker, where in the Eagle project book does it say the project needs to be completed? Nowhere! On page 16 near the bottom it has a space for a contingency plan should something like the beneficiary back out, what will the scout do at that point? The boy that didn't get Eagle because his beneficiary backed out didn't finish his project because of that, but because he didn't follow through with his contingency plan. Everything the boy did for the project and subsequent projects all go into showing leadership. ALL OF IT gets documented in the final Eagle report. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle94-A1 Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 So, riddle me this Joker, where in the Eagle project book does it say the project needs to be completed? Nowhere! Reminded me, where does it say the project has to be a "success?" Had an Eagle bust his butt doing a reforestation project. did everything by the US Forestry Service book. Once he was finished, his reforestation project looked AWESOME. However, 6 months to a year later, he visited the area and the nutria ate up everything. All that remained were the metal nutria guards built to USFS specs that were suppose to protect the saplings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted September 4, 2015 Share Posted September 4, 2015 I had a boy restore a park area that was passed from a Veterans organization to the county to the city and the city's Parks and Rec Dept was supposed to maintain it. Yeah right, it was a mess and had been neglected for 30 years. One of my boys went in and cleaned it up back to it's original condition. It looked great, but by the end of the summer it hadn't been mowed or cared for one bit by the city. Another organization did recognize the boy's efforts and pulled some serious fundraising and political leveraging and now the city has a nice park where the Veterans Memorial Park used to be. At least he was successful in getting the need recognized by the people of the city. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htusa31 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 I seen this type of fallout on an Eagle project once. Friend had everything lined up. Finished the project and the beneficiary went :poof:. No one could sign off on it expect him. Never knew why or any more details. Friend was 30 days from turning 18, and all he needed was one signature. Friend couldnt get second project going. Beneficiary showed back up about 3 months later. I havent spoke to friend in a while, I dont think he ever got his Eagle. Last time I did talk to him he had nothing but a bad taste from scouting. I pushed the envelope on my Eagle. I was finished with my project in the final 2 months before I turned 18. Got my final approval from national 3 months after I turned 18. It was hair raising during that wait, I knew any rejection would require an appeal and a nightmare to complete. I missed out on the Eagle Scout Scholarship as well. I am now encouraging boys to shoot for 16-17 to get their Eagle. They will have plenty of time to apply for the Eagle Scholarship if they chose to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 If the boys learn nothing else from their scouting experience, it might as well be Don't Procrastinate. We all hear about these stories of how boys either get done by the skin of their teeth, bend the last minute rules, or simply can't justify anything to make it happen at the last minute. These boys have 7 years to figure it out. If they don't get their Eagle it's their own fault, not some leader''s, not their parent's, not their buddies', not their project beneficiary, not the Council's, but theirs. It's all part of the growing up, being responsible part of the program. Any boy that walks away from scouting with a bad taste in their mouth because they missed out on an Eagle, missed out on what scouting is all about, too. Sorry, no sympathy from this corner. Get your act together, set a goal, make a plan and then get it done. That's how successful grown-ups do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John-in-KC Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 (edited) Moderator's Note: The taste of rodents and lagomorphs after cooking can now be found here. Edited January 12, 2016 by John-in-KC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htusa31 Posted January 12, 2016 Share Posted January 12, 2016 If the boys learn nothing else from their scouting experience, it might as well be Don't Procrastinate. We all hear about these stories of how boys either get done by the skin of their teeth, bend the last minute rules, or simply can't justify anything to make it happen at the last minute. These boys have 7 years to figure it out. If they don't get their Eagle it's their own fault, not some leader''s, not their parent's, not their buddies', not their project beneficiary, not the Council's, but theirs. It's all part of the growing up, being responsible part of the program. Any boy that walks away from scouting with a bad taste in their mouth because they missed out on an Eagle, missed out on what scouting is all about, too. Sorry, no sympathy from this corner. Get your act together, set a goal, make a plan and then get it done. That's how successful grown-ups do it. Agreed. Hard to do when girls, sports, cars, and college gets thrown into the mix. Still not an excuse, its choosing your priorities wisely. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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