JollyMon

Yes, if the Troop folks have done their jobs, the Scout is given a handout from the Council Advancement Committee concerning the project review process. The guidelines that I discussed above are part of that material. Thanks.

I appreciate both replies, and I'd like to continue the discussion. How would he prove leadership here? Let's say I ask leadership questions fairly and squarely and I get back responses like "I tried to get others but the dates didn't work out;" or "I did provide leadership to my dad by telling him what to do;" or "I didn't get more people involved because this was a great chance for my dad and I to work together." Rules of thumb are only that, but they do serve to help uphold some level of consistency in the project review and Board process. So, help me out some more on this. What kinds of questions would you ask under these circumstances? What responses would you receive as positive and what responses would cause you to have doubts about the Scout's leadership on the project? Thanks again for everyone's input.

I am the district rep on an upcoming Eagle Board of Review. Upon reviewing the Scout's write-up of his service project, I find that he spent 126 total hours on the project. Of those, 70 hours (55.5%) were his and 30 hours (23.8%) were his dad's. He got three Scouts or friends to contribute 25 hours (almost 20%) and his Scoutmaster to contribute 1 hour. Our general rule of thumb is that the candidate should spend no more than 25% of the hours himself; otherwise, it is hard to fulfill the leadership requirement. Here with close to 80% of the time spent by Scout and Dad, I have serious concerns about moving forward with the Board of Review. I welcome any thoughts. Thanks in advance.

I have just completed the course and one of my ticket items is similar. I am putting together an "inclusion" campout between my Troop and another that is operated out of the public school here that serves students with significant disabilities. As part of this ticket item, I am offering to work on the Disabilities Awareness merit badge for those interested. When we return from the campout, we will have a Troop presentation by those who went to talk about it and how all of us are different. So I applaud the concept of your ticket item. Think about the inclusion campout idea or something more tangible than just waiting to be called as a counselor. I do not think anyone in my troop has received that merit badge in the last 10 years, so it has to be "marketed." Good luck on your second weekend of the course. You'll have a great time. Lord Baden Powell himself made an appearance at our course. Looked to be in pretty good shape for a man of his age and was pretty inspirational, too. Gil Bobwhite (and proud of it) SR702

The last afternoon of the second weekend was among the toughest I've ever been through emotionally. The leader who presented "Leaving Your Legacy" is a well respected Scouter in our council whose son (an Eagle Scout) had been killed in a car accident a couple of weeks before our first weekend. This was the first time that he had spoken publicly about his son and the legacy that he had left behind as only a young man not yet out of college. I can only begin to imagine the courage it took to give that presentation under the circumstances. Our last assembly in Gilwell Field was the best run assembly I have ever participated in. Our Scoutmaster hit the right note at the right time. The staff lined up and shook our hands as we left. It was one of my best experiences in Scouting thus far. Can the course be better? Sure. One size does not fit all. But on the whole, I loved every minute of it. And I loved every bit of the ribbing I got for being a proud and noble Bobwhite (even the humming of the Partridge Family theme song as we went by). I can't wait to earn my beads and have a chance to be on a future course staff. You guys are great. Thanks to all. Gil