Clstlg

Hi All. I followed this with quite a bit of interest and thought I'd update you all. We waited 8 weeks to hear from National and then I called the district office to see if they had heard anything. They hadn't sent in the paperwork. There was some "confusion", so they just put it aside and never sent it in. The kid can't catch a break. So we are waiting...again. Please tell me this isn't normal...

Just for clarification. It was council members plus volunteers who conducted the EBoR. The gentleman who brought the paper to be signed was one of the members on my son's board, and there was an apology made for causing him anxiety and stress.

Thank you all for your input and advice. I have been following the thread, but unable to comment until this morning. Last night my son received a call from the district leader, who it turns out was the gentleman who told us to appeal. He told my son that even though in the original meeting they did not have a unanimous decision, there was another meeting where they went over his qualifications and reviewed his project again. This time he was approved. He is now an Eagle in waiting. He was told that the papers will be sent to National as soon as they get a signature from him due to it being a different date that his original BoR date. I didn't know they could do that, but I'm not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. 😊 Thank you for all of your help. He was making notes from your comments and was drafting his appeal using your advice when he got the call. He, and I, appreciate it very much.

I'm sorry for confusing verbiage...I meant that they took people who were there with their scouts and not previously called in to be on the board.

No.

My son's project was marking trails in a newly acquired forest for the city. Only one person could be on the ladder at a time, so he did it most of the time. More than 2 or 3 people were not needed...and actually on the one day he had 5, it slowed everything down. After that, he learned that 2 was the optimal number. He just turned 14. He didn't pass and so he feels like a failure.

The scoutmaster is doing this for us. He was more than peeved with what happened. He told us that an appeal BoR has to have 3 different members that the previous BoR. Is this not true? It was someone that was there, I just assumed it was a member of the District Council since it wasn't someone from our troop. They had quite a few scouts there for a EBoR and they were short on people, so they recruited family members who were there (if they had any experience with Boy Scouts) to serve as BoR members for other scouts (2 Council members and 1 volunteer). My husband, who is a former scoutmaster, served on the board for another scout. The BoR member who demurred was not a volunteer.

It has been suggested that I provide a little more information. I was at the BoR, but was not permitted in the room. My son's scoutmaster was in the room with him. Do you know what was said to your son regarding not showing leadership? I only know what was told to me by my son and by his scoutmaster, but they match. The board member who was having the problem with his leadership said that it sounded like he (my son) did all of the work and therefore did not show leadership. My son tried to explain that he did have troop members helping him and that he was directing them, but he didn't agree that that showed leadership. He suggested that my son should have stood back and let them do the work while he directed them. Do you know the person who suggested an appeal? I do not personally know the person who suggested the appeal. I do know that an appeal was offered to my son as well as doing another project. "Project, part two" was how it was suggested. After the meeting is when the board member approached and told us to appeal. What do you know for sure that was said by the BoR folks? I only have second hand reports, but as I said above--what my son told me and what his scoutmaster told me match. His meeting with the BoR lasted 40 minutes, and then they deliberated for another 15, and then they called him back in and talked to him for another 10 minutes before failing him. My son's scoutmaster told us that the 15 minutes of deliberation was the other two members trying to convince the third member to pass him.

That was our understanding of what the board of review was for, hence the devastation. My heart just aches for him. What can we do to make sure this doesn't happen at the appeal board of review?

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but I couldn't see a better place for it. My son failed his Eagle Board of Review last night. He is devastated and confused. I was hoping to find some advice and clarity from experienced scouters here. He was told that he didn't show leadership in his project and to do another project. Evidently it was only one of the board members who had a problem with his leadership, but there has to be unanimous vote. Afterwards, one of the other board members looked us in the eye and said, "Appeal". So, that's what we're doing. My question is this...how can we show leadership? His project was long and involved, but only required two people at a time--more bogged the operation down. So he had members of his troop take turns helping him. Due to the nature of the project, he did most of the work with his troop members helping. He had around 9 members rotating with him. He planned everything, arranged for the rotation, trained the helpers in what was needed (mostly helping him carry equipment, and assisting him), and communicated with the people the project was helping (the city). He did have his troop members each do what he was doing at least once, while he assisted. I'm not sure how we can show leadership there, although I can assure that he was doing his best to be a good leader. My son has been a leader in his troop (senior patrol leader) and has led meetings, planned activities, and camp outs for almost a year. He would like to be prepared to answer the questions in a way that will be acceptable, do you have any suggestions?