charmoc

Guess the pendulum swings both ways. Troops are perceived that their focus is on getting scout to Eagle (have never experienced one), and troops who put up lots of roadblocks/hoops so scouts dont reach Eagle until some arbitrary age requirement (or some other requirement ) is reached (experienced several). For me as long as the requirements are met, its good enough. I have been blessed in meeting many Eagle Scouts while serving in the military and all have proven to be leaders and have the ability to take the initiative without having to prove any mastery at knot tying. When I worked recruiting command and interviewed candidates for Officer Candidate School, scout skills was not what we were looking for, but the ability to lead and take the initiative to get things done. The Eagle project alone, at any age was enough demonstration for me. Any sports team captain could not articulate anything that came close to what the Eagle Scout had to do to earn his award. Motivated scout who Eagles at 14? That ROCKS!

I can see where the concern lies in the perception that if he kept the materials for his/his familys use would be considered misappropriations of the donations, even if he spent his own money. I would suggest 1) type a letter stating that the donator and sponsor do not what the extra materials 2) call the local habitat for humanity and donate the materials to them.

What is an Eagle Mill? There seems to be no standard or accredited documentation on this. Or is this one of those terms used when troops do not meet the arbitrary standard set by selected individuals who perceive themselves as the gatekeeper for the Eagle Scout award? Eagle at 14? ROCK ON!

What is an Eagle Mill? There seems to be no standard or accredited documentation on this. Or is this one of those terms used when troops do not meet the arbitrary standard set by selected individuals who perceive themselves as the gatekeeper for the Eagle Scout award? Eagle at 14? ROCK ON!

What is an Eagle Mill? There seems to be no standard or accredited documentation on this. Or is this one of those terms used when troops do not meet the arbitrary standard set by selected individuals who perceive themselves as the gatekeeper for the Eagle Scout award? Eagle at 14? ROCK ON!

If this is the scouts goal, then why slow them down? Once this 14 year old becomes an Eagle, its more our challenge to keep them engaged in scouting and helping out, earning those palms, work summer camp, work on NYLT staff, get more involved in the OA and/or join a Venturing crew! Then again if this 14 year old gets more involve in sports and outside activities, quits showing up to meetings because of outside activities and at the age of 17 we see him again wanting to earn his Eagle we gripe. I would rather see the 14 year old make Eagle at that age than see him put it off until the last moment.

Recent article staes: More than 60 years ago, the average age of a boy earning Eagle was 14.6. Today its 17.1 Eagle at 14 years old? ROCK ON!

Have a patrol cook off! Get some 2 inch ribbon at the local fabric store, paint troop XX Annual Cook off 1st, 2nd, 3rd places for best appetizer, best meal, best desert, best presentation/theme and only one first place for best overall. Draft up the rules with the PLC and insist that one part of the meal be cooked with a Dutch oven, change this each year. Have the scoutmasters as judges, make it a weekend campout with other scout knowledge challenges put on by the ASM with ribbons for who did best in what area. Top the evening off with something fun such as a movie or a traditional telling of a favorite story. Remember, you and your ASMs need to be excited, and make it exciting!!

All the troops I have been associated with have biannual elections for SPL and PLs with the other positions of responsibility being assigned when the SPL and PLs change out. Understanding this gives the other scouts needing a Position of Responsibility a chance to get their time in, but in the long run, does this really help us in developing consistency with in the troop? Thought; have elections when the SPL/PLs state that they are at the point they are ready to switch out, allowing the elected scouts serve in their positions as long or as short as they want. If a scout is not living up to the troops expectations, then candidates put their name in and elections are held. Would this not allow the scouts to lead the troop as a truly scout lead troop instead of having term limits?

I just wanted to say thanks for all the input. I can say with confidence that the SM did his job and was following the prescribed policy. In fact he did not allow two scouts onto the ballot due to lack of camping time. As far as boys think defiantly than adults all I can say is yes and no. Some scouts can surprise you with their maturity in thinking and then again you sometimes wonder where the scout is coming from. Im always of the opinion that we follow the policies as BSA/OA has outlined for us, but always trying to think outside the box in improving the troops program. I have come to the conclusion that the four scouts who were elected came from the larger patrols in the troop (up to 10 members) , the scouts who were not came from the smallest patrols (six or less members). We are a large troop and emphasize that the patrols do pretty much everything together as a patrol and minimize the combining of patrols as much as possible. So the larger patrols can easily elect scouts into the OA than can the smaller patrols due to sheer size and a greater affiliation with their own patrol members than scouts from other patrols. Some ideas I have taken from this forum are; photographs next the scouts name, identify the number of camping days/nights each scout has done, identify the positions of responsibility held; and total number of service hours done. All would be represented on the ballot to give a better overall picture of each scout.

Well it has been a couple of months since the OA elections, and the individuals who were inducted at the troop campout this last weekend. As ASM I was not privy to whom was elected into the OA and only found out the inductees when they were inducted. Out of 10 candidates for the OA, only 4 were elected by the troop, and after seeing who the troop voted for I was quite surprised at the results, if not disappointed. Two out of the four scouts I could not fathom why the scouts voted for them. Both shirk responsibility at campouts, one incessantly complains about the food and will whine incessantly when his father is present, the second displays signs of being a bully, but both are popular. The other two scouts are quiet, cooperate and generally good natured individuals, albeit being popular. Looking at the scouts who were on the election ballot, two have been on the ballet for a couple of years, and I have heard rumor that they have given up any attempts to get elected into the OA, and have stated that they just dont care. One scout who was a patrol leader at the time had lead his patrol to earn the National Honor Patrol award, the only one earned on over a year in the troop (the troop is quite healthy, 60 scouts, 6 ASMs, a full committee, and 5 patrols). This same scout planned and conducted some of the best troop meetings we have had in some time, put in numerous service hours (to include helping at Cub Day Camp last summer) and has ensured his patrol had patrol activities at least once a month, but alas is not one of the in crowd nor very popular within the troop overall. Given that the last few years of OA elections have been one or two scouts elected in, the Scoutmaster has given several talks to the boys running up the elections expounding on what to look for when electing a member into the OA. I did overhear a scout saying during the elections that he was going to vote for so-in-so because he was cool. I have been a member of the OA since I was 15, so thats over 30 years now and have always believed in it purpose and function and the honor that scouts bestow upon their fellow scouts when elected, but these results now have shaken my beliefs and have lead me to believe that despite the rhetoric the OA election team puts forth (in person in and in the video) in vain, and the elections will be nothing much more that a popularity contest amongst the scouts. Or has this been a failure on the adult leaderships part?