Eagle SMC

[Buffalo Skipper]

So what do I do if he doesn't show up with his book? Or what if he doesn't bring his Eagle application for me to sign? (I expect he will bring neither). It also requires the Committee Chairman to sign the Eagle app. He may or may not be at the meeting as he works offshore. I do not feel it is my place to run around seeing that he gets all of his signatures for his Eagle, just because he waited until 3 days before his birthday to finish this....

 

I will, of course, ensure that if he turns in his 3 remaining blue cards that the troop submits an advancement report online and is transmitted to the council before he gets his application to the office. Lucky for him, he only lives about 4 miles from the council office.

 

So how would this be handled by the scout volunteers in the UK? Oops...wrong thread.

[Stosh]

Buffalo, you may wish to address the issue of procrastination and the possibility that if there are any questions about his Eagle, he won't have time to correct them. Make every contact with the boys a learning experience for them. The SMC shouldn't be any different. I like to leave a wee bit of doubt in the minds of my over-confident boys. It makes them think about things and maybe take them a bit more serious next time.

 

Congrats to the boy...

 

Stosh

[Buffalo Skipper]

Thanks for the replies. All of them.

 

I will keep you all posted. Nothing like sitting back and watching the last minute excitement fly....

[Narraticong]

Our troop will be celebrating our first Eagle COH Wednesday evening. This Eagle also barely made it in time. An incredibly bright boy, he just had other interests in addition to Scouting.

 

This was my first Eagle SMC. I tend to take a more relaxed view of things. I did not make a big production of the SMC. I invited the Scout over to my home to review his project and make sure everything was complete for his application. As we sat at my kitchen table, the conversation started as a review of his project, then went into what he might expect during his Board of Review. We were two men having a conversation. As we talked, I would work in all the points I thought should be covered in the SMC.

 

When we were done reviewing his Eagle Application and project book, I also signed off on his Scoutmasters Conference. The young man looked a little surprised, but then got one of those "I get it" smiles.

 

We both knew we had just had a great "man to man" conversation. It did not have to be painful or frightening for him. Sometimes I think we make a major production out of things just because we think we should. I am convinced our relaxed SMC was more productive than had it been done in a more formal manner.

 

Ken

[evmori]

Buffalo Skipper,

 

Gotta remember that he is not required to bring anything to a SMC. And let us not forget this is a "participate" requirement not a "pass/fail" requirement.

[Twocubdad]

Most conferences for Eagle are pretty much a victory lap. Another day and time I might have brought a couple cigars to the meeting. :-)

 

Usually we just chat for a while. I'll tell the young man what to expect and how to prepare for his board of review. Under the guise of prepping for his BOR, I may ask what he's learned from Scouting, what it means to be an Eagle Scout, how he will apply the Scout Oath and Law to his life, etc., etc.

 

I say "usually" because the last Eagle SMC I did was not like that. The kid came right down to the wire and did a thoroughly marginal job meeting the requirements. Lots of problems with both his project and POR, but there's no need to go into details here. That conference had a fairly stern tone. We spent much more time talking about the problems he had encountered and how he could have done things differently. No victory cigar -- more of a "I-finished-the-race-but-in-last-place" discussion.

[Buffalo Skipper]

Thanks all for your comments. The scout and I had a great talk last night. We both foresaw innumerable potential interruptions, so he and I patiently waited until the meeting had ended and everyone had left before we began.

 

We talked about his scouting experiences, good and bad. We discussed how he had learned from both. Eventually I steered the conversation to his future, a topic on which we dwelt for some time. And of course we talked about procrastination. It ended up being an enjoyable conversation for us both.

 

As expected, he brought neither his book nor his application. He knows that the ball is in his court now; he knows where to find both myself and our CC to get the necessary signatures, and he must turn in the application tomorrow. Nothing like cutting it close.

 

I had no intention of making this a pass-fail exercise. I was, however, disappointed with both his procrastination and his lack of preperation (book and application). Yet, I was somewhat surprised at his bearing and the way he handled himself. He has truly matured and will be a respectable Eagle Scout.

[Eagledad]

Great replies from everyone.

 

I always sought to learn something from the scout that would benefit my own life. To do that, I to fight my instinct and just listened a lot. I noticed that the scouts eventually would stop telling me what he thought I wanted to hear and instead started telling me what he felt about life. I learned early that many of these young men are smarter than me and they knocked my socks off if I just gave them the timee. They were extremely satisfying conversations.

 

If a scout struggled in our conversations, it was usually because he was very nervous. I always tried to do the ESMC in a relaxed atmosphere on his terms: I did one once during a Back Packing Trek in Colorado, and another while doing a 24 walk for Mankind Cancer fund raiser. The miles go by faster during a SMC. I once invited the parents to listen because they were so stressed about it that I wanted to show off there son in a light they had not considered. So many parents still see there son as a boy, and this young man was certainly a man. This scout was deaf and the first Eagle of three brothers. I eventually did the two brothers SMC years later and the parents were very excited for them.

 

Scoutmaster Conferences take practice and each Scoutmaster needs to develop confidence in their own style. The conference needs to be about the scout and with the scout. Too many Scoutmasters spend to much time talking about themselves or lecture at the scout. What ever lessons the young man needs to learn at that place in his life, he isnt going to learn it there. I did usually spend the last few minutes telling the scout about EBOR so he could study up on a few skills, but mostly to help him relax.

 

I miss doing those conferences because each one was a gift for me. I love this Scouting Stuff.

 

Barry

 

[shortridge]

Not a criticism ... just pointing out that YP rules still apply to a SMC.

[evmori]

Not a criticism ... just pointing out that YP rules still apply to a SMC.

 

Yes they do! I and I would bet YP was not violated.

[Buffalo Skipper]

Not a criticism ... just pointing out that YP rules still apply to a SMC.

Yes they do! I and I would bet YP was not violated.

Sorry if I was a little free with the word "everyone."  We had our treasurer in attendance, who piddled around the scout hut straightening this and that and not getting involved or even close enough to listen in.

Interestingly, over a year ago, when this Eagle candidate was SPL, he wanted to meet with me, and I said no because of YP.  He was confused, but I explained the policy of no one-on-one adult-to-youth contact to him (he was 16, I figured he was old enough to understand).  Instead he looked at me funny and said:  "That's creepy," which in turn made me a little uneasy.  Certainly the previous SM and leadership had always followed YP, they had just never explained that to the scouts.  Since then, I have made a specific point of explaining to every scout (used precisely here) that he should never put himself in a position in which he is alone with an adult scout leader.

[Buffalo Skipper]

Final update.

 

Our Life scout submitted his Eagle application to the office at 4pm, one hour before close of business the day before his 18th birthday.

 

The Scout office employee who handles advancement (friend of mine) gave him much grief about waiting until the last minute. But the deed is done.

 

I took over the SM position December a year ago. The first week of January, two scouts had their BORs. My predecessor had handled the SMCs for these scouts, and I encouraged him to handle the rest, as one was his son. Likewise, this scout (and another, who is only missing one MB) spent 6 of 7 years of scouting with the other SM. As such I feel that they are a product of his leadership and mentoring than mine. The next scouts coming up are "closer" to me, one of whom I have known since he joined Webelos. I only hope I leave as meaningful an impression on the younger boys as my predecessor has on these who are now finishing up.