Most Creative Eagle Projects

[Eaglemom2b]

My son's project is to remove an invasive species from a local nature center. The center covers about 50 acres and is being overrun by an invasive tree. He has selected a 5 acre site and will remove all of the invasives (the estimate is around 350+ trees). Most of the trees have a diameter of less than 5 inches so he hopes the work will go quickly.

 

I don't know how unique or creative it is but in our district it is the first project of it's kind. Most boys in our area do some sort of contruction roject (i.e. flag poles, flower beds, picnic tables, etc.)

 

My son wants to earn the Hornaday and selected an Eagle project that would fit the Hornaday criteria as well as satisfy the Eagle requirements.

[moosetracker]

One boy from my old troop did an nice non-construction project.. He got one of those town plots and raised vegetables all summer long, harvasting and suppling a nearby food bank with fresh produce.. The boys had to volunteer on who would tend the garden at what times throughout the summer..

 

From what I understand the Foodbank was amazed by how much they grew, and that by mid-summer they were being supplied continually throughout the rest of the growning season.

[eagle90]

A couple of the non-construction projects:

 

Eagle candidate organized a youth / senior citizen visitation program at his church, which I understand is still ongoing some 10+ years later.

 

Eagle candidate organized a small band of Scouts and friends and toured local retirement and senior citizen homes during November / December playing Christmas carols for the residents.

[BluejacketScouter]

My Eagle project was nearly 30 years ago and I'm drawing a blank on a lot of the details, but not the sweat and labor involved. The Troop was (still is) chartered in a small village with two stop lights, about 20 stop signs, 3 railway crossings (the same trunk line crossed by 3 different streets), and a downtown main drag with the usual stores and street parking. I painted all the pavement street markers...by hand. School zone, stop markers, street parking, RR crossings, you name it. The village donated the white reflective paint. I recall I built some sort of template with two boards spaced 4" apart, to keep the parking lines straight. The only thing I did not paint was, the double-yellow line that ran through town on the state highway.

 

I'm thinking I got a pretty good start on skin cancer that summer. Wait a minute...I think the CC was also the town mayor? Hey! I got used!

[BluejacketScouter]

One project I had seen was, going door-to-door collecting expired prescription medication for proper disposal. That project had something to do with a recently-published (at the time) water quality report.

[CA_Scouter]

Some creative ones from our troop:

 

Building bat houses for the local animal rescue organization.

 

Assembling and QA/testing of prosthetic hands for an international organization that ships these to third world countries, mostly India/Pakistan.

 

Most of the rest were typical 'construction' type projects - shed for track equipment at the local high school, community message board for the local fire station, bus shelter at the middle school, flag pole/sitting area at the pioneer cemetery, etc.

 

The prosthetic hand project was extremely interesting. The scout is trying to save so he can deliver 'em himself and fit the hands on the patients.

 

 

[Second Class]

Eye glass collection formre use was one I saw.

 

Another I saw was entertaining the youngsters of people competing in a charity cook off. He set up a temporary playground, recruited sitters and kids to play with the little ones, and built a temporary fence around the site.

 

Creek clean out to help prevent flooding. That was a tough one. There were mountains of debris lining the street three houses long after that one.

 

[moosetracker]

BluejacketScouter - the city of our troop did something similar with the fire hydrant painting. But, split up the work between different troops.. Some troops did it as a troop service project, others as Eagle projects. Our troop failed finishing our piece. The boy who was to do it as an Eagle project did one day, then stopped.. The troop kept waiting for him to finish and it was the fire department who called us on our time of immobility and asked for the paint back, (which was at the boys house so hopefully he did return it.)

 

 

My son had a great idea for one, but got sick for over a year and couldn't finish it. Luckily it was just had the approval, and was in the early planning stages.. He was going to do a reading day. Get different youth orgs of the town to volunteer to find a fun story, and tell it.. It definately had to be read, but if others of the youth org wanted to do things to enhance it that would be fine too.. He hoped that by young kids seeing older kids reading it would excite them to want to read to.. He was also going to allow the orgs to get visibility for their organization also. I wish he had finished it after he got better, but the ailment killed his confidence for public speaking and the project had alot of it..

 

A boy just went to the Eagle board with something also on reading. He is going to do small posts & shadow boxes along a hiking trail near a library. The library will change out different stories. So the kids can hike the trail and read a story along the way. (My son was amazed that someone from the Eagle board upon hearing about it, remembered about his origial eagle project that was similar.)

[SSScout]

The most "creative" Eagle Service Projects are those that, when the boy saw a need, he worked to fill it, not merely find "something to do" to meet the requirement.

 

The lucky ones are those that didn't go around saying "I need an Eagle project" but found themselves saying "Hey, here's something that needs to be done. Can I do this for my project?"

 

* Wanted to renovate a whole barn at the County Fair grounds. Paint, replace boards, new roof, rot replace, level edges, new rollup doors, heavy up electric panel, etc. Barn Supervisor helped him whittle it down to a much needed roof edge/eave encasing. Two full days, 25 boys, Scouts, 4H members, skilled men tutoring boys and girls in construction techniques and pride of craft.

* His Faith required a witness about the draft. He and his Scout buds and church youthgroup researched the Selective Service, the law, drafted a booklet about registering for the Selective Service and choices as to Consciencious Objector status. Got it edited and Okayed for accuracy by knowledgeable folks. Published and disseminated it nationwide.

* Boy's family had made use of the McDonald's House at the cancer center. The McDonald's House needed a patio and furniture for it's visitors. Raised funds, oversaw landscaping (by hand), bought and assembled furniture. Lovely place to catch sun (SPF50 covered, natch).

* Historic area. Boy researched area's sites, he and buds got permission to put up signs in front of historic sites, developed walking/driving tour. Wrote and publish tour guide, available at local museum, restaurants. Scout signs have since been replaced or removed as unnecessary or updated by park people.

* Boy visited local historic site often, lived nearby. Saw "benign neglect " was taking a toll, even tho site was under the care of three local service clubs. Consulted family member who was knowledgeable about landscaping, etc. Obtained permission to redo landscaping around site to help prevent flooding, repaired stonework, brought other needs to the attention of the clubs' leadership. Much handwork by Scouts and school chums.

 

This is not to denegrate the "I need a project" Scout, but only to note that we can do the Scout a big favor by helping them to SEE with an eye to fill a need , rather than an eye to fulfill a requirement.

Does that make sense?

[Callooh! Callay!1428010939]

This project briefly received media attention that reached nationwide:

Union Bullies Boy Scout for Dastardly Good Deed

http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com/news/local/Union-Bullies-Boy-Scout-for-Dastardly-Good-Deed-70285552.html

[packsaddle]

Eaglemom2b, I'm curious. What kind of tree is this invasive species? How is he planning to remove them?

 

'Creative' is a subjective term and changes as the eye of the beholder changes. But to my 'eye' one of the most creative ones was construction of a 'bird cam'. The boy put together a plan, designed the wireless system with internet access, sought funding by applying for a grant (and got it), and then led the construction effort. Worked great and we followed egg-laying, hatching, and fledged a generation of birds. That was years ago - today this sort of thing seems rather ordinary.

 

Edit: Callooh! Callay!, that story is 3 years old. Any followup?(This message has been edited by packsaddle)

[skeptic]

If I remember correctly the union backed off pretty quickly, as they got very little sympathy or support, but lots of critcism.

 

The very first project I encountered as SM was really different. He had noted broken and obscured street signs, or ones that turned around, as well as broken curbs and so on. He laid out a plot map with assigned sections for walkers or bike riders to survey, compiled it all into a master list, then put it on a master map. Lot of work that the city seemed thrilled to have. Of course, they barely followed up on most of the issues, which is sad.

 

There was the project by a scout to update and make more ecumenical the military prayer book his grandfather had in WWII. It became a national distribution from what I understand, and included most religions and beliefs.

 

But no matter if it turns into a major, national project of some sort, or simply fills a local need in a park or school, communities throughout the nation benefit with hundreds of thousands of free work by these scouts. I really do not think most critics of scouting have any idea how much practical good is done through scouting, both boy and girl. They are too wrapped up in their PC worries that mostly just show how insecure and ignorant they are. JMHO of course.

[Eaglemom2b]

Packsaddle-

 

The tree is the Black Thorn Locust. It is a fast growing tree that tends to choke out the slower growing native trees.

 

I think his plan (from the last time he told me about it)is to have a group go in and tag all of the BTLs that are in the plot he has chosen to clear. Then he is going to have a group of adults go in and cut down the bigger trees. These will be cut into managable pieces and taken to an area to be burned (per the benefitting organization). Once the larger trees are out the boys will be able to go in and clear the small trees.

 

DS's original plan was to mulch the smaller trees and use the mulch in other areas of the nature center. He changed his mind after looking at the size of the thorns. He also wanted to cut and stack the wood for the patrons who use the onsite log cabins and fire pit. Someone told him that BTL doesn't burn well, though. He is supposed to be researching that topic and determining if BTL is suitable firewood.

 

He is anticipating four or five full work days.

 

[Callooh! Callay!1428010939]

"that story is 3 years old. Any followup?"

 

"Following the backlash, Balzano resigned as head of the local chapter. SEIU members from Allentown, Philadelphia and New Jersey joined the Boy Scouts to help with the project and to make an apology. Wayne MacManiman, SEIU district leader stated "Kevin's doing an amazing thing.We've always supported the Boy Scouts, whether it's here in Allentown, Bethlehem or Philadelphia.""

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_Employees_International_Union

 

[mdlscouting]

Most interesting one that I had ever heard of was a boy who was adopted from Russia as a young child, who raised money for, and flew a team over to construct a playground at the orphanage where he was born. (I'm assuming there were some wealthy parents involved...)

 

But As a parent of a child who as adopted internationally, I thought this was an amazing idea.