Eagle factory

[porchdawg]

Greetings! New to forum and soon to become a Scoutmaster. In talking to other leaders in our area, I have encountered a phase that confused me; that our troop is considered an 'Eagle Factory'. Sour Grapes, or should I be concerned.

We do have a higher than national average of boys obtaining the rank of Eagle, but I've never given too much thought to this. (We also have an above average amount of parent involvement) I realize that every troop is different. All of the advancement boards and merit badges I have been involved with conform to the Boy Scout guidelines. Thanks in advance for any imput.

 

YIS

[Bob White]

A lot of units have a higher than average number of Eagles. Many have a lower than average, that's how we come up with an average. What's more important is how they are getting to Eagle not how many you have.

 

Eagle factory is a term used to describe troops who put the achievement of rank over the personal character growth of the individual scout.

 

With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy

You might be an Eagle factory if..

 

If your troop meeting plan is based on merit badge classes then you might be an Eagle factory.

 

If the majority of merit badge sashes in the troop look the same you might be an Eagle factory.

 

If scouts are told which merit badge they are learning next you might be an Eagle factory.

 

If everyone moves to the next rank at the same time you might be an Eagle factory.

 

If you define the success of your program by the number of Eagle Scouts you might be an Eagle factory.

 

If you think the advancement method is the most important scout method you might be an Eagle factory.

 

If you give blue cards to scouts before they ask for one you might be an Eagle factory.

 

If you tell scouts how many, or which, merit badges they must earn at summercamp you might be an Eagle factory.

 

So don't worry about what others say, worry about what you are doing. If the actions above seem familiar to you in the unit you serve, then you are not following the the scouting program or giving the youth the best possible scouting experience even if they receive Eagle, and that is what is important.

 

Bob White

 

 

[LauraT7]

BobWhite - good answer!

 

of course, your answers always are good!

 

Where's Yaworski been hiding - does he know about the humourous side you've been hiding? LOL! might knock him off his campfire stump!

 

thanks for the smile!

 

LauraT

 

 

[ASM7]

Bob, that was a great post. If you don't mind I would like to use it. I will credit it to a friend.

Doug

[Eagledad]

Great responce Bob. I few other things I've heard from adults in Eagle mill type programs.

 

Summer Camp and Merit Badge College are part of the Troop advancement program. Either you go or you don't advance.

 

If the scout misses a scout skills class, he has to wait for another class before he can get that skill signed off.

 

If a scout just shows up to a class, he gets signed off or earns the MB without really proving he learned the skill.

 

Good stuff,

Have a great week.

 

Barry