Eagle Scout service projects

[andrews]

If you were starting a troop for an Eagle project, who would authorize it? The troop wouldn't exist before you started it!

 

Brad

[le Voyageur]

Lets do a hypothetical, just not seeing much out of the box thinking going on - Okay,the year is now 1975, scouting is in the pits (any of you remember that time??) and National has waved it's magic wand and poof, you're now on a select committe to create what will become known as the "Eagle Scout Service Project". You have a clean slate, no rules, no conventions, just scouting traditions and your own wisdom and common sense to bring the concept to life. What ideals will you bring to the table and why....

[le Voyageur]

Andrew

 

To answer your question in troop building, I spent 3 years in a rural county as a Unit Commissioner building a troop one Lone Scout at a time...."dragon slaying at it's finest", as my Scoutmaster would say when problem solving....

 

 

[OldGreyEagle]

Brad, the group authorizing the Eagle Project of starting a new troop would have to be the chartering organization. The First Baptist Church of Wherever for example.

 

Starting a troop would then be for the church, not for the scouts, although I am not sure there is a razor sharp enough to cut through the distinctions between what benefits the church and what benefits the scouts.

 

I have heard the Eagle Project described as a lesson in project management. Get an idea, plan it and make it happen and then consider how it turned out versus what you planned. Its a great introduction to the real world. Will be interested in seeing what alternatives are suggested.

[Eman]

Let's just make it 2002. Some of you might be in areas where Scouting is booming. I hate to say it but there are many areas where it is dieing just like in the 70's. It's not doing great in the area I'm in and my inlaws are 800 mi. away and it's the same there. In the 70's the numbers were honest. In todays world the numbers are being padded. I've seen units that don't really exist being created with double charters. I've seen 40 boys sign up for Tiger Cubs and by the time they go to Wolf less than 5 are still Scouts. I don't agree with a boy doing an Eagle project that benefits BSA, but I say it won't be long until that is changed. Looking at the condition of our camp and all the projects that need doing the councils would push for this in a heartbeat!

[andrews]

I asked because I thought the SM had to pre-approve the Eagle project.

 

Having started a troop already, and planning on starting another this fall, I have no doubt it would require a great deal of leadership to do one.

 

Brad

[OldGreyEagle]

it would have to be the scoutmaster of the troop the Eagle candidate is in whoose approval is needed to start another troop. This seems beyond the normal scope of an Eagle project and will be a tremoundous accomplishment

[sctmom]

I've been a little amazed and disappointed at some the Eagle projects in my area.

One boy paved (cement) a walkway of about 10 feet from the parking lot to the tennis courts.

Another one -- cleaning up the overgrown bushes in the back yard of the church. Also, putting up a fence in the backyard of the church. The whole troop helped in these, which I think is great.

 

I was more impressed by the young man who took on revamping the nature trail at the elementary school. That was a big project and many people benefited from it.

 

My opinion is that you should be cleaning up the church yard and the scout camps because you care and it's the right thing to do.

 

Girl Scouts give out the Gold Award as their highest achievement. Their requirements are structured around earning certain badges about leadership and citizenship (similiar to BSA). Also, they have a minimum of 50 hours the girl must spend on the project. Often 2 or 3 girls, or even the whole troop (of the same age) will work together, each one giving 50 hours of her time and sharing in the leadership role. The GSUSA website lists some of the projects girls have done --- book drives, trail maintenance, food drives, winter coat collection, a playground at the local History center, planning and implementing an permanent exhibit at a musuem, doing projects for children's shelters.

 

 

[OldGreyEagle]

As was commented elsewhere, when an Eagle project consists of paving a path 10 feet, then its not the scouts fault, its the adults fault for approving it. In my son's tenure as a scout I have helped on the following:

 

Planting over 100 flowers around a Middle School entrance ( they were perrineals)

 

Rebuilding a stream bank with logs and stone and planting over 60 trees along the stream bank. (Actually did this twice, at two seprarate locations, was done with a privaye conservation group that had goverment grants to buy the materials)

 

collection of old video tapes and games to be donated to the local hospitals pediatric dept

 

Building of wing dams in a nearby creek

 

Covering city park trails with stone

 

Contruction of a memorial garden at the local ASPCA, this was a lot of work, inovolved laying paving stones, supervised by the eagle candidiate who practiced at home

 

building shelves in the church basement (our chartering institution) for storage (of non boy scout stuff natch)

 

One bright scout (my son) helped the local American Legion replace American Flags at the graves of Veterans and ran a flag collection campign for flags that were no longer fit for display both in the schools and for the general public and then held a flag retirement ceremony for all the flags

that is my favorite, but I could be biased

 

Another scout's project was the repainting of a park district building inside and out.

 

the point is, there is no set formula for an Eagle Project, the only given is it cant be for the scouts and the district advancement committe must approve it

[jmcquillan]

sctmom,

 

Remember that it's not so much the amount of physical labor in an Eagle project that makes it an Eagle project. It's more the process and leadership that counts. Anyone can participate in paving a walkway, but not everyone can go through the process of the planning, the thinking, the obtaining of permission and materials, the scheduling of the work force, the pictures, the public relations coverage, and then the report. I've seen Eagle projects that were very small and very large, but everyone qualified. I had a young man once build a canoe landing on a local river. It was needed, for sure, but it was a small project. The process he had to follow, with all the local, state, and federal permits, the planning and scheduling of manpower to assist in all those efforts, the physical work, and then the report took well over 200 manhours to accomplish. He had to attend public hearings and present his project before commissions, and change his design and project as necessary. Then, he had all the other parts of the project to accomplish, too. He learned quite a bit in that project, and eventually went to work in the environmental planning business after college. That was, indeed, an Eagle project, even though the resulting physical elements were quite small.

 

And Eagle projects do not need to result in success, either. I've seen projects that involved townwide efforts with much coordination with the US Post Office. They were very good projects with admirable intent. But after the project was planned and implemented, very few of those for whom it was intended decided to participate. (They were efforts with the Post Office to have postal delivery folks aware of senior citizens in town, and watchful of mail deliveries that might indicate a senior citizen at home, alone, in trouble. The intentions were wonderful, and the town fathers and Post Office loved the idea. But too few senior citizens opted to participate, for whatever reason.) Although the intended result failed, the projects were deemed successful, as the planning, and leadership through the process were quite admirable. These boys recieved their Eagle Awards.

 

I differ with you with regards to the church projects. That is a favorite around here. One element of finding and planning an Eagle project that I always tried to impress on the Scouts was that the project should fulfill an unattended need. Most often, things don't get sone around a churc or town because there's not enough manpower or money. Eagle projects that attend to these needs, IMHO, show both caring and leadership.

 

You're right in that where the GSA sets a minimum target for time spent, the BSA does not. But most SM's I know around here use the unwritten target of 100 hours when counselling candidates. We've seen some done with as little as 80 manhours, and some that took almost 500 manhours. The general feeling is that it takes about 100 manhours to properly plan, lead, and execute a project of value to both the recipient, and the Eagle candidate.

 

[slontwovvy]

Our troop has not had a project with less than 150 hours. In fact, 3 out of our last 8 Eagles have gone over 400.