That pesky Eagle Project

[nextgenscouter1]

As a scout currently working on my Eagle Project, I think there is way to much paperwork to be done. It seems like a waste of time to me.They either need to cut out all the paperwork or get rid of it all together. I really like JoeBob's idea I would love to be able to do that. It would not only test your skills but also your commitment to scouts and make you really think about your life. Of course it will never happen which is unfortunate.

[Stosh]

As a scout currently working on my Eagle Project, I think there is way to much paperwork to be done. It seems like a waste of time to me.They either need to cut out all the paperwork or get rid of it all together. I really like JoeBob's idea I would love to be able to do that. It would not only test your skills but also your commitment to scouts and make you really think about your life. Of course it will never happen which is unfortunate.

Why will it never happen?

 

What's to keep a person from doing it, not for advancement credit, but because of the value of what one would learn?

 

It really irks me at time when scouts aspire to do nothing more than just the minimum, no more, no less attitude towards advancement. Even though that's a BSA policy rule, how many Eagle scouts out there brag about having done the minimum, no more, no less?

 

OA does the overnighter thingy as a token to such an effort, but why not do a real one? Not for credit, but just for your own benefit. By the way, there is no BSA rule forbidding it. You don't need 2-deep leadership to go along, just do a plan, map out your location, get parent's permission, and then just go. You could even decide to take along your cell phone in case of an emergency. The nice thing about it, it's your vigil, YOU decide what is necessary for it to be successful. If you need a starting point in your planning, look up the First Class requirement from the early years of Scouting.

 

Stosh

[nextgenscouter1]

As a scout currently working on my Eagle Project, I think there is way to much paperwork to be done. It seems like a waste of time to me.They either need to cut out all the paperwork or get rid of it all together. I really like JoeBob's idea I would love to be able to do that. It would not only test your skills but also your commitment to scouts and make you really think about your life. Of course it will never happen which is unfortunate.

I mean as an official BSA requirement/activity it would never happen.

[SSScout]

Eagle in 1963. No "project", but we had to give evidence of "service to the community".

I can see the project notebook as a guide for boys that have had no chance to plan something (I built birdhouses and critter pens and put up shelves and such ) and build it . It is a "paint by the numbers" kind of thing (do they still sell those things?) for someone who has not "painted" before. I favor the project, think the idea is fine, helps get the Scout out of his comfort zone. I have complaint with the Scout and his leader that wait until age 17 10/12s and try to find something to do RIGHT NOW. Blood drive, book collection, puppet show at the orphanage, super one time park cleanup, I have seen /heard of alot of last minute projects that could have , in good conscience, been denied but were okayed out of a charitable notion, I guess. "Too large inscope" fora Eagle Project? Only if it doesn't succed can one make that judgement. "Too small " for an Eagle project? Very often, but it depends on the Scout, doesn't it?

 

[Eagle69]

The Eagle Project used to be a way to see how the Scout thinks, how is planning and leadership ability are. I was Eagle Review Chairman for a number of years and have been the Eagle Coordinator for the troop. When they changed the form, dumbed it down in my opinion, they made it to where a kid can slap anything down on a piece of paper and turn it in. The project helps make sure the Beneficiary gets what they want and gives the Scout a taste of what he may have to do later in life.

[Kudu]

Current Eagle projects teach a disdain for paperwork. A candidate learns that filling out almost useless forms is more important that actually doing something good that helps their community.

To serve the boy in his adult future, devaluing bureaucracy is a good thing. To build good character in our men, Eagle projects do little.

 

***

It will never happen, but can you imagine an Eagle Vigil?

Go to a solitary location and camp alone for 5 days.

Take food for 3 days. No electronics.

 

Study the flames of your campfire and contemplate your future. Write a five year plan for:

1- How are you going to improve yourself and become more self-reliant?

2- What are you gong to do to help your family?

3- Where do you want to go with your faith?

 

Find 5 types of plants that you are unfamiliar with. Identify them when you return.

Build a survival shelter. Sleep your last night in that shelter using only materials and bedding that you accrued from the woods.

Supplement your food with edible plants and protein you acquire from nature.

***

 

That's the type of experience that a young man can look back upon and use to support his future character.

Baden-Powell called such First Class, Star, Life and Eagle projects "Journeys" and "Expeditions," the final test of each rank. However, they were based on mileage as well as nights, with the equivalent to Eagle being 50 miles through wild country on foot or afloat, or 200 miles by horseback.

 

http://inquiry.net/advancement/traditional/journey_requirements.htm

[Kudu]

As a scout currently working on my Eagle Project, I think there is way to much paperwork to be done. It seems like a waste of time to me.They either need to cut out all the paperwork or get rid of it all together. I really like JoeBob's idea I would love to be able to do that. It would not only test your skills but also your commitment to scouts and make you really think about your life. Of course it will never happen which is unfortunate.

"The real Patrol Leader will...find that the requirements are not something separate from Scouting. On the contrary, Scouting is the Requirements " (William "Green Bar Bill" Hillcourt).

 

http://inquiry.net/patrol/

[Kudu]

I think the quality of projects depends on the Scout and his unit. Packsaddle, what would you replace The project with? If anything?

It is a testament to the destructive power of Wood Badge that neither of you thought of Baden-Powell's version of an "Eagle Project" as an alternative to paperwork leadership skills that most outdoor boys hate. You know, 50 miles of backpacking or canoe.