Eagle board of review?

[gumbymaster]

I wanted to revive this thread, particularly this part highlighted.

 

I just heard from a new district advancement rep that he wants all Eagles to have the Outdoor Code memorized. I cannot recall anywhere, besides the Outdoor Ethics (Action/Awareness) Award where memorizing the code was "required". I get testing a candidate on the Oath, Law, Slogan, Motto. However, the Outdoor Code was never a rank requirements, so testing them on that should be informational at best.

 

Thoughts? Comments?

 

On the one hand, since this scout is well past this point and the BSA is a one and done organization, I agree that is should not be technically required .

 

That said, :

requirement 1e of the Scout rank is to repeat from memory the Outdoor Code and in your own words explain what it means.

Tenderfoot 1c is to tell how you practiced the Outdoor code on a campout or outing.

Second class 1b is to explain leave no trace and to describe how that has been practiced on a different outing from tenderfoot 1c.

First class 1b is similar for the Tread Lightly concept.

Life requirement 4 is that at least three service hours must be on a conservation related project.

 

So again, technically, if the Scout is already Life and going for Eagle, then Outdoor code (unrelated to Scout spirit) is not something that should hold back the advancement.  Then again BORs aren't technically supposed to be about retesting anyway, but more of how that concept has been taught/embraced in the program the Scout went through.

[NJCubScouter]

Repeating the Outdoor Code from memory is a Scout (rank) requirement, but it was not before Jan. 1, 2016, so anyone who became a Scout before that date would never have had to learn to say it from memory.  (I couldn't do it either.)  So even apart from what is appropriate or inappropriate at a BOR, it wouldn't be reasonable to expect someone who is currently an "older" Scout to know it from memory.

 

On the other hand, asking a Scout to do something at a BOR is one thing, the consequences of getting it less-than-perfect is another.  In our Troop BOR's (Tenderfoot through Life) we generally do ask the Scout to recite the Oath and Law from memory, and I have seen Life Scouts who miss lines of the Oath or a word of the Law. We do not "fail" them for it.  They know the Oath and Law, they recite them during opening/closing every week.  They just get nervous.  For that matter I have seen adults who have been reciting them for 50 years stumble occasionally.  When it happens at a BOR, we gently correct the Scout and the BOR goes on.

[Torchwood]

1. The addition of the Outdoor Code to Rank Advancement is a recent one, so a Scout that is facing his EBoR would have earned those ranks using the older requirements.

 

2. The EBoR is NOT an opportunity for otherwise well-meaning adults (giving them the benefit of the doubt) to retest a Scout. He has already proven his ability to his Troop leadership. They are reviewing his project paperwork, letters of recommendation and life statement, and asking him some questions about his Scouting career and whats next. The purpose is to get a sense of the Eagle candidate, and assess his character- to see if he is truly an Eagle Scout. Period.

[Col. Flagg]

So again, technically, if the Scout is already Life and going for Eagle, then Outdoor code (unrelated to Scout spirit) is not something that should hold back the advancement.  Then again BORs aren't technically supposed to be about retesting anyway, but more of how that concept has been taught/embraced in the program the Scout went through.

 

Agreed. Still, in my mind, asking someone to recite the Outdoor Code from memory (who never had it as a requirement for rank before) would be like asking someone to about one of the new Cooking requirements.

 

I told the district rep he could feel free to ask the question, but if the response is a blank stare, we move on and there's no harm, no foul. Waiting to hear his reply on what he's expecting.

[qwazse]

Wait, I had to memorize the Outdoor Code for Tenderfoot ...

Or is my memory playing tricks?

Edited May 19, 2017 by qwazse

[Stosh]

I have been in scouting for over 40 years now.  I always police my campsites better than I find them.  .... and I still haven't memorized the Outdoor Code. 

[fred johnson]

I have been in scouting for over 40 years now.  I always police my campsites better than I find them.  .... and I still haven't memorized the Outdoor Code. 

 

Ummm .... Just how many memorized sets of values do we need to be a scout ?  It becomes ridiculous.   Here's the order in terms of priority and usefulness in my mind.  

 

1. Pledge of allegiance
2. Scout Oath
3. Scout Law
4. Scout Motto
5. Scout Slogan
6. Philmont Grace ... or others
7. Outdoor Code
8. Hygienic precept
9. Snoring statue
10. Meal maxim

Yeah, none of our scouts or leaders know the outdoor code as it was not in the requirements when any of our scouts started.  We value scout oath and law ... motto ... slogan, but the outdoor code will take the next generation to start valuing it.  It's part of changing culture.  It was not in the book when we started and it's just not useful as it's already at the core of who we are as scouts.  

[perdidochas]

The sad part of the whole issue for us is that the EBOR panel they will be addressing is a total unknown.  We know what SHOULD be going on, but without any of our personnel in the room except the optional SM, it's an unknown for the boys.  Sounds like other councils have an easier setup for the boys.  It's always nice to have a familiar face or two in the crowd.

 

We have district level EBORs, but the usual makeup of them is two district representatives, and two or three troop representatives and the optional SM as observer.  We don't have formal practice EBORs, but the more experienced ASMs, MCs, AC, and SM tend to talk to the Life Scouts about them.  We give helpful hints, and sometimes ask a practice question or two.  

[RememberSchiff]

Lone Ranger Creed

Green Lantern Oath

Code of the West

 

[Stosh]

My kids have difficulty memorizing anything, but ask them to name 200 Pokeman characters?  They know them all.