Good Ideas for Girls Earning Eagle in 2-3 Years

[mrkstvns]

On 4/20/2019 at 9:30 PM, Thunderbird said:

Cooking - Not really difficult, but has some specific requirements that Scouts need to be aware of and follow.

Requirement 7 is the big "gotcha" for a lot of scouts because it requires cooking during a backpacking trip. My son waited months to finish that one requirement because the troop only does 1 backpacking campout per year.  

[qwazse]

5 minutes ago, mrkstvns said:

Requirement 7 is the big "gotcha" for a lot of scouts because it requires cooking during a backpacking trip. My son waited months to finish that one requirement because the troop only does 1 backpacking campout per year.  

This is where an older scout being a member of multiple crews and/or being an officer in their council's VOA and/or being an active arrowman can be extremely helpful.This is also where more than one adult from a unit attending district roundtable can be helpful.

One of your scouts might need an activity (for advancement or any other reason) that your troop rarely provides.

The scout who needs that activity doesn't necessarily have to be that active, but when her troop's scouts and scouters are that well networked, good things happen. Encourage older scouts to try and engage their patrol in activities that they have mastered. The troop might not have backpacking on their schedule, but no big deal. Two enthusiastic members of one patrol could make a plan in a couple weeks. If it's a good plan, raid your depth chart for the two ideal adults to support it.

<Insert rant about how, prior to last October, scouts A and B would have qualified as one of those ideal adults.>

Troops only scheduling 7 camping events a year isn't a problem if patrols are taking up the slack in the "quiet" months.

[mrkstvns]

Communication MB doesn't have any real time blockers, but requirement 8 is to plan and emcee a troop event (court of honor OR campfire OR worship service). Our troop is large and there are always scouts who want to emcee the campfire, so there's a "waiting list" for that job....and there's only a couple Court of Honors per year, so that emcee job requires waiting too.  

So here's a tip for scouts who want to quickly complete requirement 8 ... choose the "worship service" option.

Even though our troop is chartered by a church and has a significant number of kids whose families belong to the chartering parish, there are RARELY any scouts volunteering to lead a Sunday morning "Scouts Own Service". As a Communication MBC, I advise our older scouts to plan and conduct the worship service because it can almost always be done at the troop's next monthly campout. I have yet to hear of a scout who had to delay that requirement because he couldn't get on the agenda for a worship service...

[qwazse]

Just now, mrkstvns said:

.. As a Communication MBC, I advise our older scouts to plan and conduct the worship service because it can almost always be done at the troop's next monthly campout. ...

This is an important skill. I am currently helping some HS youth arrange a baccalaureate service. It's a little rough because, although many are natural leaders, they've always relied on someone else to organize their religion for them.

One youth leader explained that he was concerned they might not handle embarrassment well if they fail. I replied that the beauty of being a scouter is that your concerns over failure with knives and fires eclipse concerns over a little failure leading worship.

[elitts]

On 5/1/2019 at 10:01 AM, mrkstvns said:

Requirement 7 is the big "gotcha" for a lot of scouts because it requires cooking during a backpacking trip. My son waited months to finish that one requirement because the troop only does 1 backpacking campout per year.  

Keep in mind that completing this requirement doesn't require a backpacking camp-out.  Our troop sometimes schedules a 10 mile hike during lunch on our normal weekend camp-outs for the express purpose of letting scouts working on the cooking badge prepare a meal. 

[elitts]

On 4/19/2019 at 3:47 PM, Cburkhardt said:

 

Please consider taking one or more of these examples and suggest helpful approaches that come to mind.

One thing that can be important for older scouts is to make sure they are periodically reminded that if their schedule doesn't easily permit the time required to serve in a Position of Leadership, they can opt to carry out a Scoutmaster approved "Leadership Project" instead.  Given the intense variety of thing high schoolers are involved in, it may be that doing a leadership project would be better than half-assing it as ASPL or Patrol Leader when their meeting attendance is sure to be spotty.

Edited May 2, 2019 by elitts

[mrkstvns]

17 hours ago, elitts said:

Keep in mind that completing this requirement doesn't require a backpacking camp-out.  Our troop sometimes schedules a 10 mile hike during lunch on our normal weekend camp-outs for the express purpose of letting scouts working on the cooking badge prepare a meal. 

You're right, the requirement does say it can be done on a trail hike, but it also says that the scout is to cook 2 meals on that trip....but that's not too tough to manage.

[elitts]

5 hours ago, mrkstvns said:

You're right, the requirement does say it can be done on a trail hike, but it also says that the scout is to cook 2 meals on that trip....but that's not too tough to manage.

While on a trail hike or backpacking trip, prepare and serve two meals and a snack from the menu planned for this requirement

Actually, you have two options. 

Option 1: Prepare two different meals for the same lunch.  Example: You have a lunch of cold sandwiches on your menu and a dinner of Beef Stew.  So you divide your hiking group in half and serve sandwiches to half and beef stew to the other half.

Option 2: Prepare one meal on two different hikes.

The key thing is that you need to serve two of the meals off the prepared menu, while on a hike or backpacking trip. (my troop also permits a bike ride or canoe trip since they also accomplish the goal of cooking "on the go" meals)

[mrkstvns]

On 5/3/2019 at 1:37 PM, elitts said:

The key thing is that you need to serve two of the meals off the prepared menu, while on a hike or backpacking trip. (my troop also permits a bike ride or canoe trip since they also accomplish the goal of cooking "on the go" meals)

I do agree that a bike trip or canoe trip might be just as applicable, but it's not something that is up to a troop.  Scouts are tested and signed off by the Merit Badge Counselor. If the MBC does not approve of the trip, then the scout doesn't get signed off.

Troops are not within their rights to set policies for merit badge requirements.  

[qwazse]

The other thread made me wonder ... has anybody had scouts working on Personal Fitness MB soon after joining? The exercise log for that could count for trail to first class.

I could see encouraging it if you have a newly-joined older scout who is interested in athletic training or wants to fill a slot in an upcoming high-adventure trip. You need that scout to be in the best shape possible by summer. I recall that Daughter was a much stronger swimmer than any of her boat mates at Seabase Bahamas, this limited where and how long she could snorkel. In retrospect, I would have pressed the crew to get pool memberships and commit to a fitness regimen. Had they been eligible for Eagle, I would have used the required MB as motivation. They would have all probably achieved 1st class by that time, so overlapping timetables wouldn't be an issue. But I could imagine that if I had a scout who needed to bone up physically now and earn 1st class sooner rather than later, I'd seriously consider counting the MB work for the lower ranks as well.

If the high adventure is 24 weeks away, and the scout has a couple of years, I'd suggest logging the 1st 12 weeks for the T2F requirements and the log for the next 12 weeks for the MB. After the adventure, there might be some new scouts coming in, and this scout will have had a solid personal experience with which he/she can encourage the newbies.

[Eagle94-A1]

32 minutes ago, qwazse said:

The other thread made me wonder ... has anybody had scouts working on Personal Fitness MB soon after joining? The exercise log for that could count for trail to first class.

I thought I read somewhere that T-2-1 physical fitness requirements and Personal Fitness requirements cannot be completed at the same time.

Never mind. Found out double dipping is now allowed by the Guide to Advancement 2019 unless specifically prohibited by the requirements. 😠

Edited May 8, 2019 by Eagle94-A1

[mrkstvns]

16 minutes ago, Eagle94-A1 said:

I thought I read somewhere that T-2-1 physical fitness requirements and Personal Fitness requirements cannot be completed at the same time.

I don't think so.  I just read the requirements out of the current merit badge pamphlet.  It says....

7. Outline a comprehensive 12-week physical fitness program using the results of your fitness tests. Be sure your program incorporates the endurance, intensity, and warm-up guidelines discussed in the Personal Fitness merit badge pamphlet. Before beginning your exercises, have the program approved by your counselor and parents.

8. Complete the physical fitness program you outlined in requirement 7. Keep a log of your fitness program activity (how long you exercised; how far you ran, swam, or biked; how many exercise repetitions you completed; your exercise heart rate; etc.). Repeat the aerobic fitness, muscular strength, and flexibility tests every two weeks and record your results. After the 12th week, repeat the three tests, record your results, and show improvement in each one. For the body composition test, compare and analyze your preprogram and postprogram body composition measurements. Discuss the meaning and benefit of your experience, and describe your long-term plans regarding your personal fitness.

 

No mention here that a scout must do these independently of T-2-1 fitness requirements.  Given that "no more, no less" is the golden rule for merit badge counselors, I would say that qwazse's suggestion is perfectly valid.

 

 

[Eagle94-A1]

33 minutes ago, mrkstvns said:

I don't think so.  I just read the requirements out of the current merit badge pamphlet.  It says....

7. Outline a comprehensive 12-week physical fitness program using the results of your fitness tests. Be sure your program incorporates the endurance, intensity, and warm-up guidelines discussed in the Personal Fitness merit badge pamphlet. Before beginning your exercises, have the program approved by your counselor and parents.

8. Complete the physical fitness program you outlined in requirement 7. Keep a log of your fitness program activity (how long you exercised; how far you ran, swam, or biked; how many exercise repetitions you completed; your exercise heart rate; etc.). Repeat the aerobic fitness, muscular strength, and flexibility tests every two weeks and record your results. After the 12th week, repeat the three tests, record your results, and show improvement in each one. For the body composition test, compare and analyze your preprogram and postprogram body composition measurements. Discuss the meaning and benefit of your experience, and describe your long-term plans regarding your personal fitness.

 

No mention here that a scout must do these independently of T-2-1 fitness requirements.  Given that "no more, no less" is the golden rule for merit badge counselors, I would say that qwazse's suggestion is perfectly valid.

 

 

Yep, found the relevant clause in G2A and changed my post. you beat me to it.

 

[elitts]

On 5/8/2019 at 3:08 PM, mrkstvns said:

I do agree that a bike trip or canoe trip might be just as applicable, but it's not something that is up to a troop.  Scouts are tested and signed off by the Merit Badge Counselor. If the MBC does not approve of the trip, then the scout doesn't get signed off.

Troops are not within their rights to set policies for merit badge requirements.  

Well, by "troop" I meant the 3 troop scouter MBCs who do the Cooking MB in the troop.  I didn't mean it was actually a troop policy.