Eagle Scout Posted April 14, 2006 Share Posted April 14, 2006 Recently I was thinking how often does one hear about an Eagle Scout or Gold Scout doing something past their reward. I am asking that we as Eagle Scouts and Gold Scouts join together to begin a Scholarship separate of the ones offered just to Eagle Scouts or Gold Scouts, that is given to four High School Seniors that shows great promise in a skill. It could be writing, foreign language, science, art, mathematics, or anything that could help the student succeed in this world. The break down would be two girls not associated with Girl Scouts and two boys not associated with Boy Scouts. This way no one can say there was bias for them. Yet it would be given out every other year and the over all sum would be divided up between all four receivers of the Scholarship... I would like to know what people think of this idea. Sincerely Chris Houle Eagle Scout A scholarship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
9muckraker7 Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 Sounds like a start, although I'm not quite sure if the BSA or GSA [Girl Scouts of America, I'm not sure if that's the full name of the organization of Girl Scouts] offer any recognition awards for people outside of scouting. The silver beaver award, the highest commendation the BSA awards, is given to anyone who performs great acts of service to youth, and the recipient does not have to be affilitated with scouting to receive it. I see your point though, that eagle scouts and gold scouts should try to create for themselves a great reputation for being top-notch citizens, to hold with them the honor and prestige of earning that rank for the rest of their lives. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutNut Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 OK, Just some corrections of terminology. Girl Scouts of the United States - GSUSA Gold Scout - No such thing. There are no ranks as such in GSUSA, just levels (like in Cubs). The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award in Girl Scouting. To earn it a girl has to be a Senior Girl Scout (former term) or (current term) a Girl Scout 14-17 years old. Since it's inception in 1916, this award has had several other names (Golden Eaglet, Curved Bar, First Class). A question - why exclude Scouts from the Scholarship? That is biased also. I think you might have a problem getting folks who spent a great deal of their youth as a Scout, & who most likely had their life shaped by Scouting, to go along with excluding all Scouts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoutldr Posted April 18, 2006 Share Posted April 18, 2006 NESA is already an association of Eagle Scouts, and I think they grant scholarships. Although I am a member, they are not real active in this council as a separate organization, in spite of several attempts to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevorum Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 EagleScout, I think it's a fine idea. Think globally. Act locally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Scout Posted April 19, 2006 Author Share Posted April 19, 2006 Thank you for the correction on terminology. As to your question about excluding scouts, they are offered scholarships already through their respective programs. This is not to recognize a scout but to give back to the community. To make it a better place as every Eagle Scout swears to do when they first receive their award beyond just scouting. As for the Scholarships from the BSA those, you must first earn Eagle Scout. Which excludes all those who stay in scouting their whole life and never get their Eagle for some reason and all those who are not in scouting. Believe it or not I am pretty sure there are more people not in Scouting than they are in Scouting. Here is a question to ponder, if Scouting is truly about making the community better beyond that of just Scouts or Eagle Scouts with Scholarships what about those people not envolved in Scouting for one reason or another? Let us not forget the Girl Scouts either I am sure not everyone who starts for their Gold Award gets it and I am sure Girl Scouts offer special scholarships for those who get their Gold Award. Secondly, I too am a member of the NESA, Life Member, and have been since 2002 when I earned the rank of Eagle. It is not that I am trying to exclude people I am trying to set up something to honor those not involved with scouting because they are busy off doing other things for the community or making someone else's life better. I could name a dozen people I never saw in Scouting whether be girl or boy yet they did better things than I know some people who were in scouting did. Where is their recognization? I think if we as Eagle Scouts and Gold Award receipants are truly going to make the world better than why just offer special things to those that follow in our foot steps and all those who came before. It is time that we just stick up for our brother or sister scouts and recognize everyone for what they have done and with this scholarship I think every couple of years it allows us as Scoutings top enchalon to honor those who try to make the world a better place. In choosing two male and two female seniors across the country and giving them a special awarded scholarship... If this does not answer your questions or better explain what I am trying to set up please feel free to email me personally and we can discuss it more. My email is chrishoule_7@hotmail.com Thanks and hope everything is going great. Eagle Scout with Gold Palm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutNut Posted April 19, 2006 Share Posted April 19, 2006 "It is time that we just stick up for our brother or sister scouts and recognize everyone for what they have done" Except that is not what you are proposing. You say you plan on excluding all Scouts because "they are offered scholarships already through their respective programs". Non-Scouts also have many scholarships available to them. The Scout scholarships are offered, for the most part, to only those Scouts who have attained the rank of Eagle or have been awarded the Girl Scout Gold Award. That, as you point out, leaves a large number of Scouts who are ineligible for those scholarships. Your idea of starting a scholarship is a fine one. However, you plan on approaching people, who have attained the highest honor in their respective Scouting programs, to ask them to fund this scholarship. You might have an easier sell if you did not exclude all youth in Scouting programs from this scholarship. Instead, open it to ALL high school youth entering college. You might take a look at some scholarship websites to get an idea of how they are set up & get some criteria ideas. Fastweb is a good site to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScoutNut Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Another idea that you might think about - I asked my daughter, a GS Gold Award recipient, how she felt about your scholarship idea. Her response was that there are plenty of scholarships/grants out there for the "best & the brightest" (Scouts or not). They have no problem finding a way to receive an education. She stated that if you truly wanted to give back to the community & make it a better place, than you should target the scholarship specifically for inner city, underprivileged youth. She also suggested that it not be tied to attendance at a 4 year university. Technical schools & Community Colleges should also be included. Anything that would help these youth get better educated & be able to make something better of their lives. She said that she would gladly support a scholarship of that sort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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