Eagle Ceremony help!

[ddhanso]

Hi, We have an Eagle Ceremony coming up soon which is just great. My question is one of the adult leaders is coordinating this and as asked one of the Star scouts to be the MC for the ceremony..... this just doesn't seem right to have a scout MC this event..... any suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks Dave

[John-in-KC]

In my Troop/Crew, the Eagles and their families design and coordinate the Eagle COH. If there is a particular reason a younger Scout gets tapped as MC, great. If not, SM and CC should defer as much as possible to wishes of the Eagles!!!

 

My two cents.

[gwd-scouter]

During my son's Eagle ceremony, he asked one of his fellow Scouts (Life) to MC. Young man did a great job.

[CA_Scouter]

It is so appropriately correct to have a scout MC the ceremony! How awesome that the adult has the confidence in this scout to handle such an important job, and that the scout has the confidence in himself to accept it.

 

I don't understand your thinking, that it doesn't seem 'right'. Scouts is supposed to be a boy-run program, so what's your beef?

 

We just had a COH this week, run entirely by the SPL and staff. Immediately prior to that, we had a memorial dedication on an Eagle project to a scout we lost in Jan (traffic accident), and it was also completely planned and run by the SPL and the Eagle candidate, and was done with the utmost respect and decorum. They were magnificent!

 

You might be pleasantly surprised what these scouts can do, given the opportunity.

 

 

 

 

[LongHaul]

Hear the loud clapping? CA-Scouter right on! This is a boy run organization. The hardest thing for us adults to do is give the boys the helm. If the SPL, the PLC, and the specific Star Scout in question are not capable of taking on the responsibility of MCing the ECOH then what kind of Eagles is this troop turning out? Unless there is a specific problem with this particular Star Scout there shouldnt be a problem.

The flip side of this is when the Adult hands the Ceremony, all typed up and for the first time, to the Star Scout at the ECOH and calls it boy run.

LongHaul

 

[frankj]

My two cents. The MC must have certain abilities: good, effective speaking, the ability to deal with glitches that may come up, a 'presence' in front of the audience, the ability to fulfill his part without referring or reading from notes. If the Star Scout can do it, fine.

 

ddhanso says 'one of the adult leaders is coordinating this and has asked one of the Star scouts ...'

 

Why isn't the Eagle candidate planning and coordinating this?

 

This can be a memorable evening for the Eagle, his family and invitees, that goes off smoothly with everyone knowing their parts, or, it can turn into a muddle. The candidate will get the best ceremony, I think, if he is involved in the planning, and the recruitment of participants.

 

There needs to be a script. Participants need to be told their role and go over it ahead of time, with script in hand. Participants need to be at the ceremony well before the start to meet and review the sequence -- who says what, when they say it, what cues to look for, etc. The participants need to be recruited far enough in advance and then their participation confirmed the day before. I could go on, but have preached enough. I have seen great, memorable ECoh's and ones that were botched because of lack of preparation.

 

 

[ddhanso]

O.K. I guess I will plead inexperience here..... We haven't had an Eagle scout in at least 5 years...... don't yell at me I just joined with my son........ so the boys don't even know what it is...... that's where I'm coming from... how are they suppose to run something when they have never been to one. They will do it, don't get me wrong but it's just been soooo long since we have an ECOH I would like this one to be nice. I'm not in charge of it so I won't worry about......

[MaScout]

Aaah...I wondered if this was the concern. Have any of the adult leaders or any Scouts in your troop attended an Eagle CoH? Do they know what to expect or do?

 

I would suggest an adult leader assist the Eagle with the planning. The MC should be involved, but the Eagle should do the planning...it is his ceremnoy. I would recommend getting the book "the Eagle Court of Honor book" by Mark Ray.

 

Our town hadn't had an Eagle for years. We were clueless...but this book is where we started. I recently changed computers, but if I can locate the file where I stored my Eagle CoH Planning Guide (my design) I hand out to our candidates, I will pm it to you...

 

Ma Scout