Health Fair as an ESLSP

[baschram645]

A Life Scout in our troop approached me last week about doing his Eagle Project. He said he is thinking about doing a Health Fair. We sat down and went over the pros and cons, what could be done (ie; Blood Pressure check, Diabetes testing, etc...) who to contact & where to hold the event. This is still in the planning stage and we will be discussing how he will demo leadership, involve the rest of the troop, etc...

My question to my learned collegues is have any of you had a boy do this for his Eagle Scout project?

[John-in-KC]

Call or have your Scoutmaster or CC call your District Advancement Chairman. He's the guy who is going to make the judgment.

 

If he can get the right folk, if they respond to his leadership, if he can conform to the requirements of ACP&P #33088, Requirements #33215, and the ELSP Workbook, let him go for it

 

BTW, his labor pool need not involve Scouts necessarily. There's nothing in the paperwork requiring him to employ youth in the project!(This message has been edited by John-in-KC)

[Stosh]

My vote would be go for it, it sounds like a great idea.

 

... booths at the local mall covering, bp clinic, back pain, cancer, fitness, diet, etc. I would think this project would require a huge amount of coordination and leadership to pull off.

 

Stosh

 

[baschram645]

John-in-KC,

We already looked the advancement guidelines over, what he wants to do seems to meet the req's. The scout plans on doing a write up and presenting it to our committee. He is going to contact local health officals first for some advice & guidelines. He has the DAC's # and is to contact him once he has an outline of a plan to get his read on the idea.

 

As for including the scouts, as the SM, I encourage the candidates in the troop to use this worker source because the other scouts get their service hours this way, it is great PR for the scouts and they get an idea of what they must do to meet this challenge later.

 

I think this boy can plan and execute this project properly. My only fear is his losing the leadership of this because a well meaning but misguided health care professional, or other adult (outside the troop) assumes that since he is a youth he needs to be told who, what, where, and how.

 

 

[Stosh]

"My only fear is his losing the leadership of this because a well meaning but misguided health care professional, or other adult (outside the troop) assumes that since he is a youth he needs to be told who, what, where, and how."

 

Every Eagle candidate has this same problem regardless of what the project may be! How well they handle them goes a long way to demonstrate their own leadership.

 

Stosh

[shortridge]

And if that happens and the Scout does not feel he met the project requirements, he can chalk it up as a learning experience about meddling adults and start over with another venture (assuming he has time left).

[CalicoPenn]

Not to discourage this (because I think it's a great idea) but is it possible this could fall under the category of "blood drive", or at least interpreted to fall under the category of "blood drive".

 

Questions tht need to be asked: "Who is the beneficiary organization (is there one)?" "How does this project meet that organization's needs?" "Is this something the organization does anyway?"

 

A health fair sounds like a great idea - but like a blood drive, is it a one time event or is it an event that is done anyway?

 

Most of us have experienced the Scout that wants to do a blood drive - in fact my own Eagle Project was a blood drive. So what makes the difference? In my case, it was organizing the first of what would be an annual event - a blood drive for my city - my project was really putting together an organizational plan, complete with resources, that would be followed for years afterwards. The actual event was part of the project, but not the only part of the project. Once my project was complete, the city health department used the plan for more blood drives. Had I only been doing a blood drive, it's doubtful the project would have met Eagle standards.

 

A Health Fair may face the same scrutiny - if it will be a one time fair, it might not be enough. If its developing a plan that the organization will use for future health fairs, then putting the plan into place for the first annual health fair - a self-perpetuating project in a way - then I can see this being accepted by the DAC.

 

Calico

[John-in-KC]

CP,

 

That's exactly why I advocate the Scoutmaster or Committee Chair bootleg front-ending the DAC.

 

Failure is an option ... when failure can set or reinforce an appropriate and valuable lesson.

 

When the absorbed lesson of failure is "my superiors allow me to waste my time and spin my wheels", we're not helping an Eagle hatch out. Instead, we're developing a cynic.

 

Out in the workforce, do we know bosses who want us wasting time to less than useful purpose? The last time a peer was accused of that in my office, he got a pay cut. Bosses want time used productively, and are willing to assist in project development with a judicious phone call or two.

 

We say the Troop is a microcosm of a society. Do we mean that, or do we not?