Troop 157 - Eagle Scout Requirements & Procedures

Our Troop Committee Chair and Assistant Scoutmaster, Jed Diehl, has prepared this outline to assist boys who are working toward Eagle.  The outline is broken into three sections:  (1) Merit Badge Requirements for Eagle; (2) Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project; (3) Eagle Scout Application Materials.  Pay close attention to the details outlined in the last two sections, so that your Service Project and Application Materials pass muster at the Council Office. 

I.  Merit Badges Required for Eagle

 

You must earn a total of 21 merit badges (10 more than were required for Life), including 12 required merit badges: 

 

First Aid,

Citizenship in the Community,

Citizenship in the Nation,

Citizenship in the World,

Communications,

Personal Fitness,

Emergency Preparedness OR Lifesaving

Environmental Science,

Personal Management,

Swimming OR Hiking OR Cycling

Camping,
Family Life.

II.  Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project

 

1.     The Requirement – While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to your religious institution, school, or community.  The project should benefit an organization other than the Boy Scouts; work involving council property or other Boy Scout activity is not permitted.

 

        A thorough discussion of all there is to know about planning and completing your project has been written by John Sallay, our Assistant Scoutmaster: Four Easy Steps to Planning and Completing Your Eagle Scout Service Project..  Reading this will demystify the process, help you get started, and make sure you get through the project without any wrong turns. 

 

NOTE:  1) You must be a Life Scout to start your Eagle Project, and you will be required to enter the date of your Life Board of Review on your Eagle Scout Rank Application.  The Council will not accept projects or work done while a Star Scout.

 

2) The project must provide community service.  It may not be done for a business or individual, be of a commercial nature, or be a fund-raiser. (Fund-raising is permitted only for securing materials or supplies needed to carry out your project.)  Routine labor (a job or service normally done) should not be considered.

 

3) You need to demonstrate leadership of others.  This is as important as the service provided, if not more so.  You will need to give examples of how you directed the project rather than doing the work yourself.

 

2.     Size of the Project – The council expects at least 100 hours of work, by you and the individuals you directed in the project.  Keep track of the hours you and others spent working on the project (by name of the individual and the date work was done).

 

3.     The Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook must be used in working on the project.  This can be the printed booklet or the downloadable version available at http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/eagleproject/dload.html.  It is strongly recommended that you choose the downloadable RTF (Rich Text Format) version.  This allows you to fill in your Eagle Project information on your computer’s word processor; this probably means you can spell check the document, and maybe check the grammar.  You can then print your project, get the required signatures, and put it in a binder.

 

4.     Approval of the Project – Your project idea must be approved by your Scoutmaster, the Troop Committee, the Organization you are doing the project for, and the Viking District Eagle Board of Review Chairman.  Once you have the signed approval of the first three mentioned above in your Workbook, you take your entire Workbook to the council office to obtain the final approval.  (Note: Workbooks are generally processed at the council office on Wednesday mornings).  The council will return your Workbook once your project has been approved.  Please allow 2-3 weeks (from the Wednesday after your project is received by the council) for review and approval of your project before you plan to start work on it.

 

5.     Letter of Completion - Include a letter from Eagle Project Supervisor (from the organization (church, school, nature center, etc.) that the project was done for) in your finished Workbook. It should state that the project was carried out to their satisfaction, and should be on their letterhead.  Where the “approvals for completed project” is asked for in the Workbook, you may write “see letter from project supervisor.” (This is a Knox Tail Council requirement and is not mentioned in the Workbook)

 

6.     Include a Project Summary (this is not in the Eagle Workbook instructions, but is required by Knox Trail Council).  This should be easy to find; probably at the beginning of your Eagle Project Notebook.  This should tell what your project was about, who it was done for, how it was accomplished, and how you demonstrated leadership.

 

III. Eagle Scout Application Materials


After you have completed all of the merit badges and the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project, you must complete and submit the following materials to the Knox Trail Council.

 

1.     Eagle Scout Application

       

1999 or later printing of the application form is required.

 

Read all instructions carefully.

 

Print or type the information legibly.

You must use an original form, which is obtained from the Knox Trail Council.  Make a couple of copies of the form, and fill one out completely as a rough draft and show the rough draft to the adult leader in charge of advancement before making entries on the original form.  That way your original will be perfect and have no erasures or corrections. 

 

When entering all dates, be sure to enter month, day, and year (two digits each, 12/17/97 or 01/02/00 for example)

 

 List only the 21 merit badges that are required. For numbers 6 and 9, cross off those NOT earned. If any of those crossed off were earned, they can be entered in numbers 13 through 21, or later on an Eagle Palm application.

 

 Enter optional merit badges (numbers 13 to 21) in the order in which they were earned to satisfy Star, Life, and Eagle. Do not enter merit badges earned later on because they “look better." This can cause problems when the Star and Life dates are verified.

 

2.     Six Letters of Recommendation (this could be reduced to 4 or 5)

 

 The names and addresses are listed on the Eagle Application Form. Give stamped and addressed (see below) envelopes to the people writing your recommendations. They should send their recommendation directly to the council at the following address:

       
Viking District – Eagle Board of Review

        Knox Trail Council, B.S.A.

        490 Union Avenue

        Framingham, MA 01702

 

Write “Eagle Recommendation for Your Name” in the lower left corner of the envelope.

 

 One parent may be listed as a religious leader (or you they may include a statement such as “Our son follows the ethical and religious teaching of our family” in their recommendation).  Do this if you do not have someone from a religious institution to recommend you.  This may reduce the number of recommendations to be sent.

 

 If you have not held a regular job, list someone for whom you have done odd jobs, or reduce the number of recommendations to be sent.

 

3.     Eagle Project Notebook

Put together an Eagle Project Notebook containing the following:

(1) Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook.  Use the hardcopy or the downloadable version  (www.scouting.org/boyscouts/eagleproject/index.html) .  It is strongly recommended that you use the downloadable RTF (rich text format) version.  This allows you to fill in your Eagle Project information on your computer’s word processor.  Make sure the Workbook is completely filled out.

 

(2) Letter from Eagle Project Supervisor from the organization (church, school, nature center, etc.) that the project was done for.  It should state that the project was carried out to their satisfaction, and should be on their letterhead.  Where the “approvals for completed project” is asked for in the workbook, you may write “see letter from project supervisor.”

 

(3) Project Summary (this is not in the Eagle Workbook instructions).  This should be easy to find; probably at the beginning of your Eagle Project Notebook.  This should tell what your project was about, who it was done for, how it was accomplished, and how you demonstrated leadership.

 

4.     Statement of Ambitions and Life Purpose

 

  This is a write-up (one page or less is ok) of what you plan to do with your life. What interests you, what you might want to study, what profession you may wish to pursue, what hobbies you think will follow you, etc.

 

5.     List of Leadership Positions

List positions held in your religious institution, school, camp, community or other organization in which you demonstrated leadership skills.  Include honors and awards received.

 

The Application (including Statement of Ambitions and Life Purpose and List of Leadership Positions) and the Eagle Project Notebook must be completed and signed before the date of your eighteenth birthday and be in the Council Office by the 1st Wednesday of the month in order to have your Board of Review on the last Wednesday evening of the month.  The letters of recommendation must be in to the council office by the time of the Board of Review.  Make a copy of all these materials for the troop, and give the copies to the Scoutmaster when you present the originals for signature.   Consider hand delivering everything to the Council office if you are close to the deadline.