The Eagle Scout Rank Application is a complicated affair, and along with the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, requires many signatures and supporting data.  I have coached many Scouts who tend to get bogged down with this final step to Eagle.

How do you make sure that you are submitting a correctly filled-out Eagle Scout Rank Application?  You can use a checklist, and I have prepared an EagleCoach checklist for your use.  Each Council has slightly different requirements for the paperwork, so please begin the process by checking your local Council website for specific instructions.  They may have their own checklist, and if they do, you should use that.

The EagleCoach checklist that you can use is now available on the Downloads page of this website.  Or you can click here:  Eagle Scout Application Checklist.

Please spend the hour or two required to fill out the application and workbook correctly.  You spent years climbing this high on the Eagle trail, and the summit is in sight.  It is worth the time to to make sure that your application is not rejected by your Council!

“Oh, the possibilities!”

Coach Hunt

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I tell Scouts that the three most important things that they must demonstrate to their Eagle Board of Review are:

1.  Leadership

2.  Leadership

3.  Leadership

Why the emphasis on leadership?  Because the world hungers for capable and authentic leadership.  And because the skills that you are developing in Scouting, particularly leadership skills, will help you change the world.

But leadership is not just a title and the ability to tell people what to do.  Authentic leadership is called servant leadership.   What is servant leadership?  It is your choice to give rather than receive.  As a servant leader, your true role is helping the members of your team (patrol, troop) succeed.  The Scouts under your leadership will see that you care about their needs and that you are focused on their success.  When you have this respect, your will have earned both the title and role of leader, and Scouts will want to belong to your team.

What are some examples of what you could do in a patrol setting to foster team development through servant leadership?

1.  Have an awareness of what each Scout needs for the next rank, and remind them of events or opportunities to complete those requirements.

2.  Rotate chores fairly (and include yourself in the rotation) for trips and activities.

3.  Make sure your youngest Scouts are happy and comfortable on camping trips.  As an example, get their tents up first!

4.  Listen, listen, listen.  Every Scout needs to be heard.

5.  We all have different skills and temperaments.   Each member of your patrol has a gift.  It might be something like showmanship, specific Scout skills, organization, or empathy for others.  Wherever possible, put those skills to work.

6.  Take the time to ask each Scout privately what could be done to improve the patrol.

7.  Praise in public, criticize in private!

The following is from BSA “Leadership Skills for Troops:”

“In your lives today and in the future, you will have many opportunities to lead.  If you accept the role of servant leader, you’ll find that teams will seek you to lead them, your advice and opinion will be sought, and your team members will also grow and succeed.”

Yes, earning Eagle Scout rank is important, but even more important is bringing the leadership skills that you have developed in the process of earning Eagle rank to the rest of your adult life.

“Oh, the possibilities!”

Coach Hunt

(Would you like to receive an email every time there is a new post at EagleCoach?  Just register in the left-hand column.  We promise your email will not be shared with anyone else.  Scouts honor!)

Your Eagle Scout application has been submitted.  Now what?  After the paperwork has been processed, you will be notified, usually through your unit, that it is time for your Eagle Scout Board of Review.  You have had boards of review before, but this one will be different, and very special.

So let’s see if we can prepare you for this big event.  To set the scene, a board must have at least 3 members, and no more than six.  There must be a District representative on the Board.  Most Eagle Boards of Review are no less than 30 minutes, and sometimes as long as 60 minutes.

Re-testing is not part of an Eagle board.  (You should not be asked to tie a bowline knot!) As I open an Eagle Board of Review for my District, I ask the candidate to stand before the Board and recite the Scout Oath and Law, as well as the Outdoor Code.  Since you have probably been doing this every week for at least 4 years, I hope this will not be an issue!  The Board will be concerned with who you are, what you have learned from Scouting, and what you intend to give back.  Most questions are designed to make you think, and very few have “right” answers.

I tell the Scouts that I coach that the three most important things to demonstrate to their Board are:  (1) Leadership, (2) Leadership and (3) Leadership.  That is why a review of your Eagle Scout Service Project will take up a big chunk of the time in an Eagle Board.  The project will hopefully demonstrate to the Board your ability to conceptualize a project, plan it to the last detail, assemble the manpower, materials and money to make it happen, and report on the results.  But the Board will also want to know how you have demonstrated leadership in your troop and in your other activities.  How have you given back to others?  How do you live by the Scout Oath and Law?  How do you help the youngest Scouts?

My best advice:  Relax and take a deep breath whenever necessary.  Be yourself.  Take your time to think out answers.  Before submitting your Eagle Scout application, make your Eagle Scout Service Project workbook as complete as it possibly can be, with plenty of exhibits.

Every member of the Board WANTS to see you walk out of the room as an Eagle Scout.  (Your Eagle Scout certificate will be dated with the date of your Eagle Board of Review.)  Properly prepared, this should be a wonderful experience, and one that you will remember for the rest of your life.

“Oh, the possibilities!”

Coach Hunt

(Would you like to receive an email every time there is a new post at EagleCoach?  Just register in the left-hand column.  We promise your email will not be shared with anyone else.  Scouts honor!)

When you finally appear before your Eagle Scout Board of Review, a substantial portion of the time will be spent reviewing and questioning your Eagle Service Project.  If your workbook is well prepared with lots of exhibits, this time will be short and fairly easy.  If your work is incomplete and lacking in substance, it could be much longer!  What can we do to make this an easier process for you?  In addition to the actual workbook (filled out completely, of course), the following exhibits will add a lot of substance and credibility to your report.

1.  A project log or diary that documents the hours spent by you and your volunteers.  The final report calls for an accounting of man-hours by type of volunteer, and if do not have a log or diary, how are you calculating these hours?

2.  Sign-in sheets, or an “assisted-by” spreadsheet that documents your volunteer hours at group events.  Once again, this is evidence of how your final hours were calculated.

3.  Pages of photos are not necessary, but a single page with 4-6 photos showing the various stages of the project can really create a vivid image of your work.  Photos, arranged in chronological order, documenting “before” conditions, fundraising, construction, installation, and completion become a story itself.

4.  Thank-you letters.  A Scout is Courteous!  How many volunteers helped you?  They all need to be thanked, and your volunteer Scouts should receive some sort of documentation from you totaling their individual service hours.  You should NOT include all your thank-you letters in your project report.  However, several representative letters, one to a Scout, one to an adult, and one to a company or person who donated money or materials, are a real good indication of a considerate Scout.

5.  A copy of your receipts.  This is necessary documentation of your expenses.  Your Eagle Scout Board of Review needs to see where your funds were spent.

An Eagle Scout candidate who documents his project in this fashion will usually sail through this portion of his Eagle Scout Board of Review.  Let’s make sure that you are one of them!

“Oh, the possibilities!”

Coach Hunt

(Would you like to receive an email every time there is a new post at EagleCoach?  Just register in the left-hand column.  We promise your email will not be shared with anyone else.  Scouts honor!)

When a group of volunteers is getting together to help you out during your Eagle Service Project, you will want to keep a record their time. This could be a bake sale, a car wash, construction, installation of a project, or any event where a number of volunteers gather.  Keeping track of your volunteer hours is very important for your final report, and an easy way to do this is with an “Assisted By” spreadsheet, which is available on the downloads page of this website.  This spreadsheet is different than a project log because it only tracks events with groups of volunteers.

First and foremost, always have a sign-in sheet for your events.  As Scouts and adults join you during the event, have them record their names, and enter the time that they start.  Also have them record the time when they leave.  (A sign-in sheet is also available for download on our downloads page.)  After the event is over, you can enter all the names from your sign-in sheet into your “Assisted By” spreadsheet, along with their hours.  The beauty of this spreadsheet is that it will automatically total the hours for each participant, as well as each event.

Let’s take a look at a sample Assisted By spreadsheet, also downloadable.  In this example, the Eagle candidate had four events, a car wash, assembly, painting and installation.  All four events are entered at the top of the columns, along with their dates.  He had six Scouts help out, two non-Boy Scout friends, two BSA adults, and two adults who are not registered as BSA volunteers.  (These are the categories requested in the Eagle Service Project final report.)  You can see that some of his volunteers were at one event, but not another.  For your fellow Scouts, you will want to let them know their final volunteer hours, because they can use these hours toward service hours required for rank advancement.

At the very bottom of the page, the Eagle candidate is keeping track of his own hours at the same event.  This one spreadsheet gives you the total hours for each event, how many hours each person puts into the event, and subtotals by the category of volunteer!  The totals for each event can now easily be added to your project log as a one line item.  Awesome!

Oh, the possibilities!

Coach Hunt

A new section has been added to the website, called Q & A (see menu above.)  Naturally, as an Eagle Coach, I am always tackling questions from Scouts on their projects or advancement.  But now I will publish the best of them!

Two questions and answers have already been posted.  The first is from a Scout in the Washington DC area about his Eagle Scout Project fundraising application and the approval required by his Council.  The second question, about the new requirements for the Cooking merit badge, comes from a Scout in my own Council, .

So what’s on your mind?  Are you trying to figure out the Eagle Scout Leadership Project Workbook?  Wondering if the project you have in mind will qualify?  Or perhaps a question about the Eagle-required merit badges?  If you are having trouble tracking down the answer, send me an email to CoachHunt@EagleCoach.org, and I will do my best to answer it!

“Oh, the possibilities!”

Coach Hunt

One of the functions of a Eagle coach is to help a Scout accomplish the tasks necessary for advancement in an efficient manner.  This just means that you are getting things done with a minimum of effort.  Sound interesting?  You bet.

There are a number of advancement requirements that allow you to complete one task and have it count in two different places.  This is the Scouting version of twofers!  Let’s talk about several.

1.  First Aid merit badge:  A good portion of the First Aid merit badge is demonstrating your knowledge of the Tenderfoot, Second Class and First Class first aid advancement requirements.  If you earn this merit badge early in your Scouting career (summer camp is ideal), you will also have completed the first aid requirements for all your rank advancement!

2.  Personal Management merit badge:  Requirement 9 asks for you to complete a written project plan.  This is a plan on paper, not a real life project.  As an Eagle coach, I always recommend that Personal Management be one of the very last merit badges that you earn.  One reason is that much of the merit badge concerns sophisticated concepts that are more appropriate for older teens.  But the other reason is that if you have completed your Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project proposal, this will completely fulfill the requirements of Requirement 9.  (Just the proposal is necessary, not the final plan or the actual project completion.)

3.  BSA allows a single project to count for both an Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project and a Hornaday Award.  If an environmental project interests you, it might be worth your time to explore this possibility.  The project alone will not earn you a Hornaday Award, as there are other requirements as well.  But carefully developed, a single project can be used for both.

“Oh, the possibilities!”

Coach Hunt

You had to memorize the twelve points of the Scout Law early in your Scouting career.  And perhaps when you were eleven years old, they were just words, not necessarily the way you lived your life.  Hopefully, as you advanced in Scouting, you also began to see how the Scout Law helped you with both your relations with other people and the conduct of your life.  And for many, the twelve points of the Scout Law are a guidepost for the rest of their lives.  And perhaps you, like many others, will add some additional points to the your version of the Scout Law!

As I grew in my spiritual life, I realized the importance of gratitude in our connection with Spirit, Source, or God (or the word that best expresses this for you), and the necessity of being thankful for all that we have been given – our very lives, our bodies, and all the other blessings in our lives. Gratitude is the attitude that deepens our awareness of Spirit, and allows us to more fully express the Love that is Spirit in our daily lives.  So my 13th point of the Scout Law is… “A Scout is Grateful.”

What would be your nomination for the 13th point of the Scout Law?  If there is some quality or character trait that expresses who you are, and is important to you, I suggest you adopt it as your 13th point of the Scout Law.  And since this is your personal list, you are not limited to 13 points either!  Add more, as you wish.  Over the years, I have asked Scouts what they would add.  According to them a Scout is… optimistic, perseverant, hard-working, punctual, and many more!

“Oh, the possibilities!”

Coach Hunt

In the final report of your service project (page 4-3 of the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook), you are required to provide the total number of volunteer hours in your project, broken down by category.   There is no log specified by BSA, but it does say that you must log your hours.

I have added an Excel spreadsheet log to the downloads page that you can use for this purpose.  It is broken down into the five categories requested by BSA:  Your hours, other BSA youth, non-BSA youth (school friends, siblings etc.), BSA adults, and non-BSA adults.  A nice feature of this spreadsheet is that it painlessly keeps tracks of your totals if you fill it out completely.  Partial hours should be recorded in tenths of an hour.  So, for example, one and one-half hours would be recorded as 1.5, and fifteen minutes would be recorded as .25.

Let’s take a look at a Sample Log, also available on the downloads page of this website.  In this imaginary scenario, the first entry is a Scout doing research on the internet.  Obviously, he is only recording his time.  However, in the next entry, his dad drives him to meet with his Eagle coach.  The coach is a BSA volunteer, so the coach’s hours are recorded.  But the time that his dad spent driving is also counted.  How else would the Scout get to the coach?  Several other entries illustrate the types of hours that should be counted.  When you meet with your beneficiary, you will not count the hours of your beneficiary.  They are not volunteering for your project.  If a very helpful clerk at a store is helping you price materials, you would not count his or her hours.  They are being paid by the store, and are not your volunteers.  But if your Scoutmaster, friends, siblings, or other Scouts help out, all their hours must be counted.

The Eagle Scout Service Project is not designed for you to demonstrate how hard you can work.  It is designed to show how you can bring people together and lead them to get things done.  So, how can others help you?  Perhaps mom will proofread your workbook.  Or maybe there is an architect in the troop who will volunteer his time to draw out some plans for you.  Who has a truck and would volunteer to move your materials?  I’m sure you get the idea.

You are not required to have a minimum number of hours in your service project.  However, you must demonstrate your leadership abilities to your Eagle Scout Board of Review.  As a member of a District Advancement Committee, and a District representative at many Eagle Boards of Review, I look at the hours in the workbook carefully.  Considerable volunteer hours are powerful evidence of leadership.  If those hours are not illustrated, I will be asking a lot of questions about how you demonstrated your leadership.  A well-kept log is a good way to answer this question in advance!

“Oh, the possibilities!”

Coach Hunt

There are many new additions to the website, including several pages for parents or guardians on the importance of mentorship and the coaching process.  See the lead article in the For Parents menu, as well as “I need a kick in the butt…”

There are now specific suggestions for advancement along the Eagle Trail under the Earning Eagle Scout menu, culminating with The Final Ascent – Earning Eagle Scout Rank.  Also, now there is a new menu item devoted solely to the Eagle Leadership Service Project.

Suggestions are welcome, particularly from Scouts.  Any questions that you would like answered?  How about difficulties that you may have had?  What’s holding you back from Eagle?  If you are facing a problem, there are probably many other Scouts with the same issue!  I’ll do my best to tackle problems that are presented and give you some suggestions.  You can post your question below.

“Oh, the possibilities!”

Coach Hunt