My son is a Life Scout, planning/hoping to get his Eagle. He has all required badges and, by next fall, should have the service and leadership hours. However, he still needs to do his project and all the paperwork, etc. We could try and rush it through between now and September but I’m not sure that’s the best way to do it.
He will most likely be attending Middlesex next year. Apparently there is a local troop in the area, however, I’m not sure of the logistics and how it would actually work for him to join the troop and get to meetings, etc.
I will be moving out of the area in the so he cannot continue with his current troop. He’s 14.
Has anyone actually had a child that did this successfully? Any suggestions/words of wisdom would be appreciated.
We have spoken to MX and they said that it is difficult but possible. He would need to find a staff member to drive him each week, etc. Just wondering if anyone has actually been successful with this.
@skieurope Thanks for that link. We will be moving in the fall so staying with the troop isn’t really an option. He can try and push things through this spring/summer but it will be tough.
@sgopal2 There is a “lone scout” program but that involves an adult agreeing to mentor him. I think the local troop also has to buy in to this. I will investigate this further.
Definitely a good question to ask MX. The Concord Scout House is about 3 miles from Middlesex and apparently the meetings are held on Tuesday evenings. My guess is that the biggest issues would be transportation and required evening study hours. Most games are on Wednesdays, Fridays or Saturdays, so Tuesday meeting wouldn’t be likely to conflict with away games, but study hall is from 7:30-9:30 and particularly during the first semester I think MX is going to want him present for supervised study.
@Sue22 - Thanks! Do you know anything about that troop? I looked at their website but much of the information is pretty dated. I will reach out via the troop email once our MX decision is final.
@HMom16, Honestly, I don’t because my kids were not involved in scouting. I would email the troop leader, Bill Duggan. You could also ask your questions on the local Yahoo discussion group. I think at least one of the members had a son who earned the Eagle Scout rank. I’m sure the troop would welcome him. I think the greater issue would be logistics such as transportation and supervision/the in loco parentis relationship.
@Sue22: Too funny! For the past couple of weeks, they were filming in the front yard of our neighbor’s house down the road. We ran into the cast one morning at our village General Store…
@HMom16: I don’t have much to add to the link that ski posted above (thanks, @skieurope). Finding transport should not be a problem; finding time will be the issue. Our son thought he could do it, but had zero time during the academic year. To be fair, he chose crew as his sport, and crew is all-consuming. Crew was his life at BS. If your son choses his classes/sports/ECs strategically, he may have better luck than our son, but I’m sure you know that the Eagle requirements are not something that can be mailed in or shoehorned between other commitments.
DS is an Eagle scout (he’s 17, 11th grade). When we applied to BS we asked the AO if there were any scouts involved with a local troop, and were told that it probably wouldn’t be possible. So he worked like crazy the summer prior to his matriculation, and over breaks. He also was lucky enough to have done SeaBase and Philmont, and so was well placed in terms of experiences and reqs prior to entering BS. He had his Eagle board the second summer he was away, and had his ceremony over Christmas break. It is possible to do it while away, but you need to pretty far along and have fulfilled most of the reqs and badges - esp those that require hands-on work, like Family LIfe. You need 3 solid months with your family for that one…lol. Best to have done it prior to leaving.
Welp, the impossible happened. Guskid has shown renewed interest in earning his Eagle, and has exactly 10 months and 10 days to finish 5 merit badges, his project (from proposal to finish), and all necessary paperwork and board of reviews. Fall long weekend (this coming weekend!) will be spent on paperwork to get this moving along. Does anyone have experience with the “Lone Scout” program? Unless he can arrange to be a Den Chief with one of the faculty’s kids pack, I don’t see how he can get the leadership requirement and the active in the troop any other way. Sigh. And during junior (OMG there is SOOOOOOOOO much more work and everything is so HARD!) year, too.
@gusmom2000: Your son should reach out to his home scoutmaster ASAP to start working a plan. He will need his troop leadership to evaluate where he is, exactly how much more he has to do, and how best to get there. They should also be able to determine how he can serve in troop leadership (breaks, summers, remotely, etc.). I’m sure you know, this is NOT your rodeo; he and his scoutmaster own this. ChoatieKid laid out his plan with leadership before he went to BS and worked his butt off every single summer and break to earn his award by the skin of his teeth with only a few days to spare before going back to BS for senior year and losing his eligibility (turning 18).
I posted the other day on the main board, that ChoatieSergeant considers his Eagle award his highest life achievement and scouting the most formative and deeply meaningful activity of his life so far. His Choate diploma and his appointment to USMA are both hung below his Eagle award, and I suspect Eagle will also trump his upcoming commission. When it looked like a distinct possibility that he might not get it all done that last summer, he was beyond distraught. He sobbed, “Choate was not worth this. I’ve made the biggest mistake of my life.” It did work out in the end, but he was in agony. He is a scout at heart, a scout for life.
Good luck to Guskid and feel free to PM me anytime as I don’t think there is a lot of traction for scouting on CC.
@gusmom2000: Meant to add that your son should contact his scoutmaster to discuss the lone scout option, too, but my suspicion is that the home troop will have his best interest at heart and will find a way to make Eagle happen within his herd. However, his scoutmaster would be his best first resource for matching him to a mentor if lone scout is the best way for him to go. I have no experience with the LS program, though.
@gusmom2000 Many adult volunteers and ASMs in our troop (and I assume in other troops as well) will move a mountain to help motivated scouts to reach their goals. They are willing to work with scouts on merit badges over skype. We had a scout who moved to New Zealand. His Eagle board of review was done over skype. His project was completed in New Zealand after getting approvals from our troop and council. Perhaps he can do his project at Hill school after getting approvals from your local Troop and local Council. There are many positions of responsibility that fulfills Eagle requirement. Perhaps he can become a webmaster and contribute to the website even during the school year. Serving one of the positions of responsibility (Buglar, Quatermaster, etc) during breaks will certainly work too. Have him reach out to adult leadership in his troop: SM, ASMs, and committee members and get all the support needed.
I am envious. P4Kid declared that he will not continue with scouting. :(( :(( He drifted away from his scout friends since starting BS. We also moved over summer thousand miles away from our local troop. We are still in the troop. I vested thousands of hours with our troop, serving as committee chair for years, and sat in many Eagle board of reviews. I know it can be done if only P4Kid wanted.
I am hoping he changes his mind during next two years. :(( :((
My son is an Eagle. I think you are really smart to not rush through the process. For your personal situation because you have required work done, you could plan to complete the Eagle project over a summer. I think you should try to hook up with the local troop at his new school. I bet you could arrange a ride either through the school or troop. The growth experience that could come from joining a new troop could be remarkable.
Personally I don’t think anyone should become an Eagle before the age of 16. I believe even scouts who have the badges done should be “slowed down.” There is a maturity level that is important to be an Eagle who scouts and others are looking up to and I just don’t think those under 16 have that. I also think its important that the path to Eagle be a journey, not a race. Some troops are letting scouts race to Eagle and that’s really not appropriate. I don’t really respect the Eagles who obtain that rank at a young age. To me, somebody let them sprint.
Our troop, district, and council (somewhat, mostly troop and district) are really strange when it comes to helping out someone who is in a situation that they are not used to. The Scoutmaster never has acknowledged that we reached out to him, the committee chair was unhelpful, the troop treasurer was helpful so far as he is holding the money in Guskid’s scout account to be used toward his eagle project. The district executive said she would find out but never got back to us. I emailed the Council person in charge of registration, who in turn called the National advancement guy, who was all like “oh, yeah, we work with boarding school kids all the time…you just need to do x, y, and z.” So the council lady sent out a very detail e-mail to us, the DE, and the district advancement person explaining the situation, outlining the exact steps needed to be followed. The district advancement person is now saying that the national advancement person is wrong about an item or two, in a situation she (district) has never dealt with and he (national) has quite often. I think I know which one is correct, but the one that is incorrect has approval over things like the leadership position and eagle project. It’s very much an “old boys network” down here. I live in a very odd area. Regardless, we are now registered as Loan Scout and Loan Scout Friend, and moving on from there.
Wishing your son all the best, @gusmom. And you, too. That final leg is not an easy one. I’m glad he’s registered and finally on his way. Sounds like his troop needs some education in more than one area. Keep us posted.
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