1. Troop 230 Trail to Eagle

2. Troop 230 Trail to Eagle Presentation
Mrs. Salinas
Eagle Advancement Chair
Mr. McMasters
Scoutmaster
Mrs. Thibodeaux
Committee Chair
Trail to Eagle
Significance of the Eagle Scout Rank
The fact that a boy is an Eagle Scout has always carried with it a special significance, not only in Scouting but also as he enters higher education, business or industry, and community service. The award is a performance-based achievement whose standards have been well-maintained over the years. Not every boy who joins a Boy Scout troop earns the Eagle Scout rank; only about 5 percent of all Boy Scouts do so. This represents more than 2 million Boy Scouts who have earned the rank since Nevertheless, the goals of Scouting—citizenship training, character development, and personal fitness—remain important for all Scouts, whether or not they attain the Eagle Scout rank.
Progression
To earn the Eagle Scout rank, the highest advancement rank in Scouting, a Boy Scout must fulfill requirements in the areas of leadership, service, and outdoor skills. Although many options are available to demonstrate proficiency in these areas, a number of specific skills are required to advance through the ranks—Tenderfoot, Second Class, First Class, Star, Life, and Eagle. To advance, a Boy Scout must pass specific tests that are organized by requirements and merit badges.
Merit Badges
Merit badges signify the mastery of certain outdoor skills, as well as helping boys increase their skill in an area of personal interest. Of the 120 merit badges available, 21 must be earned to qualify for Eagle Scout. Of this group, 12 badges are required, including First Aid, Citizenship in the Community, Citizenship in the Nation, Citizenship in the World, Communications, Environmental Science, Personal Fitness, Personal Management, Camping, and Family Life. In addition, a Scout has a choice between Emergency Preparedness and Lifesaving and a choice among Cycling, Hiking, and Swimming.
Scoutmaster Conferences
At each of his rank advancements, a Boy Scout takes part in a Scoutmaster conference. These conferences help the Scout to set goals for himself in line with his individual talents and abilities. At each conference, the Scoutmaster helps him evaluate how well he accomplished his present goal and then works with him in setting new goals.
Service and Responsibility
Beginning with the Star rank, and continuing through Life and Eagle, a Scout must demonstrate participation in increasingly more responsible service projects. At these levels, he also must demonstrate leadership skills by holding one or more specific youth positions of responsibility in his patrol and/or troop.
Steps in Advancement
Advancement, one of the eight methods by which the aims of Scouting are achieved, has four steps through each award level.
First, the Scout learns. Much of his learning comes from other boys in his patrol or troop and by active participation in troop program. His patrol activities are directed toward the skills he needs. Every troop hike, camping trip, or other activity offers potential learning experiences. A Scout learns to pitch a tent by pitching one, to use a compass by finding directions, and to cook a meal by having to prepare and eat it.
Second, the Scout is tested. The specific requirements determine the kind of testing. Verbal testing is sufficient in some instances. In other instances, a Scout must demonstrate his skills by doing.
Third, the Scout is reviewed. The purpose of the review is to ensure that all requirements for advancement have been met. This includes a check of the Scout's attitude and practice of the ideals of Scouting, in addition to his Scoutcraft skills. The decision regarding whether a Scout has met the required standards to qualify for rank advancement begins with the troop and, for the Eagle Scout rank, is approved by the district, local council, and finally, the National Council.
Fourth, the Scout is recognized. The final step in advancement involves presentation of the badge, usually at a ceremony before the entire troop.

3. Objectives To Avoid Any Surprises!
To review the requirements for Eagle rank
To discuss the Eagle Leadership Service Project
To review Eagle application process
To discuss the Eagle Court of Honor
To answer any questions from Scouts & parents
To understand time commitment
Presenter notes:
Set the tone for the seminar and put both parents & Scouts at ease.
Remind them that the process & procedures for the Eagle are different from the lower ranks because the district, council, and national BSA have approval requirements.
Note that in the past there may have been problems because everyone did not understand the process so that is the reason for this presentation – to avoid any surprises.
Note that the troop wants all Scouts to be successful and if they want to earn the Eagle rank, you will help them. Also point out that it is ultimately the Scout’s responsibility (not his parent’s or the troops’ leaders) to have a plan for how he will meet all the requirements, then follow through to reach his goal. The Scout gets to wear the Eagle rank for the rest of his life, therefore he should be the one to earn it.
To Avoid Any Surprises!

4. Troop 230 Trail to Eagle You can earn the rank of Eagle by;
Just being registered with BSA until you are 18? (Everybody knows that the rank of Eagle is a long-term service award)
Just wearing a patch for a leadership position on your uniform?
Just showing up for Troop activities after you have beaten Halo and have absolutely nothing else to do?
Just getting the Scoutmaster to accept that your RedHead/Denver Broncos/Aggies cap is part of the official BSA uniform?

5. Eagle Requirements Merit Badges * 21 minimum
Leadership Position * mo. active
Active as Life Scout * mo. minimum
Eagle Service Project *
Letters of recommendation *
Demonstrate live by Scout Oath & Law *
Scoutmaster Conference *
Complete Eagle Board of Review
Presenter notes:
This is a overview, each topic shown here will be discussed in detail in later slides.
The key point here is that the requirements must be completed before the 18th birthday. It is possible (but very unlikely) to get an extension from National BSA in very special circumstances. Don’t count on this.
Active means the 6 months prior to the SM Conference and BOR. 50% meetings, 50% camping. FCE, Eagle COH, etc. count as activity!
* All requirements, except BOR, must be completed prior to 18th birthday! BOR must be completed within 3 months of 18th birthday.

6. Remember!
Eagle rank is more than just 21 merit badges & a project! The primary emphasis is LEADERSHIP!
Presenter notes:
So many Scouts and parents think that if the Scout just earns the 21 merit badges and completes a project, the rest is just a given. This is just a reminder that there are other requirements and a boy can be denied Eagle if he does not satisfy all of them. The most common problem is the leadership position – they either assume a position will count, when it is not on the approved list, or they just hold the title, but don’t do any of the required work. Then they are mad when the SM will not sign their Eagle application. Talk about emphasis on discussing leadership requirements when doing SM Conference for Life rank.
Another problem area is demonstrating Scout Spirit. A scout demonstrates Scout Spirit by living the Scout Oath (Promise), Scout Law, Scout Motto, and Scout Slogan in their everyday life.

7. 12 Required Merit Badges Environmental Science Family Life
Communications
Camping
First Aid
Personal Fitness
Citizenship in the Community
Citizenship in the Nation
Citizenship in the World
Personal Management
Swimming or Hiking or Cycling
Emergency Preparedness or Lifesaving
Presenter notes:
Review the list of current required merit badges. Since these change from time to time, please verify this list before making this presentation (every time).
Carefully explain that only one of the options (example: Swimming or Hiking or Cycling) will satisfy this required merit badge. If the Scout has more than one of these, the others may count as non-required merit badges.

8. Warning: Several merit badges require specific, extended periods of time to complete.
If the requirement says:
Meet with your counselor …
Keep records for three months …
You must meet with your counselor AT LEAST three months prior to your 18th birthday or you cannot complete the merit badge in time!
You cannot keep a record of your budget and spending for three months in only three weeks.
To ask anyone to backdate merit badge requirements because of poor planning would violate the principles of the BSA and will invalidate the Eagle rank presented as a result of that action. This would be a terrible example to set for other Scouts.
Presenter notes:
This is a serious pitfall that has often caught Scouts after it is too late to recover (without cheating – which should never be tolerated under any circumstances)

9. Troop 230 Trail to Eagle
Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. – Eagle Class of 1927
38th President of the United States

10. Troop 230 Trail to Eagle Neil Armstrong Eagle – Class of 1947
Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930,[2] in Wapakoneta, Ohio. Armstrong passed away on August 25, 2012 and was buried at sea.
Armstrong was active in the Boy Scouts and he eventually earned the rank of Eagle Scout. As an adult, he was recognized by the Boy Scouts of America with its Distinguished Eagle Scout Award and Silver Buffalo Award.[7] On July 18, 1969, while flying towards the Moon inside the Columbia, Armstrong greeted the Scouts: "I'd like to say hello to all my fellow Scouts and Scouters at Farragut State Park in Idaho having a National Jamboree there this week; and Apollo 11 would like to send them best wishes". Houston replied: "Thank you, Apollo 11. I'm sure that, if they didn't hear that, they'll get the word through the news. Certainly appreciate that."[8] Amongst the very few personal items that Neil Armstrong carried with him to the Moon and back was a World Scout Badge.
Neil Armstrong Eagle – Class of 1947
Astronaut who flew on the Gemini 8 and Apollo 11
missions; test pilot and naval aviator; first human to
set foot on the Moon.

11. Troop 230 Trail to Eagle Eugene Calvin Cheatham - Eagle Class of 1931
Eugene Calvin Cheatham, Jr. (August 27, 1915 — May 10, 2005) was one of the Tuskegee Airmen and a career officer in the United States Air Force.
Cheatham was born in Georgia; his father was an Episcopal missionary whose work took the family to Africa and Europe. While living in New York City, he became a Boy Scout and by 1930 he had completed the requirements for Eagle Scout. Unable to afford a full uniform, he never appeared before his board of review.
Cheatham was a fighter pilot with the 332d Fighter Group— better known as the Tuskegee Airmen —during World War II. He flew 150 missions during the Korean War. He achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel and retired in He then worked as a personnel and equal-opportunity officer for the Air Force, serving in Japan, Montana and San Bernardino, California.
In 2001, Cheatham attended a Veterans Day event where he expressed his regret at not earning Eagle Scout to one of the organizers who happened to be an Eagle Scout. Executives from International Profit Associates petitioned the National Council of the BSA to award Cheatham's Eagle Scout. Unable to locate records, the Scouts tested Cheatham and performed an exhaustive board of review according to the requirements of On September 18, 2004 Cheatham was awarded his Eagle Scout in a ceremony at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
Cheatham died on May 10, 2005 from pancreatic cancer and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
They approached Scout officials in San Diego about sponsoring the effort and got nowhere, O'Keefe said. They contacted the national headquarters in Irving, Texas, and were told they needed documentation.
There was no documentation. "We cannot prove that Lt. Col. Cheatham was even a Scout," one official at the national headquarters wrote earlier this year.
They tried to find records with Cheatham's old troop in New York, but the papers had been destroyed in the 1970s. They tried to find boys, now men, who had been there with him. Cheatham had outlived them all.
They even contacted former Presidents Bush and Ford asking for help. Neither said he was in a position to intervene.
"Everybody was doing their best," Cheatham said, "but I just figured it wasn't going to happen."
   They located a Scout manual from the 1920s, which listed the requirements at the time – 21 merit badges – to become an Eagle Scout. O'Keefe sat down with Cheatham and they went through it together, trolling for details. Cheatham remembered camping and swimming with his troop at a farm in Virginia. (The farmer had two daughters named Roberta and Billie.)
He remembered going to a fire station in New York for a course on public health. (The station was at 135th Street and Seventh Avenue.)
He remembered making a crystal-set radio. (On it, he heard Bing Crosby for the first time.)
And on and on.
To evaluate Cheatham's story, the O'Keefes put together a Board of Review of various people with ties to Scouting. The O'Keefes were on it, along with another relative, one of Bob O'Keefe's colleagues at work, and the leader of a troop in Chicago that had agreed to sponsor Cheatham after Bob O'Keefe approached them.
The board members all concluded Cheatham had earned the required merit badges and should be awarded the rank of Eagle. A formal 70-page petition was filed with the national headquarters.
"Most reviews can only hope a Scout will turn out to be a good citizen," wrote John Murnane, one of the board members. "In Gene's case . . . we know the ending of the story, and it is easy to benchmark his performance against his life."
Michael Ramsey, associate director of communications at the Boy Scouts' headquarters, said the committee that considers special requests meets three times a year. "It's a strenuous review process," he said, "and a pretty rare occurrence for one to be granted."
Eugene Calvin Cheatham - Eagle Class of 1931
Tuskagee Airman; Carreer officer in the US Air Force

12. Troop 230 Trail to Eagle George Meyer – Eagle Class of 1973
Meyer attended Harvard University where he served as president of the Harvard Lampoon. He graduated in 1978 with a degree in biochemistry and was accepted into medical school, but decided not to enroll. After college, Meyer moved to Denver, Colorado, planning to "scientifically" win a fortune through dog racing. However, he ran out of money after two weeks. He then worked in a variety of jobs including as a substitute teacher, a laboratory research assistant and a salesman in a clothing store and also won $2000 on the game show Jeopardy!. In 1981, he was given a job by David Letterman as a member of the writing staff on Letterman's new late night show.
George Meyer – Eagle Class of 1973
Writer and producer of The Simpsons

13. Troop 230 Recent Eagle Scouts
Patrick Edleman 08/30/2012
Wes Hough /15/2012
Carson Dial /24/2012
Steven Ventura /30/2012
Drew Barham /23/2012
Mitchell Anderson 05/17/2012
Thomas Knight /16/2012
Cody Beaman /25/2012
Max Salinas /09/2011
Daniel Schwin /31/2011
Raghu Ramesh /30/2011
Jack Silva /27/2011
Will Peters /01/2010
Presenter notes:
Edit this slide to list your troop’s past Eagle Scouts. You may also want to show the year they earned the rank to show the long history of this special award.
Boys in green are still currently active. Discuss participation in the Troop and giving back after achieving the rank of Eagle. Several Life Scouts are in the final stages of completing Eagle: Joseph Nicholson – BOR, Keo Noce – SM Conference/BOR, Elliott Raia – SM Conference/BOR

14. Leadership Position Scoutmaster assigned or elected
Minimum of 6 months
(one or more positions)
Must do the job - Not just wear the patch
Approved positions are:
Sr. Patrol Leader
Asst. Sr. Patrol Leader
Troop Guide
Patrol Leader
Instructor
Den Chief
Troop Historian
Troop Scribe
Troop Librarian
Troop Quartermaster
Jr. Asst. Scoutmaster
Chaplain aide
Troop OA Representative
Bugler
(troop may only have 1 OA rep at a time, must be approved by chapter / lodge)
Preference is SPL, ASPL, or Troop Guides. Other positions are acceptable by BSA rules, but do not offer the scout the opportunity to demonstrate leadership across the troop.
Note: Asst. Patrol Leader, Patrol QM, and any other Patrol leadership positions do not satisfy the leadership requirement for the rank of Eagle

15. Eagle Leadership Service Project
Project Ideas
Plan / Proposal
Approvals
Working Project
Final Report
At each step, the scout will meet the Scoutmaster and/or Eagle Advancement Coordinator for guidance and approval.
Project Ideas – SM, EAC
Plan / Proposal - SM
Approvals – SM, EAC, District
Working Project - SM
Final Report – SM, EAC
Presenter note : Have enough hardcopies of my Eagle Scout Project Planning Guide ( to handout to each Scout. I ask that you do not revise this guide, just handout as is.
This presentation has limited information on the project (this + next 3 slides) due to time constraints. I do have a full presentation on just the Eagle Project, which I’ll send you upon request.

16. Eagle Leadership Service Project
Purpose is to “Demonstrate Leadership to Others”
Must benefit community organization
other than Boy Scouts
May NOT benefit a commercial business
May NOT be a “fund raiser”
Must be planned and carried out by one Scout
no joint projects
Can take up to 6 months to complete - plan ahead!
May begin planning project immediately after passing Life Board of Review
(not necessary to earn all 21 merit badges first.)

17. Sample Eagle Projects
Built a wheel barrel ramp for volunteers at Katy Prairie
Built a wash basin for volunteers at Katy Prairie
Built mammal retaining cages for Texas Wildlife Rehab Coalition
Built an ADA approved wheel chair ramp at Katy Halter Foundation
Picnic tables for Katy Conservancy
Built sunning deck for alligators at park
Refinished benches and upgraded a wheel chair ramp at Katy Historical Society
Repaired a home for elderly person
Repaired church home for aged & sponsored social event for residents
Built sun shelter for Cinco Ranch High School athletic field
Built benches w/ sun shelter for 7 Lakes HS Tennis court
Repaired, re-roofed, landscaped church gazebo
Repaired bleachers at high school baseball field
Although there is no stated minimum, a good rule of thumb is that a Eagle Project will require at least 125 man-hours in total. Planning and approvals could take 3 months before you execute.

18. Eagle Leadership Service Project Plan
Meet with an adult advisor before doing much planning.
The project plan write up (see website)
Must use official BSA Workbook to submit plan and final report (electronic version OK)
Download from BSA National Eagle Scout Association (NESA) website)
Approvals:
Scoutmaster / Project Advisor
Troop Committee
Organization served
District Advancement Committee
The website html contains links to the following PDF files;
Eagle Scout Rank Application
Leadership Service Project Workbook
Both PDF files, when opened, can be completed online and saved to your PC.
Must have District approval BEFORE starting work!
(To begin earlier will invalidate the entire project)

19. Eagle Application Process
Complete all requirements
Write project final report
Write Life Ambition Letter
Complete Eagle Scout Application
Review paperwork with Eagle Advancement Chair
Meet with SM for Eagle SM Conference
Committee Chair Application Sign-off
Submit Application & Project Final Report to Eagle Advancement Chair
Council verifies and certifies Scout’s records
Conduct District Board of Review
Council approval
National approval
Conduct Court of Honor

20. Board of Review
Scheduled after all requirements complete and Council verifies records.
Conducted by Texas Skies District Advancement Committee
District Advancement Committee checks references - 5 letters of reference.
Troop Committee Members Should Participate
Scoutmaster or Asst. Scoutmaster may not participate, except to introduce the Scout
Eagle date of rank is date Board of Review is passed.
Important if earning Eagle Palms
Scout should be in full Scout uniform
It is not a retest of knowledge or skills
However, should know the Scout Oath, Law, Motto, Slogan and be ready to discuss how you live by them.
Scouts are required to obtain 5 letters of reference from the following;
Parents
Religious mentor
School mentor (Teacher)
Employer (Obligatory if you have or ever had a job)
One other adult (or 2 other adults if you never had a job)
Should also be prepared to discuss and describe measures to be taken for First Aid “hurry cases” and other emergency preparedness requirements learnt on the trail to Eagle.

21. Eagle Court of Honor Special ceremony to recognize only Eagle Scout(s)
Conducted only after National approval
~4-6 weeks after Board of Review
Planned and carried out by Scout and family
There is no required format – it’s up to the Scout and family
Some items to consider:
Who to invite - up to the family
Date and time to accommodate schedule of special guests
Reserve scout house or other location
Reception decorations & refreshments - family responsibility
Letters from public officials - family’s choice
Photo album of Scouting career at reception
Reserve scout house thru Jere Dial

22. Eagle Court of Honor Troop provides: Scout’s Family provides:
American Flag
Presidential Congratulatory Letter
Some decorations available
Scout’s Family provides:
Coup Flag (Order from Brammer’s)
Portraits (Country Parks Studio will donate one 8 x10 portrait for wall, Troop provides frame and nameplate)
Coup flags ~ $25
See Eagle Advancement Chair for details

24. Discussion & Questions