The Road to Eagle 101

When the tortoise and the hare agreed to race, both had confidence that they could win the race. The tortoise knew he would have to work hard and continuously to win, the hare did not. The tortoise won, giving us the saying, "Slow and steady wins the race."

If you ask 100 scoutmasters the best way to achieve Eagle, you'll probably get 100 different answers. Though the Eagle rank is based on a set of requirements all scouts must achieve, when they achieve them and what help they need along the way could be argued. Described here is what we at Troop 2 feel is the best way to reach the goal.

Timeline

As with achieving any goal, one must setup milestones and a calendar on how to judge progress. Life as a teenager is filled with many distractions. The older the scout gets, the more distractions from school, friends, work, etc. We highly recommend finishing all Eagle requirements before 16 years of age. Based on this, we come up with a calendar that should provide some leeway on getting to this rank.

• Eagle by 16th birthday

• Life by 15th birthday

• Star by 14th birthday

• First Class by 13th birthday

• Second Class by 12th birthday

• Tenderfoot within 6 months of crossover

• Scout within 3 months of crossover

Merit Badges

From Scout to First Class, the requirements are covering basic to advanced scout skills. From Star to Eagle, we are focused on leadership and merit badges. However, this doesn't mean that scouts shouldn't start earning merit badges immediately. Some merit badge facts:

• There are 137 merit badges with topics ranging all over the place. There will be some interesting to every boy.

• There are merit badges specifically required for the Eagle rank. These are referred to as Eagle required merit badges (oddly enough).

• There are 21 badges required to make Eagle. Of these, 13 must be from the Eagle required category.

  • Be careful here, there are some mutually exclusive badges. If a scout counts Cycling as an Eagle required merit badge, the scout cannot count Hiking or Swimming as one of the 13 Eagle required badges.

Going back to the tortoise mentality, if you start earning merit badges at every camp you attend, most of the required merit badges needed for Eagle will be earned. Doing the math, the scout should earn 5 merit badges a year, 3 of which are Eagle required. Great! But which ones should you start with? For the non-Eagle required badges, take what interests you! There are a number you can do with your family as well. For Eagle required badges, this is what we suggest:

• First Year Eagle required Recommended:

  • First Aid

  • Swimming (if not taking Hiking or Cycling)

  • Citizen in the Community

• Second Year and beyond Eagle required Recommended:

  • Emergency Preparedness or Lifesaving

  • Personal fitness

  • Hiking (if not taking Swimming or Cycling)

  • Family Life

  • Cooking (this takes awhile to complete)

  • Camping (this takes awhile to complete)

  • Citizen in the Nation

• Third Year and beyond Eagle required Recommended:

  • Citizen in the World

  • Environmental Science or Sustainability

  • Cycling (if not taking Swimming or Hiking)

  • Communications

  • Personal Management

Note: This is just a recommendation, an opinion of Troop 2. There is no wrong way to get to Eagle, as long as you get to Eagle!

Eagle Project

Since this is just a 101 discussion, we won't go deep into the Eagle project. In short, this is a project that the scout does to help the community. This is not a project to show off the scout's skills, but instead, the scout's leadership. The scout will plan, organize, and oversee the project with help from advisers. This is not something the scout should worry about until at the rank of Life. There is plenty to do before you get there!

Parents

So, you are a parent, you have read through all of this, and you are wondering what you can do to help out your scout. Here are some suggestions:

• Be interested in the scout's progress. When the parent is interested, the scout will stay interested.

  • Ask what they are doing in troop meetings

  • Ask what they have left for advancement

  • Help organize a calendar of accomplishment

• Push the scout

  • Suggest the scout get 2 - 4 requirements signed-off a week. This goes back to slow and steady. 

  • Have them set aside an hour during the week to focus on scouts. Not everything can be accomplished in meetings and campouts.

  • If they are having problems, they should talk with their patrol leader, senior patrol leader, or scout leader.

• Encourage the scout

  • There will be times when the scout doesn't want to continue, find ways to encourage them. This is something they will be grateful about for the rest of his life.

• Concerned about your scout?

  • Communicate with the scoutmasters. We are here to help them succeed.