The Purpose of the Eagle Project (I'll keep this short)
I think it might help in understanding the purpose of the Eagle project if we first remember some of the main goals of scouting. Scouting is designed, among other things, to help you grow in knowledge and self-confidence, your ability to interact with others, and help prepare you for your future. This growth is presented through an active outdoor program, scouting skills and merit badges, and service to others. Various leadership positions allow you to learn some of the skills needed to interact with others as well as some of the responsibilities that come with being a leader. Your management of Troop activities while in a leadership position further prepare you for what lies ahead of you in the world around you.
The Eagle project is a way for you to demonstrate your abilities, to "strut your stuff" as it were. Through the conception, proposal, planning, and execution of the project, you will demonstrate your organizational and leadership skills.
The purpose of the Eagle project? To assist you, through your demonstration of leadership skills, in realizing all that you have accomplished and all that you can accomplish.
Looking for an Eagle Project
There are lots of places to find projects that need to be done. Most will meet the guidelines for an Eagle project. Many scouts overlook the most obvious source, their Chartering Organization. Nothing there you say? How about your religious organization, your school (don't count on extra credit here though), Public parks, and the local volunteer services of your town or county?
Picking a Good Project
Pick a project that interests you. You will hate this requirement if you pick a project that is of no interest to you at all. If you dislike painting with a passion, then by all means do not pick a project that requires painting to be done. If you like working in the woods, look to the Parks and Recs. for a project.
How Long Should the Project Take to Complete?
OK, we all should understand that the project needs to be beneficial and long lasting. But how much time needs to be spent in the execution of the project? First of all there is no 'magical' number of hours that need to be spent on the completion of the project. Many councils and districts have arbitrarily picked 100 hours as what might be needed for the Eagle candidate to have a good chance at demonstrating leadership and obtaining that feeling of a job well done. But this
number in itself is misleading since you could have 100 people working for one hour or one person working for 100 hours and still not have demonstrated leadership. So how about average times? An outdoor project for a chartering organization might be as little as 2 days for 7 - 8 people working (doing the math that's 90 hours based on a 6 hour day). An outdoor project for a park might take 4 - 5 days for the same 7 - 8 workers (202 hours). Do not judge the project on the number of hours it takes but rather on whether you like the project and the pride you want to achieve on having completed the project. This is YOUR Eagle project. So a one day project for 7 - 8 people will not be accepted? Not if it does not have a very high degree of leadership involved. For example, if the one day is simply to paint a porch (basically a no brainer), do it as a good deed patrol project. If the project involves several organizations to work in unison to complete the task, the project might be Eagle worthy. Remember the REAL benefactor in the Eagle project process is you, the scout.
When Should the Eagle Project be Done
First of all, please do not wait until you are 17.5 years old to start your project. There will be many things on your mind as your birthday approaches. The project will seam like a corner stone around your neck and you will not be able to give it your best, and your nerves, as well as your parents nerves, will be shot.
Plan your project around or away from things that will be demanding your time. Examples include: school exams, proms, sports, paying jobs, learning to drive, holidays, bad seasonal weather, - you get the picture.
Do plan your project to take advantage of the things that will help you. Examples include: planting trees in the early spring or late fall (for best survival), do hard outdoor work in spring or fall when it is cooler, or park work under the trees is good just about any time the ground can be worked.
Planning the Project
Use the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project
Workbook or an approved electronic copy.
(Click here for a copy of the Eagle workbook in Word format).
The more thought that goes into planning the project, the easier the execution of the project will be. The workbook addresses many of the important and sometimes overlooked elements required for a successful project. Everyone involved with the project should be able to understand the entire project from your proposal.
What If Something Goes Wrong During the Project?
There is no "if" here. Plan on something going different then you planned. No plan will be perfect, if there were perfect plans there would be world peace and a "chicken in every pot" (look this one up in your history books). Remember a good leader will face up to problems, solve them and then move on. Do keep track of all changes that occur during your project.
Can My Parents Help?
They can offer advise, as can anyone, but the decision is yours alone. A good leader will listen to options presented by those around them. It is called tapping into your resources.
Your parents can also do some of the required work but remember you need to be leading them just like you will everyone else.
Be patient with your parents. They will try to tell you how something must be done. Remember they have been watching you grow all these years and they do not want to see you fail at what you are attempting. If you are being pressured to much by your parents then say something to them. If this does not help, talk to your Eagle Advisor.
Who Is My Eagle Advisor and what do they do?
An Eagle Advisor should be someone who has a strong knowledge
of the Life to Eagle Process. Your Scoutmaster/Unit Leader should not be your Eagle Advisor due to their duties and responsibilities within the organization and their approval during the process. Your advisor can be picked by you or assigned by your unit if you have no preferences.
Your advisor should explain the Life to Eagle Process regarding the preparation for the project. (It will help, if you already attended a Life to Eagle Conference) The advisor might proof read your proposal and final report and give you suggestions for areas that might need to be 'beefed-up'. You do not have to change your paperwork if you do not want to and a good advisor will not be offended if you decide
not to take their advise (after all, if the paperwork does not fly it is you who will redo it, not the advisor).
So Anything I Say Goes?
Not so fast. The number one authority on the
project is the representative of the organization you are doing the Eagle project for. This person will review your proposal so they know you have an understanding of the job to be done. They might need to make changes to the project during your work. Try to accommodate them, after all it is their property.
Now you can do things your way as long as it is done safely and within the BSA Guidelines. This means that you will not be doing all the work, but you can do a little work with your helpers. Good leaders leads their people, but are not afraid to pitch in occasionally. You will need of course to keep in mind the needs of your workers for without them the project will not be completed.
Do Not Start Your Eagle Project Until You Get All of the Required Approval
Signatures
At the bottom of page two (Project Description) of the Workbook enter the date you discussed the project 'concept' with your leader. This is not your leader's approval of the project. That comes after you have written out your project plans. There is also a place to enter the name of the representative of the organization you are doing the Eagle project for. Again this is not their approval.
Approval Signatures
Page three is where you go into the planning details for
your project. This is the project proposal (what you plan to do). This is also where you can really show everyone that you have thought out the project and what is involved in completing the project.
The approval signatures here indicate that those involved
understand your project as you have proposed it. The Reps. approval lets you know that you are on the right track for what they would like the project to be.
Keep Good Notes
It is very desirable to keep a notebook of your project. The more and better your notes to yourself are during the planning and execution of the project, the easier it will be to write the final report. This notebook is for your benefit so spelling is not that important here but the information is. Information such as: who showed up to help and how long they stayed, who did what work, little problems that came up during the day, funny things that happened are also good to put in
your notebook.
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