Eagle's Nest
Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of the Boy Scouts of America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank. This page contains helpful recommendations on how to select and complete your Eagle Scout project, how to complete the official Eagle Scout application, and best practices for organizing your Eagle Scout Court of Honor. As always, if you have questions, your Scoutmaster is a great place to start.
Helpful Suggestions to Completing Eagle Requirements
Suggestion #1: Read the Requirements - It may seem like a simple suggestion, but most Life Scouts do not take the time to read and understand the actual requirements for the Eagle Rank. Take a few minutes to read each requirement and formulate questions for your scoutmaster.
Suggestion #2: Ask for Help - Sometimes it may be difficult for scouts to interact with adults. Scouts may get their parents involved with completing requirements, so they don't have to talk with their scoutmaster, other leaders, or community members. Failing to include other adults in your trail to Eagle will make your life much harder. Start by meeting with your scoutmaster. They may assign you an Eagle Mentor, a registered leader in the troop, to help motivate you to complete your Eagle Scout requirements. Eagle Mentors are parents of Eagle Scouts or are Eagle Scouts themselves.
Suggestion #3: Leadership Position - It is helpful (although not required) that you hold a strong leadership position within the troop as a Life Scout (i.e., Senior Patrol Leader, Assistant Senior Patrol Leader, Patrol Leader, etc.) Your Eagle board will be looking for strong leadership qualities and these positions can help demonstrate leadership.
Suggestion #4: Eagle Scout Project - The project is often the most difficult requirement for a scout to complete. We encourage you to start thinking about a potential project as soon as you earn Life Rank. There are lots of projects available, many great leaders who can help guide you through your project, and helpful hints on completing your project below.
Suggestion #5: Merit Badges - If you have been participating in summer camps, winter camps, and troop meetings, chances are you have most of the merit badges you need for Eagle Scout rank already. If you don't, sit down with your scoutmaster and formulate a plan to complete all the required merit badges you need. They can provide you with a list of merit badge counselors or point you in the direction of local merit badge universities or online merit badges you can register for.
Suggestion #6: Requirements Review and Scoutmaster Conference - It is critical that you meet with your scoutmaster often as a Life Scout. Your scoutmaster is responsible for making sure your handbook and Scoutbook are signed and up-to-date and that you are ready to proceed with completing the official Eagle Scout Rank Application. Your scoutmaster conference should be held after all requirements (except for your board of review) are completed.
Suggestion #7: Council Records Request - Council maintains a record of your advancement. This record contains all official dates of when you earned merit badges and rank. Your official Eagle Scout Rank Application must show the official dates for all rank and merit badges. Following your scoutmaster conference, your official record should be requested from the Council Eagle Registrar. Be sure to request this record in time to coordinate any corrections you may spot (i.e. missing merit badges or incorrect dates).
Suggestion #8: Letters of Recommendation - After your scoutmaster conference is the perfect time for you to identify and contact parents/guardians, religious, educational, employer, and two other people who know you well to provide a personal reference on your behalf. The goal is for these references to help the Eagle Scout board of review members learn more about who you are as a person and understand how you implement the scout ideals in daily life. The letters of recommendation should be sealed and mailed to your troop advancement chair or your eagle mentor. You should not (and will not) see the contents of the reference letters. Keep a list of people you requested a reference from. Their contact information will be needed when you complete the Eagle Scout Rank Application.
Suggestion #9: Eagle Scout Rank Application - At first glance, the two-page Eagle Scout Rank Application looks straightforward and easy to complete. Unfortunately, there are specific requirements for each entry in the application. If the requirements are not followed, the Council Eagle Registrar will return your application as many times as it takes to get it completed properly. Be sure to use the application version sent to you by the Council Eagle Registrar. Sit down with your scoutmaster or Eagle Mentor and go through the Completing the Eagle Scout Application instructions line by line making sure everything is completed properly. Note that you will also need to submit an Intake Form for BSA Local Council Verification and the Eagle Scout Service Project Service Hours Reporting Information page provided by the Council Eagle Registrar.
Suggestion #10: Life Purpose Statement - Your Eagle Scout board of review will most likely be made up of three or more adults in our district who may or may not know you personally. A life purpose statement gives them a short glimpse into who you are, the type of leader you have been, and exciting future plans you may have. Your life purpose statement doesn't have to be long. One or two paragraphs will explain what you want to do and where you will be in the next five to ten years. These paragraphs will highlight your life ambition and activities you love to do. The last paragraph will list activities, groups, and teams you have been part of during your scouting career. The eagle scout board will be looking for any leadership positions you may have held as part of these activities.
Suggestion #11: Board of Review - The board of review will be just like every other board of review where you will be in full uniform, be introduced by your scoutmaster or other troop leader, lead the board in the Pledge of Allegiance, Scout Oath, and Scout Law, and answer questions about you and your scouting career.
Suggestion #12: Court of Honor - If your application has been approved, the troop advancement chair will be notified. It is now time to celebrate your accomplishment by throwing a party! You and your parents are in charge of organizing an Eagle Scout Court of Honor. The ceremony can be held anywhere you want. You can invite anyone you want. The program can be as long or as short as you want. Be sure to invite the troop (to include younger scouts) so they can experience and celebrate your success with you.
Eagle Scout Rank Requirements
1. Be active in your troop for at least six months as a Life Scout.
2. As a Life Scout, demonstrate Scout Spirit by living the Scout Oath and Scout Law. Tell how you have done your duty to God, how you have lived the Scout Oath and Scout Law in your everyday life, and how your understanding of the Scout Oath and Scout Law will guide your life in the future. List on your Eagle Scout Rank Application the names of individuals who know you personally and would be willing to provide a recommendation on your behalf, including parents/guardians, religious (if not affiliated with an organized religion, then the parent or guardian provides this reference), educational, employer (if employed), and two other references.
3. Earn a total of 21 merit badges (10 more than required for the Life rank), including these 14 merit badges: (a) First Aid, (b) Citizenship in the Community, (c) Citizenship in the Nation, (d) Citizenship in Society, (e) Citizenship in the World, (f) Communication, (g) Cooking, (h) Personal Fitness, (i) Emergency Preparedness OR Lifesaving, (j) Environmental Science OR Sustainability, (k) Personal Management, (l) Swimming OR Hiking OR Cycling, (m) Camping, and (n) Family Life. You must choose only one of the merit badges listed in categories i, j, and l. Any additional merit badge(s) earned in those categories may be counted as one of your seven optional merit badges used to make your total of 21.
4. While a Life Scout, serve actively in your troop for six months in one or more of the following positions of responsibility: patrol leader, assistant senior patrol leader, senior patrol leader, troop guide, Order of the Arrow troop representative, den chief, scribe, librarian, historian, quartermaster, junior assistant Scoutmaster, chaplain aide, instructor, webmaster, or outdoor ethics guide.
5. While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project must benefit an organization other than the Boy Scouts of America.) A project proposal must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your Scoutmaster and unit committee, and the council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, BSA publication No. 512-927, in meeting this requirement.
6. While a Life Scout, participate in a Scoutmaster conference.
Other. In preparation for your board of review, prepare and attach to your Eagle Scout Rank Application a statement of your ambitions and life purpose and a listing of positions held in your religious institution, school, camp, community, or other organizations, during which you demonstrated leadership skills. Include honors and awards received during this service.
7. Successfully complete your board of review for the Eagle Scout rank.
Eagle Scout Project
Step #1: Read the Eagle Project Workbook - Download and read through the entire Eagle Project Workbook. Jot down questions you may have and be prepared to ask your questions when you meet with your scoutmaster or Eagle Mentor.
Step #2: Talk with your Scoutmaster or Eagle Mentor - Your scoutmaster or Eagle Mentor will help break down the project into small pieces so you can focus on one task at a time. They will also monitor your progress and help motivate you to get your project completed.
Step #3: Choose your Project - One of the hardest parts of the Eagle project (and least discussed) is how to choose a good project. You can use the document linked above entitled "Tips for Selecting a Project" to help narrow down your project choices. You want to make sure your project is something you are passionate about and are not just selecting any project just to complete the requirement.
Step #4: Complete the Proposal Section of the Eagle Project Workbook - With the help of your scoutmaster or Eagle Mentor, complete the first section of the Eagle Project Workbook (Proposal). This section allows you to describe the overall project and provide top-level information to leaders who will need to approve the project. Remember, use full sentences, complete thoughts, and good grammar. Photos are helpful as well.
Step #5: Present to the Troop Committee - Using the information you completed in the Eagle Project Workbook, create a short (5-10 minute) presentation. Coordinate with your scoutmaster and/or troop committee chair to present at a troop committee meeting (typically the last Sunday of each month). After presenting your project, the committee may have questions for you or issues you need to take care of before approving your project. Once those issues have been addressed, you need to collect signatures from your scoutmaster, troop committee chair, project beneficiary, and a representative from Riverside District or Central Florida Council. Your scoutmaster can help identify a district representative. Once you have all four signatures on your Eagle Project Workbook, you can start your project.
Step #6: Project Planning - Now that your project is approved, it is time to create a detailed project plan. Section two of the Eagle Project Workbook (Project Plan) will guide you through the planning process. Upon completion of the project plan, you will have broken your project into smaller phases, identified supplies, materials, tools, and labor needed, identified logistics, and planned for safety of your crew.
Step #7: Project Funding - You will want to solicit local businesses for material donations first to minimize the amount of funding you will need to complete your project. After requesting material donations, you can use funds from your scout account, ask family and friends for monetary donations, or present your project at church and solicit monetary donations. As a last resort, you can organize fundraisers (car wash, pancake breakfast, etc.). Make sure to complete the fundraising form in the Eagle Project Workbook if you need to raise funds.
Step #8: Complete Your Project - Using the material, financial, and personnel resources, complete your project. Be sure to invite members of your troop to help complete your project. All scouts need service hours! Make sure you lead the project and let your volunteers do most of the work.
Step #9: Complete Paperwork - Once your project is complete, fill out the remaining section of the Eagle Project Workbook (Report). This section provides a space for you to record how the project turned out. It asks you to list things that went right, things that went wrong, and how you adjusted your plan as the project progressed. Once your beneficiary has signed off on this section, your project is complete.
Council Records Request
Following completion of requirements 1-6 and after your scoutmaster conference, either you or the troop advancement chair will send an email request to the Council Eagle Registrar for your official records. The request must include your name, BSA ID number, date of birth, unit and unit number, and your district. This email must be sent to Lynette Dukes (lynette.dukes@cflscouting.org). You must also copy your parents, scoutmaster, committee chair, and troop advancement chair on the email.
The Council Eagle Registrar will reply with an email containing five files: the official Eagle Scout Application, your person profile containing all official dates of rank and merit badges, an Eagle Scout Rank Application intake cover page, Eagle Scout Rank Application instructions, and an Eagle Scout Service Project Reporting Information Page. If anything is missing from your person profile, work with the troop advancement chair to get your records fixed.
Eagle Scout Application
The application package you will send to council will include: the completed official Eagle Scout Application (printed on one side only), your life purpose statement, a copy of your project Proposal signature page, a copy of your project Report signature page, completed service hours reporting information page, and the Eagle Scout Rank Application intake cover page.
Make sure to have your scoutmaster, troop advancement chair, or your eagle mentor review the application package with you before you send it to council. If there are any errors in the forms, it will delay council approval. Tip: if you want to expedite the approval process, send a self-addressed stamped envelope with your application package so the Council Eagle Registrar doesn't have to look for an envelope and postage.
Eagle Scout Board of Review
You and the troop advancement chair will coordinate your Eagle Scout board of review only after your Eagle Scout Application has been returned from council. The time, place, and (to a certain extent) the makeup of the board will be up to you and the troop advancement chair.
You will need to be in full uniform for your Eagle Scout board of review. If you need to borrow uniform parts that you may not have (i.e., socks, pants/shorts, belt), contact fellow scouts in your troop. In addition to your full uniform, you will need to bring your approved Eagle Scout Application, letters of recommendations, your life purpose statement, and at least one full copy of your complete Eagle Project Workbook (including any photos of your project).
Be sure you know the scout oath, law, outdoor code, and handshake. If you do not recite the scout oath and law properly, you will need to reschedule your board of review and try again. It would also be a good idea to brush up on current events as some questions may test your general knowledge of what is happening in the world. Some boards will also ask you to start the board of review with a prayer if you are comfortable doing so. Have a short prayer ready if you are so inclined to start the board of review with a prayer.
If you do well answering questions and the board feels like you have successfully completed the requirements for Eagle Scout, they will tell you if they will be forwarding a recommendation for you to become an Eagle Scout. Rarely is a positive recommendation overturned by national BSA and the date of your Eagle Scout rank is the date of your board of review. Your troop advancement chair will send the completed Eagle Scout Application to council.
Eagle Scout Court of Honor
Parents, leaders, fellow scouts, teachers, community members, scout camp counselors, and the family who bought popcorn from you as a cub scout all helped you on your path to Eagle Scout. These people want to celebrate your accomplishment with you. An Eagle Scout court of honor is the perfect venue to show how hard you worked to reach Eagle Scout rank.
You and your family decide where and when to hold the court of honor, create the agenda, select a master of ceremonies, decide whether to provide food, and distribute invitations. The only two things that must be on the agenda is 1) you must be given the Eagle Pledge (or Charge) and 2) you must be presented your Eagle Scout badge. There are many sample programs available. Four are linked above; however, you are free to search the web for other potential scripts that you can draw from. Be sure to supply your script to your master of ceremonies and anyone who has parts at least a week before your court of honor so they can review their responsibilities.
Remember, this is your special day. Congratulations!