Re: "true" Eagles and Scoutmaster "Success"
Rodger Morris (rlm@SUNED1.NSWSES.NAVY.MIL)
Wed, 14 Jun 1995 12:06:15 PDT
...
>>Too often I see troops where the scoutmasters measure their worth by
>>how many Eagles they produce or process. Is this the point of
>
...
>The Scoutmaster Award of Merit, which is sponsored by the National Eagle
>Scout Association, has as one of its measurements the number of FIRST CLASS
>Scouts produced by the Scoutmaster's program! As I recall, there is nothing
>to effect of "how many Eagles did the program produce"
>
>----------
>Tom Richardson Assoc Prof | Chemistry Department THE CITADEL
> dicksont@citadel.edu | Charleston SC 29409
...
As I recall, the Scoutmaster Award of Merit (SAM) was originally presented
by the Order of the Arrow and was tied in some fashion to troop advancement
programs that led to a large number of Eagle Scouts. Also, as I recall, only
one award per area (a subset of a BSA region) was presented per year.
At some point, the BSA requested that the SAM be changed to its current form.
I think this was about 15-20 years ago.
As a sidebar, one cannot accurately assess the impact one has had as a Scout
leader. A case in point from last week:
In 1974, I had a Scout who never advanced to the rank of Tenderfoot. He quit
after about a year, saying that Scouting was boring and that the backpacking
trips were too rough and that he would never, ever have anything to do with
Scouting again.
I saw him for the first time in 20 years last week at a meeting of AWAKE, a
support group for people who have obstructive sleep apnea, and for their
families. He had his wife and 6 year old son with him. He spent about 15
minutes talking about all the good times in Scouting, especially the
backpacking trips. Go figure.....
He is now a trained den leader and his son is crossing over from Tiger Cubs
to enter a Wolf den this summer.
Sometimes the impact of what we do is felt only decades later by the Scout.
He was one Scout with whom I was convinced that I had utterly failed to
accomplish any of the three aims of Scouting (for Scouters who are not in the
BSA, these are developing "character, citizenship and personal fitness"). It
seems that my assessment was in error.
Nor was this the first time this sort of thing has happened to me.....
Yours in Scouting,
Rodger
Rodger Morris, rlm@suned1.nswses.navy.mil
Assistant Scoutmaster, Troop 852, Ventura County Council (CA), BSA
National Woodbadge 416, Philmont, 1973
"I used to be a Beaver..."
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
