Eagles easier now?
Scott Killen (SKILLEN@SRC_FS1.AUTOTESTER.COM)
Wed, 26 Jul 1995 10:03:28 CDT
I have been reading the thread concerning the ease of earning Eagles with
a lot of interest.
I earned my Eagle in a small scout troop in central Texas in 1966. I am
now an Asst. Scoutmaster in a large troop in Dallas.
As a boy, none of my leaders were officially trained in any capacity.
(Small town, away from training centers). Now, every single adult leader
is Woodbadge certified.
I worked my tail off to get my Eagle. I had trouble finding people to teach
the merit badges and as an Eagle service project I folded the church
bulletins for a year.
Harder: No, Different: YES. Our boys don't have to work to find
people to teach merit badges, but the program is much more organized than
I experienced and the merit badge requirements for eagle are more extensive.
Although I spent a LOT of time folding church bulletins during that year,
it was boring repititious work with little opportunity for learning
leadership skills. (Responsibility was another matter though .. those
things HAD to be done every week and they weren't printed until late
Friday!)
Today, in my troop, the kids have much more up front planning work and
really do have to show leadership on their projects. The project times
themselves tend to be shorter. Project documentation is MUCH more stringent
than my experience. I like the difference.
The program has changed slightly over the years. It's implemented
differently from one troop to the next. Different troops have different
resources to implement their program.
I think all this falls within the range of diversity that one could expect
from an organization chartered as ours is. But, unless the leadership
of a unit is really permissive, a boy WILL have to work to earn his eagle.
He will have to set a high goal and achieve it. Self motivation will
have to be there. And for him, like for me, it will be an accomplishment
that he will look back on with pride.
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Scott W. Killen
Asst Scoutmaster Troop 890
Eagle class of '66 and a good ol' Bobwhite too.
skillen@autotester.com
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Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
