Eagle Problems....BIG

[Twocubdad 665]

Unfortunately, when an appeal goes national (or even to council around here) it's all about checked boxes. "Active participation" and "Scout Spirit" requirements are all but thrown out. That's where you get idiotic intrepretations like "active" means he paid his dues and it's the SM's responsibility to contact the Scout regularly. Laughable if not so pathetic.

 

So that leaves we Scoutmasters to tip-toe around the margins, trying to make the advancement program mean more that "I checked off lots of boxes" and trying to breathe a little life back into the Scout Spirit and Active Participation requirements.

 

mdsummer -- I hope you will indulge us a minor hijacking of your thread while we wait for a report from your son's meeting with the committee next week.(This message has been edited by Twocubdad)

[mdsummer45 10]

twocubdad;

 

Wish my boys had you as their SM. I like your style.

[NeilLup 13]

I have just read this amazing thread.

 

Ms Summer, I too apologize for what your son is going through. However, and it probably won't make you feel particularly good, jumping through flaming hoops like this is what getting the Eagle used to be for a lot of us. So your son is getting his Eagle the old fashioned way. The good thing about that is -- that's the process that produced the old fashioned Eagle that made the Eagle something worth getting.

 

I slao recognize the quote of the football coach who said "it is what it is" and that causes me stark terror that this might be my council. I sure hope not. But if you're willing to send me a private message with what your town and council are, maybe I know them.

 

This kind of thing does happen. Last fall, I had to advise a Scout and father through exactly this kind of thing and it was reversed at the Council level.

 

The final thing that truly does concern me. I hope that this doesn't turn your son off Scouting. He sounds like a great guy. I hope that he resolves that when he is in a position of authority, he will learn from this and treat other people in a very different way. If so, then some good may come from the experience.

[NealOnWheels 73]

Good luck to your son tonight.

 

Let us know how it goes.

[John-in-KC 311]

Ms Summer,

 

Like Neal, good hunting to your son tonight. Know he'll be in my prayers, as will the Committee and SM.

 

Let us know what results, please!

[mdsummer45 10]

Unfortunately the committe mtg had to be rescheduled because the SM told the CC he would out of town on business until Wednesday. The meeting has now been scheduled for this Thursday. Although we were initial told that the LOR requests would not be sent out to the individuals my son had given, we have since been told that they changed their minds and have mailed the LOR requsts. Thanks to all for your good thoughts. Will post again Friday morning.

[evmori 11]

Prayers until then mdsummer45.

 

Don't let them put this off any longer. And why is the SM invited?

[John-in-KC 311]

Ms Summer,

 

Good hunting round two

 

[Nike 94]

OMG. You have considerably more patience than I do.

[Lisabob 13]

Ugh! I agree with Nike. I'd have lost it some time back.

 

Have your son quietly follow up with the folks who have agreed to provide his recommendations. It would not surprise me in the slightest to discover that they mysteriously never received the LOR forms, or that their letters got "lost in transit."

 

 

[Beavah 205]

It would not surprise me in the slightest to discover that they mysteriously never received the LOR forms, or that their letters got "lost in transit."

 

Come, come. There is nothing at all in this troop's behavior to suggest that.

 

Quite the contrary. Their decision to request letters of recommendation indicates their anticipation of conducting a full Eagle Board of Review, which would consider the references alongside the scoutmaster's non-recommendation. It is both a proper step and a hopeful one. Mdsummer, I'd have your son call his references and request speedy replies as a favor. If a few references got returned in time for Thursday night, even better eh?

 

As to the SM being gone on a business trip, that happens, eh? Especially right now, da folks I know who are in work like that are travelin' a lot, scramblin' to keep businesses afloat and people employed, and are jumpin' on planes at short notice. No reason to expect anything nefarious. Just further evidence that the SM has a lot on his plate, and might not have been able to give your son his full attention. Perhaps that caused him to base his review on an isolated incident that stuck in his craw rather than the full picture?

 

Beavah

 

[John-in-KC 311]

Godspeed and Good Hunting today to your son, Ms Summer.

 

 

[Lisabob 13]

Beavah writes: "Come, come. There is nothing at all in this troop's behavior to suggest that."

 

Sure there is Beavah - look at all the times meetings have been postponed, emails and phone calls have been ignored, the boy has been told "not now," etc. Taken individually, each of those times might even be reasonable but together it starts to look like a pattern. I do agree that somebody somewhere in this troop does appear to have figured out the proper appeals procedure but there are also a bunch of what could certainly be construed as delaying tactics here. Hopefully this won't be one of them.

[Eagle92 110]

Yepo good luck tonite. pl;ease keep us posted

[Beavah 205]

Nah, Lisabob. This was da first and only time that the committee meeting was postponed. Since bein' alerted to the boy's request by the SM, they have been a model of proper action. Scheduling a review, now requesting reference letters to go out so that they can conduct an Eagle BOR for the lad when appropriate.

 

All the rest were a mom's indirect report of what a boy said about a Scoutmaster who was traveling a lot for business, and perhaps had some issue with the boy that we don't know about. Yah, we can fault the SM a bit for not bein' perfect in his communication, fair enough. But I know a lot of guys travelin' a lot on short notice these days who are tryin' to save their jobs and livelihood. That's hard on 'em, and hard on their families. Sometimes dealin' with grief from one boy or family is more time and emotional load than they are willin' to deal with at the time. And to be honest, I occasionally miss emails or forget to return phonecalls when I'm busy with other stuff, eh? I expect most of us do.

 

There's just no call to be assuming there are any malicious scouters here. Just ordinary folks with good enough intentions to spend a lot of their time running scouting for kids. Ordinary folks who aren't perfect.

 

Mdsummer45, good luck to your boy tonight. Have confidence in him. No matter what happens, sit quietly and let him and other good folks work da process. Stay unfailingly respectful and polite, just as we teach the boys to. Yeh might end up being positively surprised, but if not, yeh can at least stand tall.

 

Beavah