Life to Eagle Reports

Life seems to be the rank where a lot of Scouts BSA start running out of steam. Most of our guys seem to get to First Class pretty quickly. The youth leaders do a good job with our new scouts and there is a program a summer camp which does a lot of the early rank requirements with them. And Star usually seems to come soon after that. Life takes a little longer, but most seem to get there by time they are Freshmen or Sophomores. But then there is Eagle.

I know one of the problems is the demands on their time. When my sons were in high school, they had three to four hours homework every day. If you throw in a sport or a club or two, that doesn’t leave much spare time. And then there are research papers, projects, and presentations to be done on the weekends. But, with some planning, they can find some time to get those last few merit badges and do their leadership project.

Two of my sons ran it down to the very end when they achieved Eagle Scout. I think the combination of everything else which is going on in their lives along with the perception that they had plenty of time makes procrastinating easy for him. Both were within a couple months of their 18th birthday when they completed the requirements.

My other two sons completed the requirements much earlier. One when he was fourteen and one when he was sixteen. They were more goal oriented. Sometimes it is just a difference in personality.

One thing we have done in our troop which seems to motivate our Life Scouts a little is the Life to Eagle reports at every Court of Honor. Each Life Scout gets up in turn and tells what he has done since the last Court of Honor to try to advance and what he plans to do next on his path to Eagle. This helps them think about if they are progressing and puts their efforts in the perspective of time.

What does your troop do to motivate Life Scouts without taking away their ownership of the process?

Life to Eagle Packet

This workbook is used by Life Scouts to plan and record their Eagle Scout Service project. Download the packet here.

Scouts BSA Eagle Scout Rank Helps and Documents

See more resources for Life Scouts who are working toward the rank of Eagle.

Help! My Son Doesn’t Want to Be a Scout

A reader asks about how to motivate a younger Scout who doesn’t seem interested in advancement.