Advancement Resources
ADVANCEMENT INFORMATION LINKS
Members Only Advancement Links [Scouts, Counselors and Scoutmaster Staff]
The links for these items are for troop members only. They require the troop Login and Password
Members Only Advancement Access - Password Protected
Rank Advancement Record Spreadsheets [Scout - First Class]
Merit Badge Record "Blue Sheets"
Scout Partial Merit Badge Completion List [incomplete merit badges]
Merit Badge Counselor List
Counselor Link to Submit Completed Merit Badges and Rank Advancements
Life to Eagle Individual Scout MB Summary
Eagle Project Workbook CONTACT Information page [document p. 9]
General
Rank Advancement and Merit Badge Links
Merit Badge Requirements [scroll down for requirements]
Eagle Rank Advancement Required Documents
Statement of Ambitions and Life Purpose [complete attach to the Eagle Scout Application
Eagle Scout Service Project Guidelines and Helpful Links
Language of Scouting - A Guide to BSA Spelling and Capitalization
Life to Eagle Individual Scout MB Summary <-- Now located under Troop Member Login tab
Eagle Court of Honor Planning Documents
Merit Badge Resources
Service Project Requirements
Service Project hours are required all ranks except Scout. The time required is explained in this link and the table below.
Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge - SERVICE PROJECT
Requirement #7. Do the following:
7a. Identify three charitable organizations outside of Scouting that interest you and bring people in your community together to work for the good of your community.
7b. Pick ONE of the organizations you chose for requirement 7a. Using a variety of resources (including newspapers, fliers and other literature, the Internet, volunteers, and employees of the organization), find out more about this organization.
7c. With your counselor's and your parent's approval, contact the organization you chose for requirement 7b and find out what young people can do to help. While working on this merit badge, volunteer at least eight hours of your time for the organization. After your volunteer experience is over, discuss what you have learned with your counselor.
Service Time Details - Many of these apply to the Tenderfoot to Life requirements, not the Eagle project.
Projects can be done on Scout property [i.e. Camp Patiya]
Projects can be as simple as raking leaves or shoveling snow for an elderly neighbor or family with a deployed member of the armed services.
Hours for Tenderfoot [1 hr] and Second Class [2 hrs] can both be earned during a 3 hours service project. The service hours for First Class must be done at a separate time.
Life rank requires at least 3 of the 6 hours be a conservation focused project.
Picking up trash on a school playground or local park will work.
Double-dipping is ok. Scout service projects CAN be done with projects for your church, school, honor society, etc.
Eagle Advancement Starts at Age 11!
When a boy or girl joins Boy Scouts, the rank of Eagle Scout and their18th birthday seems so far away. However, as most Scouts find out, the time passes very quickly! What starts out at a leisurely pace of advancement turns into a race against time and age 18. No names, but you know who you are!
This note is to give all Scouts and parents an insight into several of the advancement hurdles that really cannot wait until the last minute. One of the stories I like to pass on is about a Scout in the troop who was an outstanding young man and very active in the troop and high school sports. However, time slipped away. He did not get Star in time to get Life and then to get Eagle. Each of these ranks require a minimum time at rank before advancement: active in the troop at least four months to earn Star; at least six months to earn Life; and active at least six months to earn Eagle.
Therefore, based on the requirements summarized above, a Scout needs, at the very minimum, to be Star before turning age 17 in order to meet the time requirements for Life and Eagle.
ADVANCEMENT ITEMS THAT REQUIRE LONG TERM PLANNING
Eagle Scout Service Project
Scouts should plan on about 3 months from start to finish for their Eagle Scout Service Project. IMPORTANT –there are multiple signatures, presentations and levels of planning that must occur before starting a project.
Merit Badges With Extended Time Requirements
These Eagle required merit badges CANNOT BE COMPLETED AT THE LAST MINUTE. They each have extended time requirements:
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Personal Management Merit Badge
Perhaps the most difficult of the Eagle required merit badges. There are a good number of requirements for this badge that require direct instruction from the merit badge counselor.
Long-term Requirement: 2a. Track and record your actual income, expenses, and savings for 13 consecutive weeks.
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Long-term Requirement: 3. Prepare a list of your regular home duties or chores (at least five) and do them for 90 days. Keep a record of how often you do each of them. Discuss with your counselor the effect your chores had on your family.
Project Requirements: 4 and 5. two separate individual and family projects.
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Long-term Requirement 7. Outline a comprehensive 12-week physical fitness program using the results of your fitness tests. Be sure your program incorporates the endurance, intensity, and warm-up guidelines discussed in the Personal Fitness merit badge pamphlet. Before beginning your exercises, have the program approved by your counselor and parents.
Long-term Requirement 8. Complete the physical fitness program you outlined in requirement 7.
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It is important to note the specifics of this merit badge. There is no way to complete it in one year! Scouts must be active in the camping program during their time in the troop!
Long-term Requirement 9a. Camp a total of at least 20 nights at designated Scouting activities or events.* One long-term camping experience of up to six consecutive nights may be applied toward this requirement. Sleep each night under the sky or in a tent you have pitched. If the camp provides a tent that has already been pitched, you need not pitch your own tent.
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Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge
Requirement 7. Do the following:
7a. Identify three charitable organizations outside of Scouting that interest you and bring people in your community together to work for the good of your community.
7b. Pick ONE of the organizations you chose for requirement 7a. Using a variety of resources (including newspapers, fliers and other literature, the Internet, volunteers, and employees of the organization), find out more about this organization.
7c. With your counselor's and your parent's approval, contact the organization you chose for requirement 7b and find out what young people can do to help. While working on this merit badge, volunteer at least eight hours of your time for the organization. After your volunteer experience is over, discuss what you have learned with your counselor.
How to Earn a Merit Badge
Look at the list of merit badges and counselors on the troop Website.
Contact an approved counselor.
Talk with the counselor BEFORE you do any work on the badge.
The counselor may or may not want you to use the merit badge workbook.
See if there is a merit badge book in the troop closet that you can borrow.
MB books can also be purchased at the Scout office in Louisville or at McGuckin's.
Make arrangements to meet with the counselor. Monday nights at 6:00 are always a good time.
You MUST meet the counselor with a buddy. This can be another Scout, a parent or a friend.
When you finish the badge, make certain that the counselor records the merit badge completion with Diane.
NOTES to SCOUTS:
Do not start a merit badge without contacting the counselor.
Once you start a badge, be respectful of the counselor’s time by finishing the badge and doing assignments on time.
Do not just do the merit badge workbook and expect to have the merit badge.