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table of contents

Preface                                                                            i

Introduction                                                                   iii

1—Why Eagle?                                                               1

2—Unofficial?                                                                3

3—Scouting Outsiders                                                  7

4—Path to Eagle—the Right Way                               13

5—Biological and Psychological Facts of Life--        17

        Teen-age Boys are Brain-Damaged!

6—Eagle Requirements                                                23

7—Eagle Required Merit Badges                                33

8—UNOFFICIAL Guide Strategy                               39

Final Note: Cotillion                                                     49

References                                                                      55

“First Four” Merit Badge Charts                                 59

UNOFFICIAL Eagle Trail Poster                               155

Author Profile                                                                 161

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Excerpt--Sample from Chapter 2

The UNOFFICIAL Guide to Earning Eagle is intended for Scouts and families with no prior Scouting experience. Maybe you are a father who was not a Scout. Maybe you had a brief experience, but didn’t remain in Scouts. Maybe you’re a mother who has never had any exposure to Scouting before. Maybe you’re a relative or friend of a boy who is a Scout, or who wants to be a Scout, and you don’t know anything about Scouting. Or maybe you’re a boy, already a Scout, or planning to be a Scout and you do not have any family ties to the organization.

The UNOFFICIAL Guide to Earning Eagle is your own personal Scouting Insider. We provide you with the secret tips and tricks that ease an Insider’s path to Eagle. Even without being a Scouting Insider, your Scout will enjoy all the benefits they do. 

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excerpt--sample from chapter 8

Now that you understand why it is so crucial for your Scout to achieve early in his Scouting career, let’s introduce the key elements of the UNOFFICIAL Strategy

Following these strategic points will improve the chance that your Scout will earn Eagle. This is not a guarantee, but this Outsider approach will give your Scout the Insider’s chance of making his Eagle.

Review these points, consider them, and work on applying them. Some of the points may not be perfectly clear at first. For example, the “bypass blockages” may not make sense, until you bump up against a blockage. You may want to review the key points once a year, or so, and be sure that you’re keeping on track.

   
 They are presented in priority order. The first Strategy Key Point is the most important—providing administrative assistance to your Scout. The second is the next most important—ensuring that your Scout starts immediately on the First Four merit badges. And so on, down to the sixth. If you can put in practice all of these Strategic Key Points, it is likely that your Scout will reach his goal.

UNOFFICIAL Strategy Key Point 1

Parent as administrative assistant

The Boy Scout journey includes a boy growing, maturing, facing challenges, overcoming challenges, learning, applying himself, and having fun. The road to Eagle, as we’ve seen, is complicated, and probably beyond most boys’ ability to achieve—on their own.

This is where his parents come in. Everything in Scouting is up to the boy. He goes in to his Scoutmaster conferences by himself. He has to tie the knots. He has to do the hiking, camping, building shelter, and all the other skills required.

But his parents can provide him structure, guidance, planning, logistical support. And that is exactly what our young Scouts need. They need help in looking at the long-term. They need help keeping focused. They need help in taking the long road to Eagle one step at a time. Parents, grand-parents, uncles and aunts, big brothers and sister, and other concerned adults can provide the structure and long-term planning and support that our Scouts need.

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REFERENCES

BSA Official Eagle Scout Fact Sheet

http://www.scouting.org/About/FactSheets/EagleScouts.aspx

BSA Official Requirements Book

http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Boy_Scout_Requirements

BSA Official Guide to Advancement—Eagle Rank

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/guidetoadvancement/eaglescoutrank.aspx

BSA Official Guide to Advancement—Boards of Review

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/GuideToAdvancement/BoardsofReview.aspx

  BSA Official Guide—Advancement Resources

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/resources.aspx

BSA Official Guide—Advancement and Awards

http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards.aspx

US Scouts Guide—Eagle Requirements

http://www.usscouts.org/advance/boyscout/bsrank7.asp

MeritBadge.org Requirements for Eagle

http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Eagle_Scout_Rank

Merit Badge Worksheets

http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Merit_Badge_Worksheets

   Eagle Project Ideas

http://www.scoutorama.com/project/

   Eagle Project Checklist

http://meritbadge.org/wiki/images/f/f1/Eagle_Project_Plan_Checklist.pdf

National Eagle Scouts Association

http://www.nesa.org/

History of Eagle

http://scoutingmagazine.org/issues/0211/d-wwas.html

Evolution of Eagle Rank Requirements

http://www.troop97.net/bsaeagle.htm

Boys’ Teen Brain

http://journeytomanhood.blogspot.com/2008/08/that-frustrating-teen-brain.html

Man-Making

http://journeytomanhood.blogspot.com/

MIT Young Adult Development Project—Teen Brain

http://hrweb.mit.edu/worklife/youngadult/brain.html#adolescence