Day 59: Eagle Project Ideas

Day 59: Chatted with another hopeful Life scout about his Eagle project idea this evening. We talk about an idea before the scout puts hours into the project workbook only to find out it's not appropriate.
We discussed the main topics of:

• Who benefits from the project?
• What are the main parts of the project?
• When do you plan to execute the project?
• How will leadership be demonstrated?
• Why do you want to do THIS project?

After talking about those things, the scout usually has a good idea whether or not this project idea makes sense for him. Sometimes he discovers that his timeline is way too agressive or the project is too big to be realistic or it requires too much talent and skill rather than labor.
The key thing I try to promote is that he have a passion for the project or the organization. Otherwise, it will be torturous to complete. Installing benches at a dog park if you hate dogs doesn't make sense but does if you have an elderly neighbor that walks her dog there every day. Improving the backstage area of a middle school theater makes sense if you were in Theater Club, but not if you never went to a play. I believe a meaningful project is much more important than a 'big' project. As long as the scout can successfully lead others through the project's steps, it's good.

Here's some Eagle Project Ideas if you're interested. I find it amazing the breadth of projects that get done every year.

I also attended the district roundtable tonight. There was a presentation about the new Tour Plan, not Permit. The best part of the evening was the OA Chapter Chief sharing info about CYCLE. If everyone was loud, crisp, and to the point like that youth, our announcements would take less than half the time. :-)

Scout On
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