A Few Quesions About Eagle Palms

[cballman]

we have had a bumper crop of eagles in the last 3 years and we have retained 75 % of them little critters because we have had Highadventure programs that was only for the older scouts and still have had many a good outing with the young ones. so yes it is possible to have at least a bunch of palms or the scout just drops out after the Eagle cermony so we try to give the best possible program for ALL ages

[gstorts]

Willie posted:

"Okay. Playing Devil's advocate, what purpose do they serve? Is
it a rank advancement aimed at keeping Eagle Scouts active
becasue it serves as something to work towards? If so, it
seems counter intuitive. A seventeen year old with 10 or 15
aditional merit badges at the time he earns Eagle has little
incentive to remain active as he's maxed out his advancement
opportunity."

I would say that the scout has missed out on the purpose of scouting. The Eagle rank shouldn't be the end goal to scouting - the Eagle rank is the beginning of true leadership abilities within the Troop. The rank of Eagle signifies that a scout has reached a point where he is capable in many areas of skills, leadership and communication. It is these scouts who should be leading the troop, not looking for incentive to remain active. Their incentive is that they wil be recognized for the leader they could become should they remain active. Palms and more recognition are simply icing on the cake.

[gstorts]

I don't want to sound callous, but please don't take away from scouts who earned their recognition by fullfilling all the requirements of receiving Palms. We don't give Star, Life or Eagle ranks to scouts who haven't met all the requirements, and we shouldn't give Palms away either.

If a scout fullfills all the requirements for Eagle, yet never goes before an Eagle Board, he hasn't earned the rank of Eagle. Did he fullfill the requirements? All but one. Did he earn Eagle? No.

The same goes for Palms. You may have fullfilled all the requirements for a Palm, but one, but did you earn the Palm? Sorry no.

I had enough merit badges for 2 Palms after my Eagle, yet didn't go before a Board. Did I earn them? No. And whose fault was that? Mine.

Scouting has specific requirements for all advancements, and they all include a Board of Review and to be earned before the age of 18. We don't , and shouldn't, have the ability of altering that.

[BM_Crawford]

Wow gstorts, I dont think I could have expressed that any better than you just did! That is exactly how I feel. I too did not earn eagle palms, I like you have the badges but I ran out of time.

PS: I just became a councilor for several badges, I know this place is crawling with other councilors. If you could give me any pointers or helpful hints about being a councilor please feel free to email me I'd love the advice BM_Crawford@msn.com

Badges I'm councilor for are as followed: First Aid, Swimming, Lifesaving, Communications, Music, and Bugling.

[Billvann]

I don't want to sound callous, but please don't take away from scouts who earned their recognition by fullfilling all the requirements of receiving Palms. ...

...The same goes for Palms. You may have fullfilled all the requirements for a Palm, but one, but did you earn the Palm? Sorry no.

I had enough merit badges for 2 Palms after my Eagle, yet didn't go before a Board. Did I earn them? No. And whose fault was that? Mine.

I'm not sure if your posty post was a reply to my ealier post, but must say I have no disagreements with your statement. My feelings are not out of line with yours. In your situation, your only requirements would have been to remain active in the troop and attend a BOR every 3 months and you would have collected your 2 palms. My belief is that at your first BOR, you should have earned a gold palm rather than a bronze and then 3 months later the gold. In my scenario, you may be insprired to continue for silver. But some folks may have already maxed out their "palm potential" even before they earned their first palm.

[commish3]

RWSmith,
I am curious why the troop committee waited until after you turned 18 to hold a BOR?

[RWSmith]

I had way too much going on... Officer/Drum Major in HS ROTC, Drummer in "Concert Band" and "Marching Band" (practice after school and go to all the football games, plus local holiday parades), BSA Summer Camp staff (4 summers), active Boy Scout, active Explorer Scout, Brotherhood Chair in my OA Lodge, oldest of four kids (i.e., full-time basysitter), yada, yada, yada... Too much fun. Who had time for homework? So, anyhow, I got the package in by the deadline. But, like a lot of other Eagles, I just didn't see the ground coming up at me (so fast!) till it was pert near too late... I only had one shot at it... Whew!

[Beagle Scout]

The leadership for a Palm does not have to be scout leadership. He can be in Student Government, the CAP, JROTC, of the President of his church youth group.