Eagle Scouting

[alum]

Congrats to your daughter and son for their respective achievements in Scouting. The Gold Award will be just around the corner for your daughter if she has the inclination to concentrate on it.

The ASMs who conduct my son's troop's New Scout Orientation for the crossed-over WebII parents discuss the value of earning Eagle Rank before the 3 G's take priority: Grades (many more AP classes in the last 2 years of high school), Gas (ie driver's license), and Girls. Too many boys will put off the Eagle Scout requirements until about 6 months before the deadline and it may be too late at that point unless they completely clear out their schedule. Your son is smart to outline a schedule.

The scheduling is so important. My kiddo will earn 14 palms by his 18th birthday if he remains involved. The Palms are relatively simple so this is not an impossibility. I am relieved that both children decided to earn the Gold Award/Eagle Scout relatively early in high school. It was one less thing to deal with when they were older. It's a resume-worthy accomplishment that is very noticible as most young teens don't have significant work experience. My daughter's Gold Award opened doors for some selective programs which upon completion provided experience for other competitive applications. It remains to be seen with the son as he is still young.

[AGDee]

I think you'll find the Eagle will open doors for him as well, probably even more, because it is more well known than the Gold. Most of the boys in my son's troop earn their Eagle by 15. The sad part is, after a palm or two, most of them disappear so the troop always seems to be very young. Crowd control becomes more difficult as it's usually the older boys who balance out the younger, very active, boys.

[carnation]

Wow, Dee, congratulations on both! And alum, your son sounds super-motivated!