Eagle Scout Resources

Life to Eagle – The Biggest Step in Your Scouting Journey

Introduction

The Life to Eagle program at Troop 5 is intended to assist our Scouts in planning and executing their Eagle project in a timely and organized fashion. An Eagle project is a major undertaking that involved planning, coordination, budgeting and a focus on the goal of attaining the Eagle Rank.

This page has a number of memos and other documents, which we call the LTE materials. These LTE materials are intended to provide guidance to an Eagle candidate. We strongly recommend that both the Eagle candidate and the parents or guardians of an Eagle candidate review these materials. Parents, your understanding, support and guidance is going to be important to your Scout!

Please note: We reference and link to the LTE materials below in the order in which we think you should be using them; there are also links to each of the LTE materials in the column on the right. Each document name starts with a number, to make the different LTE materials easier to identify.

The first document to read is 1–Eagle Scout Path Overview. This memo lays out the various requirements to get from Life to Eagle.

Preliminary Steps for Your Eagle Scout Service Project

The Eagle Scout Service Project is the most challenging rank requirement for Eagle.

Working on your Eagle Project will be daunting, but it is not overwhelming. Further, you will not be doing this alone. We strongly encourage you to identify an adult within the Troop 5 community to coach you; we refer to this person as your Project Coach. Your Project Coach will be a mentor, sounding board and advocate.

We encourage you to identify a Project Coach early on – even before you have a project in mind. Many Project Coaches work with Eagle candidates to help identify potential projects. If you would like ideas for Troop 5 adults who might serve as a Project Coach, we encourage you to ask your Scoutmaster for suggestions.

In addition, you will be assigned one of Troop 5’s advisors, known as a Life to Eagle Advisor, who will review the drafts of your Project Proposal and your post-project paperwork.

In advance of selecting a project, we recommend that you look at 2a–Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook, which is the official workbook prepared by the BSA. At this time, just review pages 2 – 6 of this workbook, as they provide a useful overview of the rules for Eagle Projects.

You should also look at 2b–Information for Beneficiaries (which is a document taken from the official workbook). Once you have settled upon a project and a beneficiary, you will present this document to the beneficiary to explain how Eagle projects work.

After you have looked at those documents, we recommend that you read the memo, 3–Eagle Scout Service Project Timing & Approvals.

Drafting the Proposal

You should download the template, 4a–Eagle Scout Service Project Proposal Form. Draft your Proposal using that form. It is much easier to use than the official workbook, and we have obtained permission from the Potawatomi District of the Northeast Illinois Council to use this Word version in lieu of the fillable PDF in the official workbook.

While you are drafting your Proposal, please review, and refer back frequently, to 4b–Eagle Scout Service Project Proposal Form Annotated. This document, which was created by Troop 5 Life to Eagle Advisors, has useful guidance for you on preparing your Proposal; if you follow this guidance, you are guaranteed to get fewer comments on drafts from your Life to Eagle Advisor!

Eagle Home Stretch

After an Eagle candidate has completed the Eagle project, there are four documents that the Eagle candidate must prepare. We call this period the Eagle Home Stretch, because the Eagle candidate is getting very close to completing the path to Eagle.

The first thing that such an Eagle candidate should do is read 8–The Eagle Home Stretch Memo, which describes each of the four documents to be prepared.

The most detailed and time-consuming of these four documents is the Project Report, which is a description of, and reflection on, the candidate’s Eagle Project. To prepare the Project Report, download the template, 9a–Eagle Scout Service Project Report. Also, be sure to review 9b–Eagle Scout Service Project Report Annotated, in which the Troop 5 Life to Eagle Advisors have included many pointers on how to write the Project Report.

You will need to download and fill out the official Eagle Scout Application from ScoutBook. It is pre-populated with much of the required information. If you cannot download your Eagle Application from ScoutBook, or need help, please contact a Troop 5 Leader for assistance.

There are no templates for the other two documents to be prepared at this time – the Statement of Ambitions and Life Purpose and the List of Leadership Positions, Honors and Awards. But our Eagle Home Stretch Memo has advice on preparation of the Eagle Application and these last two documents.

Once all four of these documents are approved by the Life to Eagle Advisor, you will be ready to schedule your Eagle Scoutmaster Conference and, thereafter, your Eagle Board of Review.

Troop 5 looks forward to celebrating your ascension to Eagle Scout with you!