Planning Out Your Eagle Project

Planning Out Your Eagle Project

Planning out your eagle project is one of the things that most kids struggle with.  This is always a subject they are terrified of.  The unknown scares them just as much as it does adults.  They don’t know how to go about planning their project.  They don’t know at the beginning of a project what it is going to take to complete the project.  It seems so huge and overwhelming to them, they don’t want to even start.  We all have these types of moments in our lives.

Overcoming this and just starting the process is all it takes to conquer this fear.  This is why only 4-5% of registered scouts attain the rank of Eagle also, because they let the fear stop them!

Let me help alleviate your fears a little bit.  Everyone has these fears when they decide to work on an Eagle project.  You are not alone and it isn’t as bad as your mind makes you think it is.  There are helps!  Ask any Eagle Scout, most will say, that once they started, they realized it wasn’t as bad as they thought.

Your first help: Find an Eagle Coach in your district.  This is one of the things, as a parent, I didn’t know when my oldest boy wanted to work on his Eagle.  I thought we were on our own.  I found out that there are trained adults to help you with all the paperwork and steps and to “coach” you through it.  Yes, BSA knows that scouts and parents need help through the process so they train adults to do just that.  Take advantage of this!

Second, The Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook has a section that walks you through planing out all the details of your project.  This Workbook is broken up into 3 sections: The Proposal, The Plan, and The Report.  I wrote a post named How To Prepare For An Eagle Project Approval on the The Proposal section you should read.  The Plan section of the workbook is a very good step-by-step guide to planning out your Eagle project.  As an Eagle Coach I always had scouts take the time to fill this out after they got their project approved, before they started the actual work.

This section walks them through thinking out and planning all aspects of their project like:

• Who it will benefit and why
• Present condition or situation
• Project phases (helps them think through steps)
• Work process
• Reminds them to take before pictures
• Permits and permissions
• What materials and supplies they will need
• What tools will be used
• Expenses they will incur and if they need to raise funds
• How to give leadership
• Logistics (when, where, how to get people there, feeding helpers, etc)
• Communication plan
• How to train your helpers
• Safety for your helpers
• Contingency plans in case your plan doesn’t work

In conclusion, do not let these two resources go unused!  They are there to help you succeed.  Remember, you are not alone in being scared to embark on this goal of an Eagle Project.  Everyone feels scared and overwhelmed.  Plan it out using the discussed resources and you will conquer it.

Remember the answer to the question “How do you eat and elephant?” – One bite at a time.