Eagle Projects

Troop 64

Portola Valley

Pacific Skyline Council

Kirt Williams

Scoutmaster

2014

Eagle Leadership Service Project

• Service• Benefits an organization

• Cannot be the troop or BSA

• Leadership• You are a leader/manager

• Plan, direct others• Neglecting the leadership requirement is the most common for proposals being rejected

Finding a Project

• Look at potential beneficiaries• Popular ones:

• MPOSD• Haven House• Local churches• Local schools

• Think about your interests and skills• Don’t try a project with detailed woodworking if you have no skill, no teacher, and no place to work

• Get ideas from others’ projects• The Town of Portola Valley is difficult to work with

Troop 64 Expectations

• From the workbook: “There are no required minimum hours for a project. No one may tell you how many hours must be spent on it.”

• The project must be large enough to demonstrate planning and leadership

• Below 100 hours expected is likely too small• Greater than 200 hours may be too big• T64: Help from at least five other people• T64: More than 50% of hours worked are by others• Most of our projects are 100-200 hours and have ~10 helpers

Eagle Project Workbook

Use the fillable version

Filling Out the Workbook

• Before filling out the workbook, discuss ideas with Eagle advisor and Scoutmaster

• This ensures that you don’t waste time on an idea that won’t work

• You will make a somewhat detailed plan• Needs estimates of:

• Labor• Cost• Tools

• Some ideas never get a signature from the beneficiary

• Don’t be discouraged. Start over.

Approval Signatures for Plan

• Scoutmaster • Presently Lance Vaughan (June 2014)

• Troop Committee • Presently Eagle advisor Dave Duff

• Beneficiary official• Council approval

• THIS IS THE LAST SIGNATURE• Do not try to bypass the first three signatures

• Presently Redwood District north Eagle advisor Peggy Gluck

• Do not start work without approvals• This has been a problem nationwide

• Note: In the workbook, “Unit” = “Troop”

Approval Signatures at the End

• Beneficiary official• They can be hard to track down

• Scoutmaster • Presently Lance Vaughan

• You’re done when the last signature is written

Project Ideas that Won’t Fly

• Project with little leadership• Maintenance• A project that doesn’t benefit a group• Blood drives• Projects for which you do not have:

• Skills or someone to teach you• A place to work

Example Project: Benches by Ben Zdasiuk in 2011

• Beneficiary: MPOSD/Deer Hollow Farm• Built 15 benches• Total hours: 173• Number of helpers: ?•Donations: $595 + supplies

Example Project: Bikes by Gordon Williams in 2011

• Beneficiary: Haven House (homeless family shelter in Menlo Park)• Led the cleaning, testing, repair, lubrication, adjusting, and retesting of 60 bikes• Fitted and donated 60 helmets• Total hours: 244• Donations: $930 + materials• Number of helpers: 18

Example Project: Bikes by John Howard in 2010

• Beneficiary: Valley Presbyterian Church• Led the recycling of redwood into boards, then building high-quality tables and benches• Total hours: 236• Number of helpers: 13

Example Project: Underwater Wheelchairs by Christian Bourgeois in 2008-2011

• Beneficiary: Abilities United• Built one wheelchair prototype• People used it for many months• Improved the design • Led the building of a few more• #2 ranked Eagle project in the west that year• Total hours: 251• Number of helpers: 16

Example Project: Calculators by Ben Krausz in 2010

• Beneficiary: Mercado Global.• Collected ~200 calculators and monetary donations to buy more in bulk• Got all of the them working• Brought them to Guatemala and trained women running small businesses how to use them• Total hours: 111• Number of helpers: 14

Example Project: Planter Boxes by Matthew Patzer in 2012

• Beneficiary: Collective Roots• Built one wheelchair-accessible planter box prototype• Improved the design • Led the building of a two more• Total hours: 168• Number of helpers: 17

Example Project: Camping Gear Collection and Campout by Reed Williams in 2012

• Beneficiary: Haven House and homeless outreach program• Collected used camping gear• Cleaned it• Got it working• Also borrowed camping gear• Held a campout for the children of Haven House, with a campfire, dinner, and breakfast• Total hours: 296• Number of helpers: 14

Example Project: Bikes and Basketball by Lucas Harris in 2013

• Beneficiary: Haven House • Got monetary donations for new bikes• Bought kits and led building them• Collected used basketball gear• Painted a basketball court and installed a basket • Total hours: 216• Number of helpers: 27

More Eagle Projects•Weston Bourgeois

• Built raised play tables and garden boxes for Footsteps Childcare• Kevin Kelley

• Built outdoor tables for lunchtime seating at Summit High School• Alex Duff

• Rebuilt benches for Christ Church • Wesley Holthaus

• Built display shelves for Habitat for Humanity• Teshie Bronk

• Rebuilt a storage shed for Ronald McDonald House• Rahm Humphries

• Built cat houses for an animal shelter• Kellan Draeger

• Built high-quality benches for Our Lady of the Wayside Catholic Church• Connor Jordan

• Mapped and eradicated invasive weeds for Acterra in Arastradero Preserve• Paul Gilles

• Built planter boxes for MPOSD/Deer Hollow Farm• Terry Wang

• Built storage boxes and display cases for CMS student store• Christopher Sauer

• Built an outdoor “classroom” at CMS• Ryan Corley

• Rebuilt a scenic desk for MPOSD/Russian Ridge• Jonathan Zdasiuk

• Made a video of people using MPOSD

• A lot of building, but this is not the only way to go