The Eagle Has Landed

After weeks of preparation and many levels of approvals and signatures, my son Jack began his Boy Scout Eagle Project a few weeks ago and we completed the construction phase this past Sunday. A Boy Scout Eagle Award Project must benefit a non-profit organization and be permanent or sustainable -- it must provide on-going value.

Jack's project is to winterize an outdoor kennel for our local Adopt-A-Dog shelter. The director wanted to cover the opening between the roof-line of the kennel and a surrounding fence by installing removable roof extensions. By covering this gap between the roof and the fence, it formed a wind barrier which they believe will raise the temperature in the kennel by about 20 degrees. This will allow the center to use the outdoor kennel year-round. These extensions need to be removable so the kennel will not be too hot in the warmer months of summer
Boy Scouting tries to teach leadership and communication skills to teenage boys. The purpose of the Eagle Project, in addition to it's community service benefit, is to give the Eagle candidate the opportunity to demonstrate effective leadership and communication. The scout can not perform any of the work on the project himself, but instead must plan the entire thing, organize a group of volunteers to help, show them what needs to be done, and then guide them through the process. It's quite a lot for a sixteen year-old to handle.With the construction now complete, Jack must next finish the fund raising to pay for the materials used. That should happen in February and March. Then he must write up the entire project for a review by a Board of Adult Boy Scout leaders. The hard part is behind him, but the next two parts are not without their challenges.

Click here to see photos of the project.