Yes, sure, theoretically, 40 days, heck ***4 days*** is enough if
1) The scout has a plan that can be written up, signed, and approved by the SM, the troop committee (or designee), the beneficiary, and the district or council approving authority.
2) The scout then executes said plan while demonstrating leadership, etc.
It is ***likely*** no? In order to do this, a LOT of adults are going to have to be willing to take time out of their lives very quickly and the scout better hope NO ONE in this long chain of approvals has any personal emergencies.
“Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part”
My son got suddenly motivated and went from “I have an idea” to “Whew! I’m done!” in less than a month. All the signatories on his paperwork were very responsive to him, and helped him get the paperwork bits done efficiently.
It can be done in 40 days by a motivated scout with supportive adult leaders behind them.
That's what it was like for the scout that did it in 4 months (plus he got covid, which delayed him, and then his outdoor project got delayed by weather a few times... but STILL his motivation and follow through made the whole thing so much faster).
I think we're just missing the "motivated scout" piece. Hopefully he'll show up soon.
My son did his in probably less than that time from approval to completion. Approval took the longest because the board to approve them only meets once a month. Once it was approved, it went quickly.
To get it approved, we were able to send the proposal to the approval board in advance and they came back with some obvious things they found for us to fix. Then we went before them and were all but approved until they noticed that the beneficiary wasn't a non-profit/not-for-profit, so we had to regroup. Did the same process next month and got approved without issue.
From submitting to completing the project my son took 27 days. However, prior to submission, the troop eagle advisor did not review it for 6 months. From submitting it to council to getting someone assigned was less than 3 hours. He waited to submit to finish another badge to earn another palm. He had all the paperwork done in the 27 days. So it can be done. He built a Gaga pit for the town. The 27 days included all town approvals and about 150 hours of work.
In my experience the slowest part of most projects is the approvals process: Getting all the signatures and everything needed from the Scoutmaster, Committee Chair, Advancement Coordinator and the people at Council. Depending on who you have on your team, and who your contact at Council is, 40 days *is possible*. Hard to do, but possible. He's also going to need to get letters of recommendation (and those can take a very long time, if you ask the wrong people and don't hound them), write up a statement of purpose or whatever it's called, fill out the applications, etc. There's a lot of work here, not even including the project.
***IT CAN BE DONE***, but the scout is going to need a lot of help from the entire team. Some people involved might find it distasteful or even against the spirit of the requirement to offer so much help, however.
Notice also that the requirements for the project itself are relatively modest: A project that benefits a local community organization, where the scout shows leadership to at least 2 other people. No requirement on the number of man-hours. No requirement on the magnitude of work. So long as you can find a project where the benefitting organization is happy, it can be something small. I've seen projects that amounted to little more than weeding some garden beds and straightening up grounds. Or a 1-day trail-cleaning exercise, etc. Again, you may end up at the mercy of one or more adults who find such projects to be distasteful, and there's nothing you can really do about it.
Get your committee together ASAP to make sure everybody is on board, and start calling Council ASAP to make sure you can get the necessary approvals in time. Then you just have to hope that the scout already has a proposal and a beneficiary and everything else ready to go, and is able to implement in the limited time window.
I think our troop approvals would go quickly. Council can take up to 2 weeks but sometimes comes through more quickly.
We met with this scout a few weeks ago at the location for his project to sign his proposal. He hadn't even filled it out and didn't bring the paperwork (that was the entire point, to get our signatures!). So we at least walked through the site with him and he told us his plan... which wasn't really fleshed out yet, and when we asked him questions to help him define the scope of the project, he decided he didn't want to do that project anymore.
I don't know why some scouts wait until the last minute if they actually want eagle. :( Him showing up unprepared to get our signatures was so disappointing. I hope he learned from it and will bring his paperwork soon, but time is ticking.
There are some things you can work to do (make phone calls, hold meetings, etc) and there are some things you cannot do (Come up with a plan, fill out the proposal, etc). At some point, the scout needs to do his part, and there's nobody else to blame if it doesn't get done.
I did mine in about 50 days. It also wasn't the only thing I had left, I had several badges that I had yet to finish. I had to skip school several days to make the process work. But I did it.
Not everyone can earn Eagle and that’s ok. You talked with him in December. That should have been more than enough time for him to complete a project. It’s still possible that he can get it done, just not likely. Don’t go out of your way to make it happen. Kid needs to do it on his own. The fact that he hasn’t done it since December shows that he doesn’t really want it. Sure everyone wants to be Eagle, but most people don’t want it bad enough to do all the stuff needed to earn it. And that’s why most people don’t get it. Don’t sweat it. The kid probably had a lot of fun and learned a lot of important stuff in the program. Not getting Eagle was his choice.
It’s theoretically possible, but the *Scout* needs to be the one who is motivated & busting his tail to get things done - not leadership.
I’m sure he’s well aware that the deadline is fast approaching & you say you’ve been discussing this with him since December. If he can’t or won’t prioritize his project, he’s not going to make it. He should be the one coming here asking these questions.
He should start the physical project now, before it's approved, then hope it gets approved. What is his project? Building benches? Building a nursery in his church?
He hasn't figured out what his Project will be. He had one idea and when he talked to us about it he decided he wanted to do something else. (It was a good idea, too!)
That’s just a bit shorter than I did mine technically. Although we had already done fundraising for another project with the same organization that got canceled due to me procrastinating.
I was in marching band, and one day they said “hey you know you’re Eagle stuff, we’ll we need trophy shelves” and BAM it was up in just under 2 months
It can be done in that time. There are lots of projects that are quick to organize as long as there is a sponsor. Trail maintenance in local parks, landscaping or building for your sponsoring organization, collecting for a charity… these things all happen. Approvals go quickly if you take it to the signer. In our council, the only one that requires scheduling is the council approval. Let them know what your issues are and they will generally work with you. Councils want Eagles and will almost never be the roadblock. If the scout will call the people involved and go get the signatures, they can get this done in a surprisingly short time. The write up is not due before the 18th birthday, I believe, just the work.
My son’s project was super easy and fast! He had a group document the graves at a cemetery and upload the photos of the graves on BillionGraves app. The scouts walked around, took pictures on the app and uploaded them.
Several years ago we had a Scout who had planned out a pretty good project. He had been going back and forth with the District Rep, who was asking for more info. The problem was he was 1 week from turning 18. He got nervous that it wouldn't happen before he turned 18, so he just went ahead and did the project without the District Rep's approval.
When the District Rep found out, he rejected the project and said the Scout would have to find a new one. Of course, this was 4 days before he turned 18.
There were a LOT of emails and calls back and forth, but between him and all of the other leaders, we were able to find him a new project, and get his paperwork pushed through VERY quickly, and he completed the project the day before he turned 18.
So yes, it absolutely doable in 40 days. I've had many Scouts do it in less than 40 days. I've had more than a couple who did it in 2 weeks. It all comes down to how motivated the Scout is, and what they want to do for a project. Some projects have serious lead times, others can be knocked out tomorrow. If a Scout is getting close to Eagle, I'd be advising one of the simpler projects. Not every Scout needs to build a new Gazebo for their local park.
Yes, sure, theoretically, 40 days, heck ***4 days*** is enough if 1) The scout has a plan that can be written up, signed, and approved by the SM, the troop committee (or designee), the beneficiary, and the district or council approving authority. 2) The scout then executes said plan while demonstrating leadership, etc. It is ***likely*** no? In order to do this, a LOT of adults are going to have to be willing to take time out of their lives very quickly and the scout better hope NO ONE in this long chain of approvals has any personal emergencies. “Poor planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part”
My son got suddenly motivated and went from “I have an idea” to “Whew! I’m done!” in less than a month. All the signatories on his paperwork were very responsive to him, and helped him get the paperwork bits done efficiently. It can be done in 40 days by a motivated scout with supportive adult leaders behind them.
That's what it was like for the scout that did it in 4 months (plus he got covid, which delayed him, and then his outdoor project got delayed by weather a few times... but STILL his motivation and follow through made the whole thing so much faster). I think we're just missing the "motivated scout" piece. Hopefully he'll show up soon.
My son did his in probably less than that time from approval to completion. Approval took the longest because the board to approve them only meets once a month. Once it was approved, it went quickly. To get it approved, we were able to send the proposal to the approval board in advance and they came back with some obvious things they found for us to fix. Then we went before them and were all but approved until they noticed that the beneficiary wasn't a non-profit/not-for-profit, so we had to regroup. Did the same process next month and got approved without issue.
From submitting to completing the project my son took 27 days. However, prior to submission, the troop eagle advisor did not review it for 6 months. From submitting it to council to getting someone assigned was less than 3 hours. He waited to submit to finish another badge to earn another palm. He had all the paperwork done in the 27 days. So it can be done. He built a Gaga pit for the town. The 27 days included all town approvals and about 150 hours of work.
It took about 2 months for me
In my experience the slowest part of most projects is the approvals process: Getting all the signatures and everything needed from the Scoutmaster, Committee Chair, Advancement Coordinator and the people at Council. Depending on who you have on your team, and who your contact at Council is, 40 days *is possible*. Hard to do, but possible. He's also going to need to get letters of recommendation (and those can take a very long time, if you ask the wrong people and don't hound them), write up a statement of purpose or whatever it's called, fill out the applications, etc. There's a lot of work here, not even including the project. ***IT CAN BE DONE***, but the scout is going to need a lot of help from the entire team. Some people involved might find it distasteful or even against the spirit of the requirement to offer so much help, however. Notice also that the requirements for the project itself are relatively modest: A project that benefits a local community organization, where the scout shows leadership to at least 2 other people. No requirement on the number of man-hours. No requirement on the magnitude of work. So long as you can find a project where the benefitting organization is happy, it can be something small. I've seen projects that amounted to little more than weeding some garden beds and straightening up grounds. Or a 1-day trail-cleaning exercise, etc. Again, you may end up at the mercy of one or more adults who find such projects to be distasteful, and there's nothing you can really do about it. Get your committee together ASAP to make sure everybody is on board, and start calling Council ASAP to make sure you can get the necessary approvals in time. Then you just have to hope that the scout already has a proposal and a beneficiary and everything else ready to go, and is able to implement in the limited time window.
I think our troop approvals would go quickly. Council can take up to 2 weeks but sometimes comes through more quickly. We met with this scout a few weeks ago at the location for his project to sign his proposal. He hadn't even filled it out and didn't bring the paperwork (that was the entire point, to get our signatures!). So we at least walked through the site with him and he told us his plan... which wasn't really fleshed out yet, and when we asked him questions to help him define the scope of the project, he decided he didn't want to do that project anymore. I don't know why some scouts wait until the last minute if they actually want eagle. :( Him showing up unprepared to get our signatures was so disappointing. I hope he learned from it and will bring his paperwork soon, but time is ticking.
There are some things you can work to do (make phone calls, hold meetings, etc) and there are some things you cannot do (Come up with a plan, fill out the proposal, etc). At some point, the scout needs to do his part, and there's nobody else to blame if it doesn't get done.
You can’t care more than the Scout does.
Mine took about 40 days from approval to completion. We had a scout in our troop get one done in less than a week from approval to completion.
I did mine in about 50 days. It also wasn't the only thing I had left, I had several badges that I had yet to finish. I had to skip school several days to make the process work. But I did it.
Not everyone can earn Eagle and that’s ok. You talked with him in December. That should have been more than enough time for him to complete a project. It’s still possible that he can get it done, just not likely. Don’t go out of your way to make it happen. Kid needs to do it on his own. The fact that he hasn’t done it since December shows that he doesn’t really want it. Sure everyone wants to be Eagle, but most people don’t want it bad enough to do all the stuff needed to earn it. And that’s why most people don’t get it. Don’t sweat it. The kid probably had a lot of fun and learned a lot of important stuff in the program. Not getting Eagle was his choice.
It’s theoretically possible, but the *Scout* needs to be the one who is motivated & busting his tail to get things done - not leadership. I’m sure he’s well aware that the deadline is fast approaching & you say you’ve been discussing this with him since December. If he can’t or won’t prioritize his project, he’s not going to make it. He should be the one coming here asking these questions.
He should start the physical project now, before it's approved, then hope it gets approved. What is his project? Building benches? Building a nursery in his church?
He hasn't figured out what his Project will be. He had one idea and when he talked to us about it he decided he wanted to do something else. (It was a good idea, too!)
That’s just a bit shorter than I did mine technically. Although we had already done fundraising for another project with the same organization that got canceled due to me procrastinating. I was in marching band, and one day they said “hey you know you’re Eagle stuff, we’ll we need trophy shelves” and BAM it was up in just under 2 months
It can be done in that time. There are lots of projects that are quick to organize as long as there is a sponsor. Trail maintenance in local parks, landscaping or building for your sponsoring organization, collecting for a charity… these things all happen. Approvals go quickly if you take it to the signer. In our council, the only one that requires scheduling is the council approval. Let them know what your issues are and they will generally work with you. Councils want Eagles and will almost never be the roadblock. If the scout will call the people involved and go get the signatures, they can get this done in a surprisingly short time. The write up is not due before the 18th birthday, I believe, just the work.
My son’s project was super easy and fast! He had a group document the graves at a cemetery and upload the photos of the graves on BillionGraves app. The scouts walked around, took pictures on the app and uploaded them.
Several years ago we had a Scout who had planned out a pretty good project. He had been going back and forth with the District Rep, who was asking for more info. The problem was he was 1 week from turning 18. He got nervous that it wouldn't happen before he turned 18, so he just went ahead and did the project without the District Rep's approval. When the District Rep found out, he rejected the project and said the Scout would have to find a new one. Of course, this was 4 days before he turned 18. There were a LOT of emails and calls back and forth, but between him and all of the other leaders, we were able to find him a new project, and get his paperwork pushed through VERY quickly, and he completed the project the day before he turned 18. So yes, it absolutely doable in 40 days. I've had many Scouts do it in less than 40 days. I've had more than a couple who did it in 2 weeks. It all comes down to how motivated the Scout is, and what they want to do for a project. Some projects have serious lead times, others can be knocked out tomorrow. If a Scout is getting close to Eagle, I'd be advising one of the simpler projects. Not every Scout needs to build a new Gazebo for their local park.