{"id":38,"date":"2016-05-10T21:04:29","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T21:04:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sfcbsa.jamesrossdev.com\/?page_id=38"},"modified":"2026-04-27T07:21:36","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T11:21:36","slug":"path-to-eagle","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sfcscouting.org\/path-to-eagle\/","title":{"rendered":"PATH TO EAGLE SCOUT"},"content":{"rendered":"

THE JOURNEY FROM LIFE SCOUT TO EAGLE SCOUT<\/strong><\/span>\"\"<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Citizenship in Society Merit Badge Discontinuance<\/h1>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n
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The Citizenship in Society Merit Badge will be discontinued effective Friday, February 27, 2026. Beginning on February 27, 2026, Scouts will no longer be able to start requirements on the Citizenship in Society Merit Badge. Those Scouts who had already started\u00a0and completed<\/u><\/strong>\u00a0any requirements for the merit badge will be allowed the rest of 2026 to complete the full merit badge and still utilize it for attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. This has been standard practice for Eagle requirements and other advancement changes in the past.<\/p>\n

Effective Feb. 27, 2026, the rank of Eagle Scout will have 13 required merit badges instead of 14. All of the remaining 13 Eagle Required merit badges will still apply, just not Citizenship in Society, but Scouts will have 8 elective merit badges from which to choose instead of 7, and the total for Eagle Scout will remain at 21 merit badges (13 required + 8 elective = 21 merit badges).<\/p>\n

Council & District Advancement Chairs as well as Council Registrars (Eagle Scout app processors) will have the ability to allow the Citizenship in Society Merit Badge to count towards Eagle Scout for those few Life Scouts who started the requirements prior to the discontinuance date, and will complete the merit badge before Dec. 31, 2026.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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District Eagle Chairs<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Each district has dedicated volunteers who will assist each Scout as the work towards the Eagle Scout Rank. From project approvals to Eagle Boards of Review, the volunteers are a great resource for the scouts and troops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
District<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nDistrict Position<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nFirst Name<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nLast Name<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nPhone Number<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\nEmail<\/strong><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Buccaneer<\/span><\/td>\nAdvancement Chair<\/span><\/td>\nLarry<\/span><\/td>\nHribar<\/span><\/td>\n305-289-8346<\/span><\/td>\nbonobobonomo@aol.com<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Direct Service- Units outside USA<\/span><\/td>\nAdvancement Chair<\/span><\/td>\nLarry<\/span><\/td>\nHribar<\/span><\/td>\n305-289-8346<\/span><\/td>\nbonobobonomo@aol.com<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Everglades<\/span><\/td>\nAdvancement Chair<\/span><\/td>\nAnthony<\/span><\/td>\nDeCario<\/span><\/td>\n305-582-0094<\/span><\/td>\ntroop811scoutmaster@gmail.com<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Panther Eagle BOR<\/span><\/td>\nAdvancement Chair<\/span><\/td>\nMatt<\/span><\/td>\nMcKaig<\/span><\/td>\n954-744-6529<\/span><\/td>\ntombguard@gmail.com<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Panther Eagle Projects<\/span><\/td>\nAdvancement Committee<\/span><\/td>\nJoseph<\/span><\/td>\nRein<\/span><\/td>\n954-434-5865<\/span><\/td>\nPantherprojects1@gmail.com<\/span><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Phoenix<\/span><\/td>\nEagle Projects and Applications<\/span><\/td>\nThad<\/span><\/td>\nOvcarich<\/span><\/td>\n305-772-8396<\/span><\/td>\neaglephoenixdistrict@gmail.com<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sawgrass<\/span><\/td>\nAdvancement Chair<\/span><\/td>\nBryce<\/span><\/td>\nTolin<\/span><\/td>\n954-501-6564<\/span><\/td>\nbatolin@icloud.com<\/a><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Path to Eagle Flier\u00a0 <\/span>\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Dear Life Scout:<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Congratulations on achieving your Life Scout rank, you are now ready to begin the journey<\/span><\/p>\n

to Eagle Scout.<\/span><\/p>\n

The rank of Eagle Scout is the highest rank in Scouts BSA. It represents years of active<\/span><\/p>\n

participation in a scouting unit where the scout has worked to gain skills, earn merit badges<\/span><\/p>\n

and developed as a leader through their fulfillment of the duties in positions of responsibility<\/span><\/p>\n

within their unit. The Scout does not travel this trail to Eagle Scout alone. Their fellow Scouts,<\/span><\/p>\n

family, unit leadership, district and Council volunteers all have a role in guiding them to the<\/span><\/p>\n

attainment of the Eagle Rank.<\/span><\/p>\n

The trail to Eagle starts well before the achievement of the Life Scout rank, it begins as the<\/span><\/p>\n

Scout works to earn the rank of First Class. The scout, their parents\/guardian and the adult<\/span><\/p>\n

leadership of their unit should make themselves familiar with not only the requirements that<\/span><\/p>\n

must be completed but also the time frames required to achieve the Eagle rank before the 18th<\/span><\/p>\n

birthday. With rare exception, a scout should never \u201crun out of time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The National Boy Scout office designates the process and forms and applications which must <\/strong>be<\/span><\/p>\n

used to complete the rank of Eagle. The Guide to Advancement <\/strong><\/a>is the best reference for the<\/span><\/p>\n

process of advancement. It clearly states, \u201cNo council, committee, district, unit, or individual has<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

the authority to add to, or subtract from, advancement requirements.\u201d <\/em>To avoid confusion, this<\/span><\/p>\n

Life to Eagle Packet <\/strong><\/a>uses the same terminology as The Guide to Advancement <\/strong><\/a>when discussing<\/span><\/p>\n

what is required versus desired or optional.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Guide to Advancement <\/strong><\/a>states \u201cThis publication clearly identifies mandated procedures with<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

words such as \u201cmust\u201d and \u201cshall.\u201d Where such language is used, no council, committee, district,<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

unit or individual has the authority to deviate from the procedures covered without written<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

permission of the National Advancement Committee. Recommended best practices are offered<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

using words like \u201cshould\u201d while other options and guidelines are indicated with terms such as<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cmay\u201d or \u201ccan.\u201d<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The most recent edition of the Eagle Scout Service Project Workbook and the Eagle Scout Rank<\/span><\/p>\n

Application must <\/strong>be used by the Eagle candidate. The South Florida Council Eagle Scout<\/span><\/p>\n

Reference letter form must <\/strong>be used.<\/span><\/p>\n

This Life to Eagle Packet <\/strong><\/a>explains the process specific to South Florida Council, the intent is to<\/span><\/p>\n

make the process clear to scouts, their parents\/guardians, unit leadership and district and<\/span><\/p>\n

Council volunteers.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Eagle candidate will find that there are some steps, specific to their district, not included<\/span><\/p>\n

here that they must research. These might include items such as day and location of the district<\/span><\/p>\n

Eagle board meetings and the name and to whom and where to address to send Eagle<\/span><\/p>\n

candidate references letters.<\/span><\/p>\n

This Life to Eagle Packet updated March 2025 <\/a><\/span>covers the following topics:<\/span><\/p>\n

\uf0a7 Trail to Eagle Timeline<\/span><\/p>\n

\uf0a7 Special Transition Rules<\/span><\/p>\n

\uf0a7 Documents and Forms you will need<\/span><\/p>\n

\uf0a7 Fundraising for Eagle Scout Service Projects and Crowd\u2010funding<\/span><\/p>\n

\uf0a7 How to obtain Eagle Scout Letters of Reference<\/span><\/p>\n

\uf0a7 The South Florida Council Eagle scout letter of Reference form<\/span><\/p>\n

\uf0a7 Completion and submission of the Eagle Scout Rank Application<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Trail to Eagle Timeline<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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