The Eagle Scout Letter of Recommendation is an official recommendation letter intended to highlight a scout’s candidacy for the Eagle Scout position and to recommend the scout to the Eagle Scout Board of Review in order to increase the scout’s chances of becoming an Eagle Scout.
The highest honor in the Boy Scouting program of the BSOA (Boy Scouts of America) is being an Eagle Scout. The applicant is required to have at least six references, and if the applicant does not have an employer, they must have five at least references. The applicant should request his references to send the letter directly to the District Eagle Scout Board of Review for assessment.
Suppose you are the one with the responsibility of writing the recommendation letter. In that case, you should highlight the scout’s virtues and qualities that make them credible and eligible candidates for the Eagle Scout position. Therefore, this article will benefit both the requester and the writer of the Eagle Scout letter of recommendation by highlighting what it is, who can write it, and the information that should be included in this type of letter.
Free Templates
To enhance convenience, we have meticulously crafted multiple templates to ensure compatibility with your preferred software. By utilizing these templates, you can streamline the process of writing an impactful letter, saving valuable time and ensuring that you include all the necessary information. Moreover, all of our professionally designed templates are available for free download, enabling you to effortlessly create high-quality recommendation letters in a formal and polished manner.
If You are a Requester
If you are an individual who wants to become an Eagle Scout, there are several things that you should keep in mind. First, you need to have a properly written Eagle Scout letter of recommendation, which can be achieved by observing the following:
The best person to ask
As a scout, you will need either 5 or 6 Eagle Scout letters of recommendation, depending on your employment status. The references you will need include a parent or guardian, a pastor or any religious official, a teacher or principal, a professor or educator, a professional individual or employer, and two other references, such as a scoutmaster, friends, or relatives.
Someone who knows you well and can accurately assess your character should be the one you ask to write your recommendation letter for you. Your references can be above or below 21 years old for an Eagle Scout recommendation letter. Ensure that you include all of the Information needed so that your references can more quickly draft the Eagle Scout letter of recommendation.
Which information should you provide?
The following information should be provided to your references once you ask them to write you a recommendation letter for the Eagle Scout position:
- Email addresses or addressed envelopes of the recipients of your recommendation letter
- The deadline for submitting the recommendation letter
- A copy of the Scout Oath and Scout Law
- Instances of how you accomplish or carry out the points in the Scout Oath and Scout Law
- Examples of what you have done or accomplished as a scout to qualify for the Eagle Scout position
- Information advising the writer not to show the recommendation letter to you or anyone else unless it is the Eagle Scout Board of review.
How to Apply for the Eagle Scout Position?
You should follow the steps if you want to apply to be an Eagle Scout. These steps include the following:
Register as a boy scout
You will first need to register as a boy scout by filling out the online registration form provided by the Boy Scouts of America. You also need to find a local troop among the 250 scout councils found across the United States. A troop is a unit of boy scouts that you should join to help sharpen your scouting skills and learn how to work together.
Be a leader in your troop
You must demonstrate your leadership skills in order to be considered for the Eagle Scout position, and you can do this by completing the second step and taking charge of your troop. As a result of your leadership, other scouts will see you as a scout who accepts responsibility, can volunteer for projects, and can act quickly to assist a fellow scout.
Acquire merit badges
Additionally, you must make sure that you earn each of your merit badges. The Eagle Scout rank requires 21 merit badges, 13 of which are core badges. The difficult task of earning all 21 of these merit badges will require grit, strategy, and long-term planning.
Get tested and reviewed
The last step in applying to be an Eagle Scout is to take a test and have your application reviewed. The Eagle Scout Board of Review will first check and confirm that you meet all the requirements. After that, you will need to appear before the board to be tested and evaluated for your request for candidacy. After that, they will review your eligibility while going through your recommendation letters and finally decide whether to promote you or not.
Writing a Recommendation Letter
Suppose you have been asked to write a recommendation letter for an Eagle. If that is the case, you must follow these guidelines to ensure that the recommendation letter you write for that particular scout is successful:
What do I need to do after I agree?
In most cases, you will be asked to recommend an Eagle Scout candidate for the Eagle Scout position in one of two ways.
The first way is that you might be contacted by a scout council member responsible for the scout’s performance review, either through phone or email. This council member will give you the details of the Eagle Scout candidate and ask you to act as a reference for him so that he can decide whether or not he meets the requirements for the Eagle Scout position.
The scout may also get in touch with you by mail or email and ask you to compose an Eagle Scout letter of recommendation for them to increase their chances of being appointed as an Eagle Scout. In such cases, this candidate will provide an addressed envelope, a postage-paid envelope, or a council member’s email address.
You must make sure that the letter stays private once you have agreed to write it. The details of the letter should only be shared with the Eagle Scout Board of Review members. You want to persuade the board that this particular scout qualifies for the Eagle Scout position by recommending him.
Make sure to base the letter on the details the scout provided to you, and the recommendation letter includes all the necessary scouting information. Your recommendation should focus on the scout and how his character, abilities, and personality make him a good Eagle Scout.
Format of the letter
When writing an Eagle Scout letter of recommendation, you should follow a specific format. If you include all of the necessary information, you will be able to write a recommendation letter for the candidate that is appropriate and effective.
Ensure that you have reviewed the Scout Oath and Scout Law before writing the recommendation letter.
You might receive a questionnaire or form that you must fill out and provide details as a reference.
If a form is not provided, use the following format to write a recommendation letter:
Introduction
For the introduction section, you should include the Eagle candidate’s name, state your relationship with the boy scout, and mention the length of your relationship. Ensure that you include information about why this particular Eagle Scout candidate deserves to be an Eagle Scout. You can make this statement in about one or two sentences.
Body
You should have about two or three paragraphs in the body section to ensure that the recommendation letter for the Eagle Scout is brief. You will focus on expounding on the candidate’s qualities mentioned in the introduction. You should also provide relevant examples of the boy scout’s personality and character. Ensure that the letter includes the qualities and morals mentioned in the Scout Oath and Scout Law.
Conclusion
You should summarize all of your points in the letter’s final section. Also, make sure to reiterate your recommendation and emphasize all of the scout’s positive qualities that qualify him as an Eagle Scout.
Your letter should end with a conclusion paragraph and then list your full name, address, phone number, and email address as references.
Sample Eagle Scout Letter of Recommendation
16th May 2022
Margaret Richards
333-333-3333
[email protected]
Dear Eagle Scout Board of Review,
I am writing this letter to recommend and reference Michael Williams, a boy scout with 22 merit badges who is aspiring for the Eagle Scout position. I have been his professor for the last four years, and I have been teaching and interacting with Michael during this period. It has also been a great pleasure to learn from him, as Michael is an outstanding student. In addition, his strict adherence to the Scout Oath and Scout Law makes him the perfect Eagle Scout candidate, and that is why I highly recommend him for the position.
As his professor and reference, I can attest to his loyalty, friendliness, obedience, and leadership abilities over the past four years. Michael Williams joined the university as a determined boy scout with 15 merit badges and managed to earn seven more merit badges within four years. His duties as a troop leader did not deter him from pursuing his educational and religious goals. Michael Williams guided a study group and helped the members excel while still accepting helpful and positive criticism. This shaped him into a better student, a leader in his troop and study group, a son to his parents, and most importantly, a great boy scout.
Being an Eagle Scout is an integral part of Michael’s scouting career, which he has worked hard for. That is why I highly recommend him for the Eagle Scout position. His ability to respect and abide by the law while knowing how to respect other people’s opinions makes him the perfect Eagle Scout candidate. Â
Please feel free to reach out to me at my email address or phone number for more information about Michael William. Also, I do hope that you will consider him for the Eagle Scout position.
Sincerely,
[Signature]
Conclusion
An Eagle Scout position is a highly coveted one among boy scouts. As a result, one of the most important tasks that a boy scout must complete in order to become an Eagle Scout is to collect all of the required 6 or 5 references. In addition, as a boy scout, you must have an Eagle Scout letter of recommendation from the required references. With this letter, your references will be able to convince the board members of your qualifications and eligibility when it comes to being an Eagle Scout. As a result, both the requester and the writer must focus on what is required of them in order to have an effective Eagle Scout letter of recommendation.
