To Parents at an Eagle Court of Honor

Here’s an idea of what can be said at an Eagle Court of Honor to help parents understand their role in Scouting. This is a big day, and it all goes by fast.

Before we go any further; mom and dad, take a moment to look at your Scout. A Scout goes through uncertain times to get to a day like today. Take a moment to think about every boy who becomes a Scout. As a crowd, they are predictable. As individuals, well, you never quite know. Who knows what they’ll be thinking and doing today? They wake up in a new world every morning.

Yesterday they may have been passionate about one thing; tomorrow they’ll have their hearts set on another – who can tell?

Scouting thrives on all this uncertainty by setting surmountable obstacles, asking the right questions, and guiding them towards the right answers.

Scouting provides a safe environment where failure has real consequences, and success has real rewards. As Scouts do all the things that Scouts do they learn to do for themselves and serve the interests of others. Each one of them makes their own way; some Scouts make it to an Eagle Court of Honor. I’ve been around long enough now to watch our Scouts go from a day like today to become college professors, army captains, engineers, teachers, television personalities, lawyers, executives, doctors, and tradesmen.

While they follow different paths they all become decent, contributing, citizens with a sense of service, and decent human beings with a sense of compassion. That’s our measure of success in Scouting, that’s our aim. The Eagle Scouts we recognize today stand astride their futures. It will be some time before we know what they will become. They approach their future knowing they have what it takes to achieve. The badge and medal we present today symbolize this vast potential.

I get to talk to many Scouts; it’s the best part of my job as a Scoutmaster. Most have at least some idea how you get to a day like today; but they aren’t exactly sure. It takes three things to become an Eagle Scout, desire, drive, and a family’s support and encouragement. I’ll tell you that drive comes from desire, not the other way around.

Scouts have to want to reach a day like today; they can’t be driven towards it, and we wouldn’t want to drive them if we could. We can’t drive them, but we can look for that spark of desire, encourage it, and give it room to grow. So, before we go any further, look at your Scout. What will he become? What does life hold in store? You can help him reach a day like today; it’s an opportunity waiting there for him. Let’s all do our part to make it a reality.