Four Steps to Scout Advancement - A Scout is Recognized

Fifth in a series of articles about the four steps to Scout Advancement.
Articles will be published each Tuesday beginning November 20, 2012

Immediate recognition is a powerful incentive of the BSA’s advancement program. A Scout should receive his new badge as soon as possible after his achievement has been certified by a board of review. A simple ceremony at the conclusion of a troop meeting or during a camp out is ideal, with the Scoutmaster making the presentation of the badge.

In addition, a troop holds a court of honor every three months—a formal recognition with families, friends, and the public in attendance. All Scouts who have moved up to any rank except Eagle Scout, or who have earned merit badges since the last court of honor, should be recognized.

Scoutmaster Handbook

When the board of review has approved his advancement, the Scout deserves recognition as soon as possible. This should be done at a ceremony at the next unit meeting. The certiﬁcate for his new rank may be presented later, during a formal court of honor.

Guide to Advancement 2011 [4.2.1.4 The Scout Is Recognized]

The board of review date— not that of a subsequent court of honor—becomes the rank’s effective date.

Guide to Advancement 2011 [8.0.1.5 After the Review]
When a Scout advances, he should be recognized as soon as possible–preferably at the next unit meeting. He is recognized a second time at a public ceremony called a court of honor. The main purposes of the court of honor are to furnish formal recognition for achievement and to provide incentive for other Scouts to advance. Formal courts of honor should be conducted at least four times a year. All Scouts who have advanced since the previous court of honor are honored. Their parents and friends should be invited to attend the ceremony. Suggestions on court of honor agendas and ceremonies are found in Troop Program Resources for Boy Scout Leaders.

Troop Committee Guidebook

In the fourth step of Scout advancement a Scout is recognized twice, he receives the badge or emblem as soon as possible, and is also recognized at a court of honor. Every advancement award offered by the B.S.A. has two components, a badge and a certificate (the card that accompanies the badge) present the badge as soon as possible and hold on to the certificate to present at a court of honor.

A Scout should receive his new badge as soon as possible after his achievement has been certified by a board of review.
The whole idea of this first presentation is putting the badge in the Scout’s hands quickly. He’s earned it, it’s been recorded properly and we want the Scout to have it as soon as possible. There’s no reason that it needs to sit around for weeks or months waiting to be distributed.

The Scoutmaster Handbook mentions “a simple ceremony”. During our closing at a troop meeting I hand the badge to the senior patrol leader, hold the certificate so he can read the name, the Scout steps forward and receives the badge with a handshake, his fellow Scouts applaud, and that’s it.

Court of Honor
Periodically (every three months is recommended) a formal court of honor is held to recognize ranks, merit badges and other achievements since the last court of honor.

I know of no official policy or directions from the B.S.A. describing THE WAY to hold a court of honor, or any particular rules about what has to happen. You will find suggestions for courts of honor in the Troop Program Resources Guide. These are, of course, suggestions; not directions or policy statements.

When the Scout completed his board of review and the paperwork was signed he was moved from one rank to another; it’s already happened, a court of honor recognizes the achievement, it does not bestow the achievement. A court of honor it is not like a wedding ceremony or swearing in a public servant where some combination of actions and words change a persons status as a result of the ceremony.

Nearly every troop has their own specific way to do a court of honor and I would never say any of them were flat out wrong, I prefer some ways over others, but that’s just a personal preference; so what follows are my own ideas of the way things ought to be, read on with that in mind.

Simplicity, Predictability and Consistency
Simple, predictable ceremonies that are presented consistently have a lot to recommend them.

Scouts will be familiar with the ceremony (fewer terrified vacant stares form the presenters and less uncertain wandering and shuffling of feet).
Awards are presented in the same way over time so there’s a consistent recognition of the same award from one year to the next.
Repetition brings home the messages in the ceremony.
Simplicity means brevity, the audience stays engaged and interested.

We ‘ve used the same basic court of honor script with few changes for the past twenty years or so. You’ll find all manner of ideas and court of honor scripts on line, there are books about Eagle courts of honor. My advice is keep it simple.

I have written and directed two plays and acted in many more, and I can tell you that dialogue, blocking, scenery, costumes and the technical aspects of staging a play require about 2-3 people behind the scenes for every person on stage, what you see from the audience is the tip of the iceberg.

If you have the resources and energy for an elaborately staged court of honor, more power to you! What you may not know is that once you’ve staged a big elaborate court of honor once you’ll have set a precedent that you’ll be expected to meet for all subsequent courts of honor.

I’d also suggest that your youth leadership, led by the senior patrol leader, do the presenting. Our Courts of honor are emceed by the senior patrol leader and he invites the scoutmaster to the stage to help him present ranks from 1st Class up.

Formal and Relaxed
While the court of honor should have formality and gravity commensurate with honoring achievements they don’t need to be stilted and uncomfortable. There ought to be smiles and any mistakes in the presentation should be taken lightly. Nobody get’s laughed at, no gasps from the audience if something goes wrong, no reason to feel bad or be embarrassed, but still maintaining an atmosphere that something important is happening.

The Eagle Court of Honor
There are folks who insist that the Eagle court of honor must be a separate presentation from a normal court of honor. There’s no policy statement I can find defining such a distinction. Some troops have the tradition of holding separate presentations for each individual Eagle Scout, some present them at a normal troop court of honor, there’s no absolute rule to follow.

Some troops delegate the planning for an Eagle court of honor to the Scout and his family. If that works for you, fine; but I think it can lead to problems. Some parents loose the distinction between an eagle court of honor and a coronation. One huge, expensive, court of honor sets a precedent for the next family to meet or surpass and soon there’s an upward spiral that’s hard to stop. I have seen it happen, and it’s not all that pretty (think a catered reception with a live band; yes, I am deadly serious).

I can also tell you from experience that most Eagle recipients would rather have a simple, meaningful ceremony than a big show.

Some years ago, after a lot of fuss and bother, uncomfortable committee meetings, heated arguments, and hurt feelings we finally agreed to hold our Eagle courts of honor as a part of our regular troop courts of honor. We do some special things when we present the Eagle award, it’s not just handing the Scout the badge with all the others. If families choose they can have light refreshments afterwards, and thus far everyone is happy.

Larry Geiger says

December 18, 2012 at 8:36 am

1. The thing with rank patches has become somewhat frustrating because we cant’ get them from the supply service without an advancement report. As Tom said in a comment on the podcast, they use the pins. Yuck. I would like a Scout to receive his badge of rank the night of board of review, and that’s how we’ve always done it in the past. We give the Scout his card and he pins a pin on his mom at the COH.

2. Scouts are in charge of the COH. We have some simple rules and they usually stick pretty close to the tradition, but every once in a while they get a wild hair. The simple rules are things like:
a. SPL opens and closes with the flag ceremony. It’s a Troop event.
b. SPL usually leads the Oath and Law, but not always.
c. COH progresses through business, MBs, and finally ranks presentations. Rank presentations are the highlight and finale.

3. Families participate in Eagle ceremony planning but we don’t turn it over to them entirely. They can have a reception if they like. If they don’t want a reception then the Troop will purchase a cake. That’s only happened once in about 50 Eagle COH’s.
a. An Eagle COH is a Troop event, not a family event. The SPL opens and closes the ceremony. An emcee may handle part of the ceremony after the SPL and before the Scoutmaster goes up.
b. No business or announcements.
c. A visiting speaker is highly encouraged. Guidance for that is someone who may speak about the Scout but who is also inspirational for the entire Troop. We have had a lot of great talks.
d. The current Scoutmaster presents the award to the mom for the presentation to the Scout. It’s a Scoutmaster’s privilege to present the Eagle award. It’s a mom’s privilege to award it and pin it on. We dont’ delegate that.
e. Usually about 30 to 40 minutes, tops.
f. Often on Sunday afternoon around 2:00pm or 3:00pm. Reception following with some cake and nuts and pillow mints 🙂

I really like having the Eagle COH separate from the Troop COH. It’s a great time for reminiscing and fellowship. The Eagle Scout often has some of his friends from school, maybe some teachers, his pastor, and lots of family. I really enjoy standing around the reception and chatting with the Scout’s grandparents, aunts, uncles and various family members. We talk about Scouting in the old days and other lore. Some of the more mature (older 🙂 ) family members will wear suits and ties and dresses. The Scouts are all in uniform. Things tend to be very orderly and formal. That’s a good thing.

We like to line up at the food table with our guests first and then Scouts in order by rank, with the new Eagle Scout first down to the lowliest Tenderfoot and lastly the adult leaders. We adults always go last. It’s all great fun.

Comments

Larry Geiger says

December 18, 2012 at 8:36 am

1. The thing with rank patches has become somewhat frustrating because we cant’ get them from the supply service without an advancement report. As Tom said in a comment on the podcast, they use the pins. Yuck. I would like a Scout to receive his badge of rank the night of board of review, and that’s how we’ve always done it in the past. We give the Scout his card and he pins a pin on his mom at the COH.

2. Scouts are in charge of the COH. We have some simple rules and they usually stick pretty close to the tradition, but every once in a while they get a wild hair. The simple rules are things like:
a. SPL opens and closes with the flag ceremony. It’s a Troop event.
b. SPL usually leads the Oath and Law, but not always.
c. COH progresses through business, MBs, and finally ranks presentations. Rank presentations are the highlight and finale.

3. Families participate in Eagle ceremony planning but we don’t turn it over to them entirely. They can have a reception if they like. If they don’t want a reception then the Troop will purchase a cake. That’s only happened once in about 50 Eagle COH’s.
a. An Eagle COH is a Troop event, not a family event. The SPL opens and closes the ceremony. An emcee may handle part of the ceremony after the SPL and before the Scoutmaster goes up.
b. No business or announcements.
c. A visiting speaker is highly encouraged. Guidance for that is someone who may speak about the Scout but who is also inspirational for the entire Troop. We have had a lot of great talks.
d. The current Scoutmaster presents the award to the mom for the presentation to the Scout. It’s a Scoutmaster’s privilege to present the Eagle award. It’s a mom’s privilege to award it and pin it on. We dont’ delegate that.
e. Usually about 30 to 40 minutes, tops.
f. Often on Sunday afternoon around 2:00pm or 3:00pm. Reception following with some cake and nuts and pillow mints 🙂

I really like having the Eagle COH separate from the Troop COH. It’s a great time for reminiscing and fellowship. The Eagle Scout often has some of his friends from school, maybe some teachers, his pastor, and lots of family. I really enjoy standing around the reception and chatting with the Scout’s grandparents, aunts, uncles and various family members. We talk about Scouting in the old days and other lore. Some of the more mature (older 🙂 ) family members will wear suits and ties and dresses. The Scouts are all in uniform. Things tend to be very orderly and formal. That’s a good thing.

We like to line up at the food table with our guests first and then Scouts in order by rank, with the new Eagle Scout first down to the lowliest Tenderfoot and lastly the adult leaders. We adults always go last. It’s all great fun.