How to Plan an Eagle Court of Honor

A Scout puts a tremendous amount of work and committment into attaining the rank of Eagle Scout. The recognition should be comensurate. A special ceremony should be put together so that he can be recognized and have friends and family there.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Once the Scout passes his Eagle Scout Board of Review, you can start the planning process.
2. Schedule a meeting for 1 - 2 hours with the following people to start the planning. Eagle Scout and his parents, the Scoutmaster, Troop Committee Chair, Advancement Chair, Eagle Coordinator, Court of Honor Chair, and others as needed.
3. The family (families if multiple Scouts will be recognized at the same time) should arrive with a list of dates they would like to plan for. You should give at least 6 weeks for final approvals from the National office and to put everything together.
4. Once selecting a date and one or two alternate dates, determine where the Court of Honor should take place. Make a reservation as soon as possible. You will need the space for about 4 hours. The ceremony will take about an hour, a reception afterwards takes about an hour or more. You should plan an hour for set up and practice and an hour for cleanup.
5. People should be assigned jobs to help get everything done.
6. Determine what items will be presented to the Scout(s).
7. Find a ceremony and edit it to customize it for the Scout(s).
8. Determine what dignataries will be asked for letters of recognition. (President, senators, governor, mayor, & others.) Letters need to be sent to this dignataries at least a month before the Court of Honor.
9. Somebody needs to be assigned to be in charge of the reception. This person is responsible for the set up of the reception and making sure that decorations and food/drink are there.
10. Special awards, gifts, cake, and decorations need to be ordered and purchased.
11. The ceremony used needs to be developed and speakers assigned.
12. Before the Court of Honor, a press release should go out to the local media including a bio of the Scout(s) and details of his leadership service project.
13. A program needs to be printed including the Scout’s bio.
14. All speakers should be given a copy a few days in advance.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure to include the Eagle Scout and his family included in all planning.
• This is a celebration of his achievement.
• Paperwork issues can always delay things. A good rule of thumb is not to plan the Court of Honor sooner than 6 weeks after the Board of Review.