Eagle Scout Award/Gold Award of Merit

The requirements to apply are:

1) You must complete your Eagle Scout/Gold Award Project and have it approved as completed by the Boy Scouts of America or Girl Scouts of America.

2) You must have a scheduled court of honor or ceremony where you will be awarded the rank of Eagle Scout or a Gold Award.

3) Your Scout Master, Scout Leader, or You (as a Lone Scout) must submit an application for this award.

4) The project must have taken place after the year 2022 and the court of honor/ceremony cannot have been already convened/taken place.

5) Email application must be sent to JoshuaLoper@GeorgeWashingtonWitnessTreeOfDelaware.org with an appropriately labeled subject line. The subject line must be labeled: Eagle Scout Award Application or Gold Award Application: Your Name. The examples are: 1) Eagle Scout Award Application: John Doe 2) Gold Award Application: Jane Doe.

The application:

The person submitting the email to the museum must include the following information:

1) Your full name (First, Middle, and Last Name) for the certificate.

2) The number of your Troop, Crew, etc. 

3) A synopsis of your project and explanation why it has a lasting impact. (About 1 page in length)

4) Proof from the Boy Scouts of America or Girl Scouts of America that you have completed your Eagle Scout or Gold Award.

5) It is understood/legally agreed to by the Scout and understood/legally agreed to by their parents/legal gradians if under 18 years of age that the scout receiving the award will have their full name, troop number, and the synopsis of their project shared on the George Washington Witness Tree of Delaware Museum Online as a recipient of this award. If the scout is over 18 years of age, the individual scout may email his/her own documents. If the scout is under 18 years of age, the scout's legal guardian must email this information to the museum. This email must contain acknowledgment in the affirmative (As an example: I agree to have my son John Doe's project information shared on the website.) as legal proof of this agreement. This is a requirement for receiving this award.

Applications that will be considered:

     All applications will be received by the panel and considered. All decisions to award are made on a case-by-case basis. While this award was originally intended to be awarded for projects that benefit the environment such as the earth, plants, and animals (promoting repopulation of a bird species by building protected and permanent house boxes as an example), the committee is also happy to issue this award for historical (saving, preserving, and permanently displaying the bell of the USS Wilmington as an example) and humanitarian reasons (raising money to purchase a fully equipped ambulance as an example) all qualify.

Applications that will not receive an award:

     This award is issued for the completion of projects that have a long-lasting impact on future generations. While all applications we receive will be considered will the full attention that they all deserve, not all will receive awards. These projects must be long-lasting in their effect. They must improve future generations, and not be political in nature. Examples of some applications we have received that were not awarded are:

A) The individual for their award painted their church's curbs. This application was denied because it did not have a long-lasting impact on future generations. The paint on the curbs had peeled or washed away within five years.

B) The individual organized a protest, and ad campaign against eating meat. As meat eating is bad. This application was denied because: 1) The project was not approved by the scout's local council 2) It is political (While we at the museum support the first amendment and personal choice, this is a political viewpoint) 3) When we received the 1-page application synopsis from the individual, it failed to mention what long-lasting impact for good this project had.

C) The individual cleared ground and erected a flagpole at scout camp. This application was denied because... while the project was approved by their council, council eventually revoked permission, and the project was never finished.