Rank Advancement Resources

The first 12-24 months of your time as member of Troop 28 is a great time to learn what scouting is all about. During this time, scouts can work on the skills required for advancement from a new scout to First Class. Many of these skills are life skills including camping safety, cooking, time management and planning, financial management, goal setting, and first aid.

While scouts can begin working on merit badges at any time after they join BSA, merit badges are only required for rank advancement after the scout has achieved First Class rank. Between First Class and Eagle, scouts are expected to serve in a variety of youth leadership roles, earn 13 merit badges from an “Eagle-required” list as well as several other elective badges. These scouts are expected to share their knowledge with younger scouts and to serve as role models in the troop an the community. Achieving Eagle, the highest rank in Scouting, also requires significant additional effort to complete a Council-sanctioned Eagle service project.

Please check out some of the resources below to help you complete your rank requirements:

ScoutTenderfootSecond ClassFirst ClassStarLifeEagleEagle Palms

#6 With your parent or guardian, complete the exercises in the pamphlet How to Protect Your Children from Child Abuse: A Parent's Guide
The pamphlet will likely take a parent 15-20 minutes to read, and the discussion portion will likely take at least 15 minutes. Scouts do NOT need to read the full pamphlet – that is up to the parents to decide. The exercises for the rank requirement begin on page 20 and are in the orange boxes. Parents are welcome to tailor the discussion to a level they believe is appropriate for their scout and their maturity level. Parents are welcome to have the scouts read the pamphlet, or can just talk through the scenarios in the orange boxes and provide any context they feel is appropriate and necessary.

#6….and earn the Cyber Chip Award for your grade….
See the Troop's Cyber Chip Resources

…OR, watch the Personal Safety Videos for your rank.
See the BSA Scouts BSA Personal Safety Awareness Videos.

#6b Develop and describe a plan for improvement in each of the activities listed in requirement 6a.
Download Tenderfoot Fitness Tracking Log

#5a to 5d. Tell what precautions must be taken for a safe swim. Demonstrate your ability to pass the BSA beginner test: Jump feet first into water over your head in depth, level off and swim 25 feet on the surface, stop, turn sharply, resume swimming, then return to your starting place. Demonstrate water rescue methods by reaching with your arm or leg, by reaching with a suitable object, and by throwing lines and objects. Explain why swimming rescues should not be attempted when a reaching or throwing rescue is possible. Explain why and how a rescue swimmer should avoid contact with the victim. These requirements can be completed by requesting a test session from the organizers of the weekly BSA Tuesday Swim Night in Glenview.  These requirements can be completed at the same session immediately following the First Class Aquatics requirements.

#7a and 7b After completing Tenderfoot requirement 6c, be physically active at least 30 minutes each day for five days a week for four weeks. Keep track of your activities.  Share your challenges and successes in completing Second Class requirement 7a. Set a goal for continuing to include physical activity as part of your daily life and develop a plan for doing so.
Download Second/First Class Fitness Tracking Log

#4a. Using a map and compass, complete an orienteering course that covers at least one mile and requires measuring the height and/or width of designated items (tree, tower, canyon, ditch, etc.).  The troop has materials available so this activity can be organized on-demand.  The troop activity utilizes the permanent orienteering course at Waterfall Glen (about 45-60 minutes' drive from Glencoe). The course can be done by a scout and a willing parent but will only teach the orienteering skills if the parent, a youth leader, or additional adult volunteer is available to teach scouts how to take a bearing, use a pace calculator, estimate distances, read an orienteering topographical map, etc.  If you are interested in doing this activity, we'd request that you reach out to the Scoutmaster/Advancement Chair to see if there are other scouts and parents available to coordinate both transportation and the activity. **New as of April 2020: The Chicago Area Orienteering Club has set up several “quasi-permanent” orienteering courses that can be completed on your own time.

#5a Identify or show evidence of at least 10 kinds of native plants found in your local area or campsite location. You may show evidence by identifying fallen leaves or fallen fruit that you find in the field, or as part of a collection you have mode, or by photographs you have taken. You are welcome to use the resources in your Scout handbook, or nature guides to help you with this. One additional tool is the iNaturalist app, which can be downloaded to a smart device and used to help you organize your photographic observations, and to identify the species. Take the Troop 28 iNaturalist Challenge, or simply use it as a tool in your toolkit.

#6a and 6e Successfully complete the BSA swimmer test and With a helper and a practice victim, show a line rescue both as tender and as rescuer. (The practice victim should be approximately 30 feet from shore in deep water.) These requirements can be completed by requesting a test session from the organizers of the weekly BSA Tuesday Swim Night in Glenview.  These requirements can be completed at the same session immediately following the Second Class Aquatics requirements.

#8a and 8b After completing Second Class requirement 7a, be physically active at least 30 minutes each day for five days a week for four weeks. Keep track of your activities.  Share your challenges and successes in completing First Class requirement 8a. Set a goal for continuing to include physical activity as part of your daily life.
Download Second/First Class Fitness Tracking Log

#6 With your parent or guardian, complete the exercises in the pamphlet How to Protect Your Children from Child Abuse: A Parent's Guide
The pamphlet will likely take a parent 15-20 minutes to read, and the discussion portion will likely take at least 15 minutes. Scouts do NOT need to read the full pamphlet – that is up to the parents to decide. The exercises for the rank requirement begin on page 20 and are in the orange boxes. Parents are welcome to tailor the discussion to a level they believe is appropriate for their scout and their maturity level. Parents are welcome to have the scouts read the pamphlet, or can just talk through the scenarios in the orange boxes and provide any context they feel is appropriate and necessary.

#6….and earn the Cyber Chip Award for your grade…
See the Troop's Cyber Chip Resources

…OR, watch the Personal Safety Videos for your rank.
See the BSA Scouts BSA Personal Safety Awareness Videos.

No resources currently available.

Scouts pursuing Eagle rank are encouraged to reach out to the Troop 28 Eagle advisor and to look for project ideas and tips from Troop 28 Eagle scouts and families on our Path to Eagle page.  However, for copies of current forms and the official BSA application, please refer to the NEIC Eagle resource page.

Achieving Eagle rank is a tremendous accomplishment, but it does not need to spell the end of a scouting career. In fact, for many Eagle scouts, it's a transition to a new career as a leader and role model for younger scouts. Scouts earn Eagle palms by earning additional merit badges, continuing to demonstrate Scout spirit, AND by remaining active in scouting. Scouts can earn an additional palm for each five merit badges AND three months of Scout involvement after earning Eagle rank. Scouts who have completed an extra five badges BEFORE their Eagle Board of Review can earn the Palm(s) and Eagle rank simultaneously.