geocaching eagle project

[+gkart65]

This is my first post in the geocaching forums. So please forgive any mistakes. and hopefully this is the right topic area to put this thread in. if not sorry in advance.

 

I'm wondering if anyone has or has heard of anyone hiding caches for an Eagle Scout project to become an eagle scout. I have been pondering the idea and trying to start but I haven’t been able to get a response back from anyone at Groundspeak. But now I’m just interested if it has been done before.

 

Ow and as side note. My log in as gkart65 is shared by my dad and I so that might help straighten out some confusion if you go to our profile.

[SAWKS]

I have never heard of anything like that.

Maybe if you organized a CITO event that might count.

 

[+gkart65]

I have never heard of anything like that.

Maybe if you organized a CITO event that might count.

 

 

that would be a good back up plan. ill keep that in mind..

[ju66l3r]

If I remember correctly, Eagle Scout Projects entail a large community service aspect that you organize and contribute to yourself, right?

 

If so, then a large-scale CITO event for reclaiming a lost park ("lost" in the context of high vandalism, littering, etc) or something of that nature might be good, followed by improvement of the park with new benches/playground/trash receptacles. Another idea might be the restoration of a lost graveyard in coordination with the state/local historical society who would probably know of a reasonable-sized graveyard for your effort ("lost" in this context is truely lost...as in almost nobody remembers it is there and there is little money for the work of restoration) and a dedicatory geocache nearby to make sure visitors take note of the important historical location and it does not get lost again.

 

Some ideas, but I'm not sure how hiding/finding geocaches quite meets the merit of an Eagle Service Project...without it being more ancillary to some other goal.

[+TheBeast]

I but Im not sure how hiding/finding geocaches quite meets the merit of an Eagle Service Project...without it being more ancillary to some other goal.

I agree, I am an Eagle Scout and I don't see how this would pass muster. I do like the ideas that ju66l3r had though and you could place a cache there once the work is done to sort of christen it.

[ju66l3r]

...you could place a cache there once the work is done to sort of christen it.

 

In fact, if you are fabricating anything as a part of the service project, you could build the geocache *into* the object (like a picnic table/park bench/etc)...of course, with the permission of the location/administration you're working with on your project.

 

That would help tie it into the project AND make an extra crafty hide for your area to find.

[+gkart65]

...you could place a cache there once the work is done to sort of christen it.

 

In fact, if you are fabricating anything as a part of the service project, you could build the geocache *into* the object (like a picnic table/park bench/etc)...of course, with the permission of the location/administration you're working with on your project.

 

That would help tie it into the project AND make an extra crafty hide for your area to find.

 

well an eagle project intitles; " while a life scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to your religious institution,school, or community"...ect"

 

so i was planing on guideing each of the 3 patrols in my troop on making the chaches and gathering stuff to put inside adn then lead a hike type actibeity to the cache locations...

 

but it still has to be aproved but befor it can be aproved i have to get a name of a person at Groundspeak and talk talk to them so i have a person from the orginization that benifits that can be a guide to me aon my project but most of what that requirenment if for is already covered by the geocaching.com website....

 

and if my curent plan falls through i will proably do what you guys have suggested above.

[rogheff]

As a Scoutmaster and a geocacher, I'll voice my opinion. It takes me, by myself - that's one person, about 10 minutes to throw a geocache togather. Maybe an hour if it's a complicated container or hide. I don't think that alone qualifies as an Eagle Scout worthy service project. I like the other posts about cleaning up a park and having a CITO geocache to keep it clean. I really like the idea of building benches with built in caches.

 

Simply hiding some geocaches isn't enough IMHO. I wouldn't authorize it. Add more than just the caches, make it a grand event. Don't forget to invite fellow geocachers to help you.

[+TheBeast]

Let us know how that turns out and congratulations on making it this far!

[+brosch]

As a Scoutmaster and a geocacher, I'll voice my opinion. It takes me, by myself - that's one person, about 10 minutes to throw a geocache togather. Maybe an hour if it's a complicated container or hide. I don't think that alone qualifies as an Eagle Scout worthy service project. I like the other posts about cleaning up a park and having a CITO geocache to keep it clean. I really like the idea of building benches with built in caches.

 

Simply hiding some geocaches isn't enough IMHO. I wouldn't authorize it. Add more than just the caches, make it a grand event. Don't forget to invite fellow geocachers to help you.

 

I have to agree with this. It could be too easily construed as self serving, rather than for everyone. And I know that our troop here (I'm not involved with them, yet!) would consider it too small on it's own. The park reconstruction, on the other hand...

[Neos2]

I have to agree with the majority here. I've seen the projects that were approved by scouts in my area, and they usually involve many hours of planning, coordination, and effort. Some of the better ones I have seen include:

 

- the group that created a biblically-themed walking garden for a local church, with benches and a contemplation pond

 

- several scouts lead groups that found old abandoned cemeteries and restored them, clearing away weeds, uprighting headstones, and creating a list of the people buried there for the local historic society to help genealogists

 

- one group cleared a trail through a local DNR park, created tags to identify various plants along the path, and provided brochures for a self-guided tour of the plants along the trail as well as the boxes to hold the pamplets at the trail head

 

-one group built a gazebo and a patio for a local nursing home and added to the garden there for the enjoyment of the residents

 

I looked through this guide for beginning an Eagle Project and notice that it also says that the project "may not be performed for a business or an individual, be of a commercial nature" I feel sure that your committee would view Groundspeak as a business, and would not approve it for that reason. You might feel that geocachers would benefit, but in all honesty, geocachers create their own geocaches and that limits the benefit you would be providing the geocaching community.

 

I adore geocaching, and I can tell that you feel strongly about it, too. I suggest you think about some of the suggestions that others have made. Perhaps there is a nearby trail that has fallen into disrepair that you could fix up or improve. You could turn a mediocre trail into a showcase for nature lovers in your area if you added things like trail markers, bluebird boxes, bat boxes, and geocaches to the trail. That way, you could add the geocaching element, but still have a substantial project that would allow you to demonstrate your leadership skills by planning the trail and other projects, gathering supplies, and the coordinating workers to carry out the tasks. A project like that would benefit not only geocachers, but a huge portion of the community and be truely worthy of the pride that comes with sucessfully completing an Eagle project.

[+Oneyedjack]

You might want to take a look at these Eagle Scout Projects in Waymarking.com. I think they make a great connection between Scouting and Geocaching. Just my 2 pennies.........

[+webscouter.]

I would also recommend that you make your project one that you can point out to your kids when they get old enough to start working on their project.

 

I didn't and my brothers did. Their projects were much better than mine.

[+Quiggle]

A CITO might work as long as you follow the guidelines for CITO events, particularly this portion:

CITO Events are set up and sponsored by geocachers – not by other organizations. If you have an event you feel fits within the spirit of this unique category, yet are still unsure, please seek permission before submitting.

If you're not sure, contact your reviewer for help before you bank your whole project on the event being listed on geocaching.com.

[+JohnnyVegas]

THere are several caches in the area to north of San Francisco, these caches feature eagle scout projects.this is one of them GCV4RQ. You might want to contact the owner of the cache regarding your idea. Him and his wife are both very involved with scouting.

[+The Leprechauns]

A series of geocaches were hidden as an Eagle Scout project in Pennsylvania. Each cache container was a birdhouse with a combination lock on it, and was placed near a point of historical interest in his hometown.

 

Unfortunately, the cache hider/Eagle Scout candidate did not take the time to read the listing guidelines prior to planning his project, and the cache series had to be modified significantly due to cache saturation issues. So he had his Daddy write a flame mail to the volunteer cache reviewer. A scaled-back version of the cache series got published, but the caches were not maintained by their owner and were eventually either archived or adopted, I can't remember. That is a common occurrence when a school-age cache owner graduates high school and goes off to college.

 

I mention this not to dissuade the OP from undertaking his project, nor to suggest that he would follow the same path, but simply to emphasize the importance of following the rules. Complying with the cache listing guidelines for a project like this is no different than contacting park officials to get permission before building a footbridge across a stream (a more traditional Eagle Scout project).

[+nameless301]

Yeah I definetly think that the only way to do any Eagle Scout project would be a huge CITO event that might take place monthly or something.

[+arcticwarriors]

Congratulations! I earned my Eagle 2 years ago and enjoyed evry bit of it. I don't think a CITO event would go over too well sice it only helps the community temporarily - a place can always get trashed over night. My understanding of the requirements is that the project have a lasting effect. Nameless 301 suggested having events every month. I think something along those lines would be a lot better than a one afternoon event. Anyway, that's my two sense worth. Congratulations again! Keep us posted.

Arctic Warriors

[+gkart65]

im changing my project...

Edited August 30, 2006 by gkart65

[+arcticwarriors]

Please forgive me if I seemed to be saying your idea won't work. Where there's a will, there's a way. I just think you might need to add a little more to it.

Arctic Warriors

[Luckless]

I found a cache that was placed by a scout troop. It was placed on a nature trail that was created as an eagle project.

[+BadAndy]

I found a cache that was placed by a scout troop. It was placed on a nature trail that was created as an eagle project.

 

Now *theres* a job worthy of an Eagle Scout project. Build a nature trail, complete with geocaches.

 

Back in the "old days", eagle projects took many manhours of work and months of planning and coordination. They stood out in the community as valuable improvements and many have lasted decades.

 

BadAndy, Eagle Scout class of 1976.

[+EScout]

I have been involved with helping many Scouts with their Eagle projects over the years, including my two sons. I agree with those posts above regarding trail restoration, open area improvements, and such. My Troop has done severa. This can be combined with a CITO event, and a cache to bring people to the area to see the work and beauty of the area.

[+japtkd]

Good luck on getting an Eagle service project together. The service project is definitely what keeps most Life scouts from making it all the way to Eagle. My advice would be to find a project, geocaching related or not, that was have a lasting effect on the community. For my project, I constructed an access ramp for the church I grew up in. Everytime I go home I get to see what I did over a decade ago. Trail construction, cemetary or park restoration, perhaps a picnic shelter for a local park, I think any of these projects would be approved on the first proposition to a committee. Just be sure to have a well defined proposal before you go to your committee.

[+GSTroopers]

If structured properly this definately could be an Eagle Project.

My daughter just received her Girl Scout Gold Award for a project called "Geocaching at Camp Cone".

The Gold Award is the equivalent of the Boy Scout Eagle Award.

Her project was well received and acknowledged at a National Level.

The structure of the project is what made it Gold Award quality.

To give you an idea...

She developed a theme and put 10 educational Caches in a local youth camp, they are not listed on Geocaching.com because the camp is not open to the general public. The 10 cache course was built as an activity at a camp that had no structured program for the groups that visited. The local Boy Scout Council also uses this camp for leader training.

She wrote for donations for the cache contents... Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Radio Stations, Oil Company, State Senators and Delegates, etc.

Each of the caches had a laminated educational insert which she researched and wrote. For example - one was called Franklins Forest and included a piece about turtles. Indian Itch Stopper had an insert about Jewel Weed, Brown Dragon was about Jack in the Pulpit, Got Fish! about Herons, etc...

She wrote a course guide with all the clues and description material that would usually be found on Geocaching.com. The course guide included information about the park and the things they would come across while searching for the caches. For Example - old foundations, Beaver damaged trees, etc.

When the course was ready, she trained the local Girl Scout Leaders on How to Geocache then piloted her course with a Girl Scout Geocaching Encampment.

It was a really great project.

AND... another girl in our troop got her Gold Award by writing a Geocaching Manual that highlighted the course at Camp Cone. She teamed with my daughter for the Leader Training and Encampment then wrote and laminated her manual, made a waterproof box, and placed her manual at the park for the groups that want to do the Geocaching Course.

If you decide to use Geocaching for your Eagle Project and have any questions about how the girls did their project we'd be happy to help.

FYI - Girl Scouts now has a Geocaching Badge for the Cadette and Senior Girls, it is called Hi-Tech Hide and Seek.

I don't usually read these Forums, so you can contact us through Geocaching.com - GSTroopers - if you have any questions.

GOOD LUCK!

[+gkart65]

just to not leave you all in the dark. i got my last required merit badge tonight. so the search for a project is now in full swing again... im thinking that ill do a project and then ad a cache to the area afterwords(less paperwork that way). alot of good segestions here. i like the idea of making a trail.. but were to make it?.... thats what ill have to think of now between school and work.

[+Bad_CRC]

another eagle here.

 

 

you could build a bunch of bird houses, and the last birdhouse is actually a cache. (just joking, I actually dislike those kinds of caches, because they encourage people to poke around and mess with things that should be left alone.)

[+TheManInStripes]

I found a cache that was placed by a scout troop. It was placed on a nature trail that was created as an eagle project.

 

Now *theres* a job worthy of an Eagle Scout project. Build a nature trail, complete with geocaches.

 

Back in the "old days", eagle projects took many manhours of work and months of planning and coordination. They stood out in the community as valuable improvements and many have lasted decades.

 

BadAndy, Eagle Scout class of 1976.

That's what I was hoping for. I built a 25 x 25 foot concrete patio at a Senior Citizens Day Facility. We had to dig it all out by hand and haul away the fill, put in the forming boards, then we got help pouring the concrete. The following year, another scout in our troop built some brick planters around it so the residents could do some gardening in them. The summer after that, a big construction company tore it all out when they expanded the facility. What a waste of 2 nice projects.

[+karstic]

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_detai...38-28bdc946540e

 

Here's a cache that was placed as an Eagle Scout project.