National Capital Area Council > Prince William > District Resources

District Resources

Journey To Excellence

Scouting’s Journey to Excellence (JTE) is the BSA’s planning, performance, and recognition program designed to encourage and reward the success of our units, districts, and councils. It is meant to encourage excellence in providing a quality program at all levels of the BSA. 

JTE forms and scorecards are available at Scouting.org. 

Merit Badges

Current Prince William District Merit Badge Counselors

A listing of current Prince William District Merit Badge Counselors is available here. Note that this list is only available to leaders in each unit who are directly involved in the advancement and merit badge process. The list is not made available to parents and scouts or all leaders. Distribution is limited per section 7.0.2.0 of the 2019 Guide to Advancement to ensure Scouts work with their unit leaders to obtain counselors and are not directly contacting them on their own.

To obtain the password to unlock this file, please email  PWCMBDean@gmail.com and provide your BSA ID.

The Process to become a Merit Badge Counselor

The details and forms are provided here.

To become a merit badge counselor, you must

    1. Register in the district as a Merit Badge Counselor (there are two ways, online is preferred and quicker)


    You need a my.scouting account, which is established for you to complete YPT training which you must do before applying.  This should be linked to your BSA ID.  This applies to brand new MBCs that are not yet unit scouters as well.

    While logged into my.scouting.org, Go to this URL – https://my.scouting.org/VES/OnlineReg/1.0.0/?tu=UF-MB-082pw29 (if you are not already logged in, it should ask you to log in and then will go to the right place)

    If you cannot register online go to the link for paper forms HERE and follow the instructions.  This is not preferred.  Contact MB Dean if you encounter difficulty with online registration. PWCMBDean@gmail.com

And

    1. Fill out the MBC Information form and email to the Merit Badge Dean

      Complete a Merit Badge Counselor Application (form 34405): The form for PWC is accessible HERE.

      Note that certain Merit Badges have required third party qualifications that are required to be a counselor in the topic. A list (08/2014) of all merit badges and the requirements for certain topics and the additional requirements of counselors can be downloaded from HERE.

      This form is also used to add badges for current Merit Badge Counselors.

      Form(s) must be sent to the Merit Badge Dean: PWCMBDEAN@GMAIL.COM

      *Citizenship in Society (CIS) MB additional requirements…
      Beyond the usual registration requirements for MB Counselors, the CIS MB requires specific demonstration of qualifications and requires completion of the BSA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) training available on my.Scouting. Further, CIS MB Counselors must complete NCAC developed training for the MB before they begin working with Scouts. Training is requested through the Merit Badge Dean (PWCMBDEAN@GMAIL.COM).
      –> Resources: MB Counselor Guide, CIS MB Counselor Information form
      –> Upcoming Training: 25-Feb, 6:30-8:30pm

Please address any questions to PWCMBDean@gmail.com.

The Eagle Process

Scouts who are ready to start their Eagle Project should contact their unit Advancement Chair or talk to their Scoutmaster. The unit may assign them an Eagle Advisor to get started. Eagle Advisors are entirely optional, but are usually a huge help for Scouts in getting through the process. Each unit has an assigned District Eagle Representative (DER) who will work with the Scout. The DER is required. While most Scouts will get a DER when they are ready or nearly ready to have their project proposal signed, Scouts may make the request at any time after earning Life. If a Scout needs help finding a project beyond what their unit is providing, they are welcome to ask for a DER to help them.

If a Scout is doing a conservation-related project, they should look at the Hornday Award to see if their Eagle Project might also be a Hornaday Project. If so, let us know and we will help them find a Hornaday Advisor.

If a Scout is having a problem with their DER or unit Eagle Advisor, or isn’t getting responses, they can email the Prince William District Eagle Coordinator at PWCEagle@gmail.com. If unit leaders need to know who their DER is, they can also email PWCEagle@gmail.com.

Fundraising applications should be submitted to our District Executive for council approval instead of being sent to Council. They do not need to be submitted before the initial project proposal (and the project proposal should not be held up waiting for fundraising to be approved) but do, obviously, need to be submitted and approved before the fundraising happens. FUNDRAISING APPLICATIONS ARE ONLY NEEDED IF OVER $500 MUST BE RAISED from sources NOT including friends, family, the unit, and the beneficiary

Scouters Involved in the Eagle Process

The following describes roles for Scouters involved in the Eagle process:

    1. The District Eagle Representative (DER). The DER is the person the Eagle Scout Project Workbook refers to as the District Project Approval Rep, every Eagle Scout Candidate MUST have a DER.
    2. Eagle Advisors. This is a person within a unit assigned to help a Scout with their entire Life-to-Eagle journey. They are not required to be registered with that unit but must be a registered Scouter with current YPT and may be the unit Advancement Chair/Coordinator.
    3. Eagle Coaches are district assigned and very rarely used. They are registered BSA adults with current YPT and subject-matter experts (specialists). Eagle Coaches help youth with a specific aspect of their project, but not with the entire Life-to-Eagle journey. For example, an archivist might be an Eagle Coach for a Scout working on archiving documents.
    4. The Eagle Mentor is a person the youth chooses who has helped them along their path and, as such, cannot be assigned or designated by anyone else. They are normally recognized during the Eagle Court of Honor.

The DER and Eagle Advisor (if used) both remain involved in the Life-to-Eagle Journey after the youth finishes their Eagle Project and may be involved before they even have a project identified.

Life-to-Eagle Training

Life-to-Eagle training is offered several times a year, alternating between the Eastern and Western Ends of the county. Check the district online calendar for the location and time of each session. Additional training dates may be offered at Camporees in or near PW County. In addition to offering you a chance to ask questions, those sessions will help explain some of the nuances of the Eagle Scout application and project approval process. Don’t miss it!

Eagle Project related forms

An outline of the NCAC process and informational links for the Eagle Scout Application process can be found at https://www.ncacbsa.org/advancement/eagle-scout-information/ 

Current links to the Eagle Scout Application (512-728) and Service Project Worksheets (512-927), plus other advancement related resources can be found at:
http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/resources.aspx

The Eagle Scout Service Workbook links for a Windows PC or Mac can be found at:
http://www.scouting.org/scoutsource/BoyScouts/AdvancementandAwards/EagleWorkbookProcedures.aspx. Information including links for the NCAC Eagle Scout Procedures Guide, Rank Application, Service Project Workbook, Beneficiary Information, and more can be found on the NCAC website under Eagle Scout Information.

The Eagle Scout Workbook PDF requires Adobe Reader 9 or later and must be opened from within Adobe Reader. This lets the user import images and save text because it is editable.