As you learn scout skills, your achievements will be recognized and celebrated.  Rank Advancement encourages the Scout to set goals, and work towards them.  New SCOUTS have unlimited potential; TENDERFOOTS are enthusiastic beginners; SECOND CLASS scouts are involved learners, and by FIRST CLASS a Scout has mastered the basics, of hiking, camping, and is ready to learn how to be a leader.   

Each Scout progresses at his own pace.  Your Leaders will encourage, but not push you.  You must Want to Advance.  The requirements for each rank are clearly listed in the Boy Scout Handbook.  

The first four ranks of SCOUT through FIRST CLASS require you to participate at Troop Meetings and Outings, to bring your Handbook, and to learn basic Scout Skills.  Every Scout should want to master these skills and earn FIRST CLASS.

Scouts are not eligible for most Troop Leadership positions, NYLT, Order of The Arrow, or High Adventure Treks until they have earned FIRST CLASS.
  

The early ranks were all about learning and doing things for yourself, the focus now changes to serving and teaching others. Scouts are now held to a higher standard.  STAR Scouts lead their fellow scouts while they participate in High Adventure.  LIFE Scouts focus on taking the lessons of Scouting to heart, as they prepare themselves to achieve our highest rank: Eagle Scout.      

Requirements for the higher ranks consist of earning Merit Badges, performing service projects, demonstrating Leadership in the Troop, and Scout Spirit in our daily lives.
  
The Eagle is the highest rank in Scouting.  Less than 2% of the boys who join Scouting ever attain the rank of Eagle Scout.  The honor roll of Eagles include:
    Leaders in business like H Ross Perot, & Sam Walton
    Astronauts Jim Lovell, & Neil Armstrong
    Filmmaker Steven Spielberg
    Govenors Michael Dukakis, and Rick Perry 
    US Representatives Richard Gephardt, & Ike Skelton
    Senators Bill Bradley, Tom Foley, Richard Lugar, & Sam Nunn
    & President of the United States Gerald Ford.

Troop 329 has produced 31 Eagle Scouts in its 102 year history. 
  
The Eagle Scout award tells the world that this rare young man is a man of true character.  He should exemplify the Scouting Ideals.  It tells us that he can set long-term goals, and see them through to completion.  And it tells us that he is a trained and accomplished leader, someone in whom we can trust with great responsibility and authority.  It is a very demanding standard, and a worthy goal.  The rewards of becoming an Eagle are great, and last a lifetime.  

Although a Scout does not need to achieve Eagle, or any other rank in order to enjoy being a Scout, you will get the most out of Scouting and have a real feeling of success as you reach each new level of achievement. 

But always remember: The awards in Scouting must be earned, never given.  The value of any badge, is not in the little piece of cloth, but in the lessons that have been learned, and the skills that can be demonstrated.   

There are currently more than 122 Merit Badges, you can earn, each of which is an open invitation to learn about an interesting skill or activity.  You can learn about sports, crafts, science, trades, or business. 
 
A few of these areas are considered So Important for you to know, that earning them is required for the higher ranks of Star, Life, and Eagle.  The required Merit Badges are:

• First Aid
• Camping
• Citizenship in the Community
• Citizenship in the Nation
• Citizenship in the World
• Communications
• Cooking
• Environmental Science
• Personal Fitness
• Personal Management
• Swimming -or- Hiking -or- Cycling
• Lifesaving -or- Emergency Preparedness
• Family Life

Pick a Subject.  Go to our Scoutmaster, Mr. Myers, to request a Merit Badge Card.  Call the Merit Badge Counselor to arrange a Meeting.  Remember the Buddy system.  You must have another person with you at each meeting with a Counselor.  The Counselor will explain what is expected of you, for that badge.  Learn what you need to know, do the work, and then show the Counselor what you have accomplished.  Bring the signed Merit Badge card back to the Scoutmaster, so that a your badge can be purchased for you.

PARENTS:  It is very important that when setting Merit Badge appointments, it is the Scout who makes the call.  Communication skills, and the ability to speak to and deal with adults are some of the life lessons we are trying to teach in Scouting.       

NEW SCOUT:  Embodies Unlimited Potential.

TENDERFOOT: An Enthusiastic Beginner. 

SECOND CLASS: Represents Learning
LIFE: The Servant-Leader.  
EAGLE: 

In just a few short years, a Scout undergoes a miraclulous transformation – from someone who struggles to learn the Scout Oath and Law, to one who lives them.  From someone who wants to go camping, to an experienced Outdoorsman, from a boy to a young man capable of leading others.  But the greatest accomplishment is still to come: when you earn the right to be called an Eagle Scout.