You are entering a contest against the best Eagle Scouts in the United States. You will have to do research, collect and organize facts about yourself, and compose the items required to complete the application. The Scholarship awards of the SAR are tax-free money which you have earned by your work in the BSA Scouting program and the considerable personal effort required to complete the Scholarship Admission.

The two page Application Form

1. You must use the National Forms and they must be in the two-sided format.

2. Put your State Chairman’s name and information in the fields at the top of page 1.

This is the only person you can mail the application to; David Shannon / 1105 S. 5th Avenue W. / Newton, IA 50208 / E-mail: dshann37@iowatelecom.net / Phone: (641) 792-1310

3. The forms can be downloaded from the national website. An additional feature is that you can type on these forms in the website then copy them to an Adobe Acrobat file in your documents (Version 4 or higher is required).
4. These forms must be neat, Filled out completely, and accurate. You will need help from your parents and your unit leaders. It is suggested that you first fill out the forms by hand and then check them over for errors (Ask for help if you are not sure what to do). Then type them into the website forms. It is a lot more work but it will eliminate mistakes and impress the judges.
5. Use the Activity, recognition, and Award sections III Thru VIII to show the judges who you are and what you have done. If you have more items than will fit in a space submit category attachments on a separate of paper and fully describe what you have done and why it was important. You can’t say to much about yourself.
6. Don’t be fooled by the fact that no points are awarded in Category IV, Hobbies & Special Interests. This is used during judging as a tie-breaker and items listed could influence the scores in other sections.
7. Notice how important the American Heritage, Genealogy, and Law merit badges are in the total merit badge scoring. You simply don’t have a chance at the national level without these badges.

The Four Generation Chart

Your family can help you with and you will have a nice start on understanding where you came from. If you have someone in your family who is a DAR or SAR member you should mention that and more importantly they will be able to provide you with the information to prove descent from a War of Independence patriot. Submit the genealogical tree back to this person on an attachment and include with your submission. This is very impressive to the judges at the national level because it makes you a potential member.

The Patriotic Essay

1. The maximum length of the essay is 500 words. Do not count “a” or “and”. Show the word count at the bottom right of the essay.
2. This essay is your original composition. Pick a patriotic theme that interests you. Do not copy word for word from your sources. Number your sources and recognize them in the attached bibliography.
3. Do not use Wekipedia or any other questionable source. Care has to be taken when crediting sources from the Internet.
4. Your essay should be typed and reviewed for proper spelling and sentence structure.
5. The chosen theme must refer to people, places or events that occurred during the period of the War of Independence (1775 – 1783). If you are fortunate enough to have a Revolutionary ancestor, using that person or the events associated with him/her is a very powerful and original theme.
6. State clearly within your essay why your theme was chosen and what was interesting to you about it.

Be sure to mail your application and attachments to the Iowa Society Eagle Scout Scholarship chairman before the December 1 deadline. Make copies of your submission and keep it in a safe place. You will receive an acknowledgement from the chairman by return mail. Contact the chairman if you have any questions or concerns.