Welcome! This forum has a treasure trove of great info – Scouters helping Scouters! Just a heads up, though - all content, information, and opinions shared on this forum are those of the author, not the BSA.
Two recent Eagles earned multiple Palms including a second bronze and a second gold.
Those “second palms” of the same color did not show up on the purchase order.
They appeared in the needs purchasing report (I’m pretty sure - it is gone now since I created the PO) and they show up in the Scout’s record and in the Needs Awarding report. But the Purchase Order seems to have considered them as a duplicates - same award, same date - and only added one for each scout.
I can send screen shots and a copy of the PO if helpful.
Constance,
I have seen - and am still seeing the exact same behavior for our eagle scouts. See this post for more information. Ultimately, we purchased and awarded 5 separate palms - it not exactly thrifty, the alternative would be to award 1 each of the 3 palm pins and 5 eagle palm certificates.
While only 2 would need to be purchased, it is appropriate to award all that have been earned. If they earn 5 palms, they should receive 5 pins.
If a scout earns palms consecutively instead of all at once, it starts getting dicey and more difficult to track. Do you skip purchasing a silver because they already have a gold and bronze they can wear at the same time? If they have a bronze, gold and silver, do you not purchase another pin until they’ve earned a 7th palm since you can use all 3 in combinations to represent 4, 5 and 6 palms?
The scout is allowed to wear any combination of pins that add up to the correct amount, not the fewest number that equals the correct amount.
I’d verify that with the Guide to Awards and Insignia. That’s not quite how I recall it being phrased. I recognize this is straying into policy territory a bit, so feel free to reach out to your council for official clarification.
I understand what you are saying but it is pretty hard at an Eagle Court of Honor to present fewer physical palms to the scout who earned 5 than the scout who earned 3. Can’t even think how we’d explain that in the script. But I appreciate the guidance on properly wearing them and we’ll pass that on. Thanks for your help looking into the P.O. issue.
Wear only the proper combination of Palms for the number of merit badges earned beyond Eagle Scout.
But my real point is that what is awarded and what you wear are not necessarily the same thing. The scout should be presented with devices for all palms earned.
