About the Servant Leader Award
Have you heard of the Servant Leader Award?
It’s just about the highest honor a Cadet can receive, and it’s also pretty rare. If you know of a cadet who consistently demonstrates servanthood and leadership, he might be a good candidate for the Servant Leader Award.
About the Servant Leader Award
Jesus made it a point to teach His disciples that being a leader meant being a servant. To ensure that they understood, he modeled a true servant’s heart for them when, on His last night before being nailed to a cross, He tied a towel around His waist and washed their feet. It was a job usually reserved for the lowest servant of a household.
Cadeting is all about imitating Jesus, so we also look for servant leaders. It’s not easy to be both a servant and a leader, especially to the degree that Christ requires. Still, we watch and pray for such people. And when we find one, we rejoice with the Lord that he has made a person faithful.
The Cadet Corps offers a small reward for such a service – the Servant Leader Award. It is more than just another patch for a cadet’s shirt. Here are just a few of the requirements.
Servant Leader Award Requirements
- A Cadet must advance through the ranks, completing all requirements for Recruit, Pathfinder, Builder, Guide, Right Star Guide, and Advanced Guide.
- He must participate in a leadership role in planning and implementing a council activity such as a camporee, snow derby, field day, etc.
- This is to be completed with Cadet council board approval, supervision, critique, and evaluation.
- The Cadet must write a report and evaluation of the activity, including what he learned and suggested improvements.
- He must participate in a Christian service project of at least five days.
- The service project must be approved by the council board.
- The Cadet must submit a written report to the council board explaining what he did, what he learned, how the project had an impact on those served, and how the project had an impact on him spiritually.
- The Cadet must participate in an interview with the council board explaining his participation.
Note: If the Cadet is a member of an independent club, he can still earn the award. Instead of planning a council activity (#2 above), he must plan a high-level club activity. Instead of reporting to a Cadet council board (as in #2 and #3), he will report to all his club counselors and the independent club consultant.
Servant Leader Award Recognition
When a Cadet has earned this award, his head counselor will write an article about the boy, depicting significant events of his cadet career, including his achievements and the service project (s) he has worked on. This article and accompanying photos will be published in the Cadet Quest magazine and sent to the boy’s local newspaper. The head counselor will also alert the local Cadet council so that they can present the boy with an award at an appropriate assembly.
The local Cadet council will issue the boy a certificate of recognition and a Servant Leader patch for his uniform.
The Cadet office will send a plaque of recognition to the boy, along with a personal copy of the Cadet Quest with his article in it.
Servant Leader Award: Lead the Way!
Do you know of a Cadet who has what it takes to earn the Servant Leader Award? Encourage him to lead the way in his club!
To learn more, please contact your Cadet counselor or reach out to us here at the Cadet Office.
If you have comments or questions about this article, please let us know – info@calvinistcadets.org.