Christopher Vandaele
Founder
Registered Merit Badge Counselor for 35 badges with Scouting America, fencing coach, and President of the Palm Beach Fencing Club. Coaches all four awards.
About
About Tallyhurst
Independent award coaching for teenagers, across the United States.
Tallyhurst is an independent award coaching practice founded by Christopher Vandaele. We coach teenagers aged 13 to 23, online across the United States, through The Congressional Award, The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award, the Youth STEMM Award and CREST Awards, and we stay with each student until the record is submitted.
Why we exist
These awards are among the most valuable things a teenager can earn, and among the easiest to quietly abandon. They are designed for a motivated young person to complete alone, over many months, and many capable students start strong and stall. Usually nothing is wrong except that no one is watching the count. Tallyhurst is the outside adult who does. We keep the plan, read the log, check the work against the rules, and notice the week things go quiet, so parents can stop being project managers and teenagers can finish what they started.
Our standards
The student does the work. Your teenager does every activity and writes every word of every submission. We coach, check and keep the schedule. An award earned this way means something.
Every rule, followed exactly. Each program has its own requirements on hours, months, advisors and assessors. We know them in detail and plan so that nothing is rejected on a technicality.
Never alone with a student. Every conversation includes the student, a parent or guardian, and the coach. Our full standard is published on our Safeguarding page.
Honest from the first call. If Tallyhurst is not the right fit for your teenager, we will tell you so in the first conversation.
Independent, and clear about it. We are not affiliated with any award body. Your teenager registers directly with each program and earns the award on their own record.
Our coaches
Every Tallyhurst coach is background-checked, trained in child protection, and signs our code of conduct before working with a student.
Christopher Vandaele, founder
Christopher grew up in Bruges, Belgium, and has made his home in Florida. He has spent years working with young people: as a registered Merit Badge Counselor for 35 badges through Scouting America's Gulf Stream Council, as a fencing coach, and as President of the Palm Beach Fencing Club since 2019. In his professional life he advises companies on performance and change, and he studied business at the Wharton School. He speaks English, Dutch, French and Spanish, which helps with families who have moved from abroad. He founded Tallyhurst to give teenagers the steady, outside accountability that turns a good start into a finished award.
I want a world where every teenager learns early that they can set a hard goal, show up for it month after month, and finish. I feel lucky that I get to help young people complete the Congressional Award, the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award, the Youth STEMM Award and CREST: some of the most meaningful things a teenager can earn, and some of the easiest to quietly abandon halfway through. Tallyhurst is an independent coaching service that works with families across the country, with expedition support here in Florida. The families we serve have a capable kid who started strong and stalled. When the work goes well, that kid is logging their hours without being chased, writing their own submissions, and holding a medal that proves they kept a promise to themselves.
Safeguarding
Tallyhurst follows the youth protection standard Scouting America sets for its own adults, adapted for coaching online: no adult is ever alone with a young person, in person or online, and parents see everything.
Questions about Tallyhurst
Who founded Tallyhurst?
Tallyhurst was founded by Christopher Vandaele. He is a registered Merit Badge Counselor with Scouting America, a fencing coach and President of the Palm Beach Fencing Club.
Where is Tallyhurst based?
Tallyhurst is based in Florida and coaches families online anywhere in the United States.
Is Tallyhurst affiliated with any award program?
No. Tallyhurst is an independent coaching service. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Congressional Award Foundation, The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award, Youth STEMM Award CIC or the British Science Association.
Are Tallyhurst coaches background-checked?
Yes. Every Tallyhurst adult passes a criminal background check, completes child protection training and signs our code of conduct before working with any student, and checks are repeated every two years.
How many students do you work with?
Places are limited each year so that every student is followed closely. We will tell you in the first conversation whether a place is available.