eagle-pete

Thank you Eamonn and SR540Beaver for the info on the SE authority. I was not aware of that. The question now in my mind is what was the point of the original post. The poster claims an "injustice" and is asking for clarity as to whether the BSA is petty and political. Then nldscout says that the poster had not only been revoked of membership in the BSA, but is not forthcoming with the whole story anyway... "Before anyone says anymore you should know that his membership has been revoked IAW BSA guidelines. He is not eligible to receive anything from BSA any longer, is banned from Attending BSA functions, is not allowed to be at any BSA activity. Its a bit more than he let on." It's tough to reply to a question when you are not provided all the information. ATCprofesr offers only vague notions of his side of the story, colored with unsubstantiated insults and accusations directed toward his council, SE and the BSA. Lot's of holes in his story along with unanswered questions. And then leaves out details such as a ruling by his council which completely bans him from all Boy Scouting activities. This is just a little too one sided for me to swallow. It is, however, a good example of how we, as scout leaders, should keep the same Scout Auth and Law as our boys do. This would have avoided a slough of problems, not to mention preserving his membership in the BSA - a membership which I, for one, cherish! Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

How unfortunate. ATCprofesr If indeed you are innocent of all allegations and you have truly completed your Wood Badge ticket, you still have a hard row to hoe. You will need to approach this as if it is a criminal court case. Gather all your information, proof of your side, and any witnesses you can produce to validate your claims. Furthermore, I am not completely familiar with who has authority to do what here (as this is an extremely rare incident). Although a professional Scout Executive has some authority as to your standing in the BSA, vis--vis any improprieties you may or may have not committed, I am not certain if he has the ability to overstep the authority of a Wood Badge Course Director. It seems to me that staff members of your course should be your first line of defense for awarding your Wood Badge. I would be in close contact with my Troup Guide and Course Director. These individuals are your best resources to back you up and resolve this. Also, I don't know how well you have developed a relationship with your Wood Badge patrol, but if it is anything like mine, your patrol would be a powerful character reference and can vouch for your integrity, reliability, and honesty. I would ask them to each write a letter to that end and sign it. Also, it is unclear what level this particular Scout Exec holds in your council. Can you present your case to anyone above him? I would gather all the necessary information which supports your side, as well as any testimonies, letters of recommendation, and character references and present this first to someone in authority in your council, and then, if you are still unable to make any headway, I would take it to a national level. This is your personal reputation and good name you are defending and I would go as high as necessary to clear this up. This will take a lot of work and your beads will have been well earned when you receive them; probably more so than many participants. Good luck Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

What you should really do is buy another scout shirt and all the insignia that goes with it. For that matter, buy two new shirts and insignia to plan ahead for another position change! Buy a third so you can help with Roundtable and wear your district insignia! You will need a fourth, just incase you are asked to serve on Wood Badge Staff as well. Just keep buying shirts and insignia! You can never have too many, and besides, BSA needs all the contributions it can get! Eagle Pete

Eagle 76 Your Wood Badge ticket is a very personal thing, as you will see when you take the course. In my opinion, the best tickets are those which the participant develops from personal experiences, a desire to make a difference, and a high level of commitment to the scouting program. I won't go into my entire ticket, but one experience that I remember well was working with the parents and the youth to bridge the gap between the aims and methods of scouting and the perception and expectations the parents had. The ticket item was something like - build better relationship and familiarity with parents in order to encourage more parent participation with their boys. To do this I needed to meet personally with each parent and discuss with them their concerns and expectations they had with the program, their boys, and how to bring it together. The results were very interesting and I was able to accomplish quite a bit with bringing the parents and the scouting program together. I discovered as I was working with the parents that my perceptions were somewhat in error with regards to how parents viewed scouting and what they wanted for their boys. I found that there is a common misconception among our leaders, at least in our unit, that the parents don't care about scouting. My ticket revealed that this simply was not the case. This is one example of a challenging, but rewarding ticket item. I recommend looking at the ticket as an opportunity to make a difference in your sphere of influence. For me, that was the purpose of my entire ticket. Eagle Pete

My awesome wife did 2 beautiful wood cuttings of eagles for me for Christmas this year on the scroll saw. Now THAT'S an awesome wife! Eagle Pete

I have it at home. If you can wait, I will upload the plans to my website and post the link here. It may take me a day or so. This site has a good plan though if you prefer: http://members.aol.com/StanDCmr/rocket.html Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

buddy-3 Take a look at http://www.scouter.com/forums/viewThread.asp?threadID=107098 Ceremonies are entirely up to the participant and can be arranged any way you wish. There are no required formats, however there are some suggestions. See http://www.woodbadge.org/Ceremonies/wbcere.htm Eagle Pete

I completely agree, Orennoah It's the old adage, "You get out of it what you put into it." This is how Wood Badge was designed and how it works best. And although it may be irritating, infuriating, and sad to see individuals pay for the course, go through the week of training, put together a ticket which they breeze through, and then they are handed beads for which they didn't earn, nor do they even understand what the whole process was for, this is their choice and their beads will only be worth whatever effort they put into earning them. The same thing can apply to a boy earning his Eagle, getting a college degree, and any number of accomplishments. One of the most important things I got out of working my ticket was I realized that it only meant something to me. If I cheated, I only cheated myself out of a great experience. So whatever effort I put into my ticket was only measured by myself, and therefore I placed whatever value on my ticket myself. No one ever said, "Pete, this ticket and these beads are worth...[fill in the blank]". They are worth what I put into them. Those who are in it solely for prestige will never realize this. Eagle Pete

"Anyway, my questions are this: 1) Is it possible to complete the ticket in a year's time? 2) Will the knowledge be helpful in any leadership position? 3) Is it worth the time? 4) Has what you've learned helped you in non-scouting life?" 1) Yes it is. In fact, you are given a year and a half to complete your ticket. I completed mine in a year. The length of time to complete a ticket depends on many things... What kind of work you want to put into it, how much of the ticket depends on others, the type of goals you are working toward... etc. 2) Yes. The Wood Badge course is actually designed and built on business models and Boy Scouting leadership. It focuses on interpersonal communication, motivating others, and conflict resolution. All these skills are applicable in every aspect of life. 3) Absolutely. Wood Badge will change your life, for the positive. It is well worth investing your time (and money). 4) Yes. Wood Badge has changed my life. I am a better husband, father, professional, Scout Leader... The list goes on. Wood Badge has a different effect on everyone who goes through the program, but to date I have never spoken with, heard of, or known anyone who has ever regretted going through it. In fact, everyone I have ever know who has done it has had a positive experience that has changed their life for the better. You won't regret Wood Badge. Just Do It. Eagle Pete

David You should have a roster of all the participants in your course. I would contact a few and find out when they will be holding their ceremony. It would not be out of line to ask if you could attend so you could get ideas for ceremonies. Most Wood Badgers would welcome fellow Wood Badgers, especially those from their own course, to their ceremony unless it is "family only" type, but those are relatively rare. I found that it was most rewarding to share the experience among those who can relate to the experience (i.e. Wood Badgers). If you don't want to ask to attend someone's ceremony, the next best thing might be to just ask them what they are planning and see if they have some good ideas. Also, your Troup Guide and/or Course Director, and anyone from your staff, for that matter, would be great resources for ceremony ideas. Eagle Pete

This is a Spin-Off from something brought up in another topic which I believe merits its own thread. SueM writes: "Eagle Pete, I think it's interesting to hear about how courses in other places are presented. Our course director and SPL set very high standards of expectations for us in everything we did, which is not a bad thing...they made us earn our beads, for sure!! Though we donated our project board to the District to use at other events, I eventually gained custody of it and I take it with me when the boys do district events and put it up somewhere on display. We had fun putting it together. Did you know that there was once a boy scout doll???? That was one of the interesting finds that I came up with in my research! sue m." I thought it would be good to find out from other Wood Badgers what your course was like. I found my course was generally easy-going but it did have its challenges. Our course director was quite "family" focused and we, Troup 1, were all part of a family and a brotherhood. How was your course? Did you find it lax? Challenging? Hard work? Eagle Pete

Sue Sorry it took so long to reply. First, let me say that sounds like a really good project. Very interesting and I would love to have seen it. However, as you know, your patrol needs to work together and consider all aspects of your project. Time involved, resources available, time constraints for presentation, etc. It may not be practical to take on a project which is beyond the capabilities of your patrol. Now I need to insert a disclaimer here: I am not on staff and have never had the opportunity to serve on staff. I may not be aware of all aspects of this part of the Wood Badge course. Now that that's out of the way... My understanding about the patrol presentation is that there is no "right" or "wrong" way to develop the presentation. The point of it is to have something which your patrol works together on. There are goals, assignments, creation, and deadlines. The patrol has the challenge to utilize everyone's talents and abilities, and demonstrate leadership (and even the patrol method) and put together a project. Whether it's the coolest, most exciting, most complicated or unique, is all besides the point. If, for example, you chose to make something as simple as a paper airplane as your project and demonstrated leadership, communication, delegation, assignments, goal setting, etc., this would be a successful project. And, again, correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Troup Guide would be key in helping to develop an appropriate patrol project. The point I want to make is that even in a week-long course there is sufficient materials, time, and resources available to complete the patrol project. If your project requires internet access and there is none available, then the patrol may need to re-think that project design. It is more about working together than about the final product. I don't know if that answers your question. I hope it helps. Eagle Pete

Sue I can't speak for all courses, but in my course the Quartermaster had a large supply of materials which he brought to the course and we had plenty of "stuff" to put together our project. Much of the material we worked with needed to be glued, cut, carved, tied, or pieced together. With some ingenuity we were able to pull it off. I am guessing that many courses have the same kind of Quartermaster supply for this purpose. Eagle Pete

This site http://www.pinetreeweb.com/brownsea.htm Gives a brief history and explanation of the Brownsea Double Two program. Although it is not currently an official BSA training, it looks like a great program and a close approximation of the Wood Badge experience, with similar rich traditions. The BSA has a record of making changes and adjustments to their program over the years and although the core aims and goals of scouting have remained basically the same, the needs of the boys and how they are presented the necessary learning experiences (i.e. the methods) has gone through several modifications. As the article states, there were some major changes in the BSA around 1970. Boys dont really change fundamentally, however their environment does. And the BSA moves right along with it. In the last 35 years or so, mass media, internet, and technology have afforded youth many more choices, opportunities and challenges. In order to achieve their mission, To prepare young people to make ethical and moral choices over their lifetimes by instilling in them the values of the Scout Oath and Law. the BSA must be able to come up with programs which can compete with, and in some cases, combat the influences which try to divert and distract boys from the morals and values the BSA is teaching. I apologize for rambling. I dont mean to go on and on about this and I am sure you are already aware. I am not surprised that similar programs have been created in many areas which attempt to achieve the same goals. As Scouters like you and I see a need, we either find the resources that have already been put in place, or we do whatever is necessary to fill the need. Case in point, our council has an intense Cub Leader Training called Silver Wolf which is patterned after the Wood Badge training. This was created to fill a need. Our Cub leaders needed a specialized training which addressed issues related specifically to the Cub Program. It would not surprise me to find similarly designed programs in other areas. Wood Badge has already changed since I went through the course. And I would expect that in 30 years, the BSA will have made other significant changes, and my perception today will have to adapt to the new changes at that time. I am sure the BSA does not intend to invalidate achievements that have been made in the past, but we look to the future and the future is our youth. Wood Badge today is ultimately for the benefit of the youth, as it has always been. Lets not get hung up with what we miss about the good old days when we were in Wood Badge or other trainings which no are no longer being presented. The program has changed, and it will change again. Eagle Pete

Kristi Excellent! Welcome to the Eagle's Eyrie! Eagle Pete

I have 2 eagle stuffed animals - One small one I received as a gift from my troop guide, and one that is a little larger I found at Yellowstone National Park. Incidentally, on my trip to Yellowstone this summer, I did get a picture of a bald eagle in its natural habitat. Wow! That was really cool! Mostly, I have collected pictures and postcards of bald eagles. It's tough to find critters of eagles and the nice sculpted eagles are quite pricy. I have been tempted to drop $50 for a small eagle sculpture, not yet though. I keep my eyes open for critters all the time but the few I have found are rare. Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

Ah... I must have misunderstood. Sorry about that. I found that Wood Badge topped all other trainings in BSA... combined, although I am glad I did them all, too. Have a great time, cajuncody! Eagle Pete

LOL Good one! Can I get a patch for that??? Eagle Pete

Well I've been a member of the forums for over a year now. I just never noticed this forum. I found the Wood Badge forum from a link off another site and have just never visited any other forums here. I have been in Scouting as an adult, off and on, over the past 15 years. About 4 years ago I was asked to be a Cub Master and from that point on, I have been very active in Scouting. On May 12, 2004 I went to Wood Badge and about a year later I received my Wood Badge beads. I have been working in my district as the District Cub Scout Training Coordinator. This year I was asked to work with the 11 year-old scouts. I plan to continue working in Scouting in some capacity for the forseeable future. Eagle Pete

I hope you get this before you get back to Gilwell A 100% wool blanket INSIDE your sleeping bag is very effective. I have used this technique on many cold campouts and it has saved my cold "you know what" more than once. My course was in April, and though it wasn't winter, it got chilly at night so I can sympathize. However, it brings back good memories nonetheless. Just a question... I see you have been a forum member for over a year. What took you so long to go to Wood Badge? Have a GREAT Wood Badge Course! You will never forget it! Eagle Pete(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

I used to be an Eagle, and a Good 'ol Eagle too, But now I'm finished Eagling, I don't know what to do. I'm growing old and feeble and I can Eagle no more So I am going to work my ticket if I can Back to Gilwell, happy land; I'm going to work my ticket if I can. WE7-589-2-03-07(This message has been edited by eagle-pete)

Would it not serve the same purpose if there could be a special "preparation" training for those Wood Badgers who took the course prior to a 21st Century Wood Badge Course which provided all the new concepts, aims, and goals of the 21st Century Wood Badge Course. That prep-training could even go through the process of working a new ticket. Would it then be possible for a staffer who has successfully completed his prep-training, to qualify to be on staff for a 21st Century Wood Badge Course and forego the insulting de-beading? Just a thought. Comments welcome. Eagle Pete

Thanks Owl62 That pretty much clears it up. Those are the instructions I was given in my Wood Badge course. Good to know our WB Staffers followed official policy. Eagle Pete

Cymru Although I tend to agree, that placing too many restrictions on the wearing of certain insignia is counter productive to the intent of the award, I am somewhat of a stickler for policy on how the Wood Badge regalia is to be worn. Here is the most official word on the wearing of the Wood Badge regalia from the BSA that I have found. http://www.mninter.net/~blkeagle/wbneck.htm Eagle Pete

Hmmm I had already come up with exactly how I wanted my ceremony to be long before I completed my ticket. I had the opertunity to attend several beading ceremonies of other Wood Badgers and I was able to see the different kinds of ideas. These ranged from very simple to fairly elaborate. From attending those ceremonies, I was able to formulate what I wanted for my ceremony. If you have the time, I would recommend attending some ceremonies for the purpose of getting ideas (or at least to see what you don't want to do). I am of the opinion that the ceremony is quite a personal thing. What I chose for my ceremony may not work well for you. You will have to be the judge, but by seeing actual ceremonies you can get a fairly good idea of what would work for you. Good Luck, and Congratz! Eagle-Pete