ilduncans

So disregarding the troll, and returning to the thread ... did this ever get launched? I still haven't seen requirements published ...

Spun from an older thread on Gold Stars for unit flags, this young man earned his Eagle in 2005 in my district. }- Quoted from Northeast Illinois Council release: I am saddened to inform you of the passing of Joey Dimock in Afghanistan last week. Joey is the son of Joe Dimock, Committee Chairman of Troop 672, and unit commissioner to pack 37. More information on Joey is below: Spc. Joseph Whiting Dimock, II, 21, Eagle Scout with a bronze palm from Troop 672 of Wildwood, Ill., was killed when an explosion occurred in an ammunition holding facility during an inventory. The explosion also injured another Ranger conducting the inspection. Dimock, enlisted in the U.S. Army in August 2007. For nearly three years, he served as a rifleman in 1st Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Ranger Dimock represented everything right with America. He was an incredibly talented young man, who volunteered to serve his nation in a time of war and ultimately gave his life in support of her cause, said Lt. Col. Mike Foster, the 1st Ranger Battalion Commander. His loss is felt across the entire battalion and our thoughts and prayers are with the Dimock family. He was on his second deployment to Afghanistan. Previously he conducted a deployment to Iraq. Spc. Dimock was a warrior who chose a higher calling and deployed three times in support of the Nation. Joseph remains a hero to our Nation, the Army, and his family, said Col. Michael Kurilla, Commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment. Dimock is survived by his parents, Joseph and Ellen Dimock and brothers Louis and Michael Dimock of Wildwood, Ill.

with apologies for resurrecting such an old thread ... http://www.scouting.org/relationships/05-961/onmyhonor.pdf is now a broken link, and the sheet music appears to have vanished off the national website. On my Honor doesn't even appear in the list of recommended hymns in their Scout Sunday resources any more. Does someone have this PDF that could be shared, or a location to find it online, or any source for the sheet music (preferably with 4-part harmony)? Thanks!

Bumping this thread up again as we approach Memorial Day. I have had a couple of good conversations with a District professionals from a few councils, a national executive staff member, and with National President John Gottschalk this year -- I keep on pushing for a top down renewal of this unit recognition, but until it comes, grass roots is doing quite nicely. Here's hoping no one has any need for this recognition, but I know otherwise. My offer still stands -- I will help anyone who needs it, any way I can, and I will travel as my schedule allows to attend whatever you do.

I have one of those somewhere in my box of treasures ... Calico is exactly right -- What you have is an Order of the Arrow 75th Anniversary Service Award. There were some requirements for Arrowmen to earn this award, and it was available for one year only -- 1990. The program was later developed into a more-or-less annual service award. Because the award is reasonably recent in Scouting history, there were a lot of them made, but it is difficult to find someone who is willing to part with theirs, so when sold they can get a fair price for something that is not even close to being an antique, especially if the condition is good. I don't see any on ebay just now, but they show up not altogether infrequently.

Owl, How in the world did I miss this post? I'm no regular poster (twenty-something posts in ~6 years!) but I keep pretty close track on most everything in the Scouting world related to Gold Stars on my continuing crusade to get this unit recognition the awareness and support infrastructure it deserves. Thanks so much for your work on this cause! As mentioned somewhere in the previous thread on this topic, I also have a ceremony that we did some years ago -- and very happy to share, and help anyone else that finds themselves in need ... Just let me know!

Have received information matching the points Bacchus gave: The math and science bronze is a new 6th bronze award -- there are no changes to other existing Venturing awards. It is the first BSA advancement program designed and developed entirely by youth. Requirements are consistent with other bronze awards. The award goes beyond personal skill in the subject areas to include service requirements to other people, related to the subject area (such as tutoring or mentoring). No specific timeline was given for rollout -- just "soon". No draft of requirements was given.

Much to my surprise, one of my young men asked me recently why we always go to summer camp in the same location, and what it would take to go someplace different. My smile stretched so wide it might have come off my face on the edges! Now they want guidance and resources (and I want them to have a positive experience!) Being the generation they are, they expect to go online in 10 minutes and find a unified listing of every summer camp within 500 miles with camper reviews and ratings, lists of MB's and programs offered, and be able to make a choice for summer of 2010 all in the space of one meeting. I'm looking, along with them, but I'm not quickly finding any resources like that. Any guidance?

This one shouldn't be that hard ... from the 2008 requirements for the rank of Eagle: "5. While a Life Scout, plan, develop, and give leadership to others in a service project helpful to any religious institution, any school, or your community. (The project should benefit an organization other than Boy Scouting.) The proj�ect plan must be approved by the organization benefiting from the effort, your Scoutmaster and troop committee, and the council or district before you start. You must use the Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project Workbook, BSA publication No. 18-927, in meeting this requirement. " separately from the project workbook: "Approval Signatures for Project Plan Project plans were reviewed and approved by: ________________________________________ Religious institution, school, or community representative Date ________________________________________ Scoutmaster/Coach/Advisor Date ________________________________________ Unit committee member Date ________________________________________ Council or district advancement committee member Date Important Note: You may proceed with your leadership service project only when you have: 0 Completed all the above mentioned planning details 0 Shared the project plans with the appropriate persons 0 Obtained approval from the appropriate persons" If it wasn't approved in advance, then the requirement wasn't filled -- no real room for debate on this. Since one of the required approvals in advance is a district or council (not unit) advancement committee member, can't see how this got through the system. There almost has to be something missing from the story, unless this was another situation where a board decided to pass a boy that didn't fill the requirements (see previous posting to this thread above). With respect to blue jeans/uniforming, there's a lot less written into the policy and procedure on this point, and with good reason. Some conversation around the circumstances would be appropriate, and I could imagine (and even compose) solid arguments for all sides on this one, assuming different environments and circumstances. Of course the ideal situation is obvious, but part of what we're teaching/modelling (hopefully)is how to -intelligently- discern the difference between when/where/how to be flexible vs. rigid ...

wow ... so much emotion on this! Glad I'm joining late - hopefully everyone's cooled off. (and hopefully the degree to which I am apalled by this won't reignite any personal conflicts). A couple of thoughts ... 0> when the BoR approved him, it was all over -- anything past that point is just academic conversation. Pending a couple of rubber stamps, the young man is an Eagle Scout as of the date of that BoR. 1> I highly recommend a copy of the "Advancement Committee Guide Policies and Procedures" for folks who want to be involved in this -- it's available through scoutstuff, if your local council doesn't stock it ... part # is 33088 - and make sure to get the current printing (presently 2008). 2> since most unit folks won't know of the existance of this authoritative resource, and won't have a copy, there is no substitute for a> a district/council training committee that puts on a training curriculum for how Boards of Review ought to be conducted b> a Unit Commissioner who actively promotes such training to the unit c> a Unit Committee Chairman, Unit Training Chairman, and/or Unit leader who actively make sure BoR members are trained in what they are doing d> a District Advancement Committee that ensures Eagle BoR members are trained in what they are doing. 3> Computers are a good thing. If the council is requiring the new electronic Eagle application (most councils are doing this now), then the computer will automatically reject this application unless you actively put false information in the system about -when- a leadership position is held. This would likely prevent a Board from ever being convened in the first place. Quoting from the "Advancement Committee Guide Policies and Procedures": "The members of the board of review should have the following objectives in mind when they conduct the review: * To make sure the Scout has done what he was supposed to do for the rank * To see how good an experience the Scout is having in the unit * To encourage the Scout to progress further" So there you have it from an authoritative source, in clear and unambiguous terms -- The Board of Review is supposed to make sure the Scout has done what he was supposed to do. This Eagle Board of Review failed utterly in achieving this objective. Why the youth didn't fulfill the requirements, whose fault it was, and in what circumstances you should pass a youth who has not completed the requirements are not part of anything in the policy and procedure. (The closest they come to that topic is how to change requirements in special circumstances). Of course, as has been adequately pointetd out by others -- everyone else leading up to the Eagle BoR also failed this young man, and fundamentally, he failed himself -- either by knowing the requirements and not filling then, or by not knowing them. The real pity of this is that in their attempt to not "penalize the Scout", they did the greatest disservice to the very one they were trying to protect. By sending the clear message if it's at all possible to put the blame on someone else, then you won't be held responsible for your own part in a comprehensive failure -- (sounds like the basis for about 300 different episodes of Law & Order, yes?) -- we've taught this youth the opposite of how we'd like him to conduct himself in the real world. Arguably, we'd have done better to teach him nothing at all, than to give him this lesson. At the ludicrous extreme, one wonders how this board would treat a young man who was applying for Eagle Scout without ever having read any requirements, or even registering with BSA -- but vigorously defending that none of that was his fault. His parents wouldn't let him sign up, no one every told him where to read the requirements, the leaders didn't want him, etc. ad nauseum. Would the Board "penalize the boy" for this? If not, where between the above case, and my ludicrously extreme example would they draw the line? (and why?) There is one additional approval point after the Board of Review ... The Council Scout Executive has to sign off "I certify that all procedures, as outlined in Advancement Committee Policies and Procedures, have been followed. I approve this application." I've never heard of a Scout exec not signing -- but to my view, there's a legitimate case here that says the policy and procedures were not followed. There'd be fireworks everywhere if he bounced the application. For starters, the policy and procedure only acknowledges two possible sources of appeal, and this contingency is -not- addressed there ... but for my part I'd love to see a Scout exec take this approval seriously enough to think through this case before just rubber-stamping the application.

In Scouting Magazine this month (p.24) there is a brief blurb about "The Scout Executive's Active Outdoor Challenge." It reads: "Requirements for the patch are simple: 'Get your Scouts outside and active for 12 monthly activities.' Any active outdoor activity qualifies, for eample: sailing kayaking, climbing, backpacking, orienteering, rollerblading, caving, sledding -- anything that gets Scouts outside and moving. Service projects, camporees, and summer camp do not qualify. When a pack, troop, or crew completes 12 consecutive monthly activities and a leader turns in a form, each youth receives a patch." I've searched for program details, or the form, or any resources online and come up almost completely empty. Anyone done this? or have a pointer to additional resources?

finally moving towards getting online ... some resources, including a sample ceremony script are now posted at http://home.comcast.net/~ilduncans Please let me know if there is anything we can do to assist ...

Thanks, Owl! I was out camping this weekend and thought I should have done this before I left, so was happy to see that you were a step ahead of me. On a related note, with the assistance of key professionals in my council, have made some headway in getting this some visibility with the national office ... *cheer* ... a few more years of patient persistence, and who knows what may happen?

Certainly the loss of a Scouter is no less. (hopefully nothing above was interpreted as suggesting that!) From my research in fall of 2003, the interpretation of "member" was any current or former registered youth or adult. Unfortunately, at this time, there is no further clarification in any BSA publication. I have written a proposal to clarify and revitalize this unit recognition, and worked through my local council professional staff to get it on the table with the National Executive Staff, but of course the national council does not turn these sorts of ideas around very quickly.

fascinating thread ... You've managed to get all the current ones I know of ... only one comment on the final list ... #43 -- Skipper's key -- is actually just a device (Sea Scout) on the Scouters Key (#11) -- the green and white knot is common with the Scoutmaster's Key, Coach's Key (Varsity), Advisor's Key (Venturing), Commissioner's Key, District Key, Cubmaster's Key (prior to 1979), Advisor's Key (Exploring, back when ...) On the question of Pack Trainer -- stay tuned. If not already in process in your council, there is presently being rolled out a new position "Unit Trainer", expanding this concept to Troops/Crews/Teams/Ships ... (new position code on applications, etc.). I wonder if the Pack trainer square knot is going to vanish as quickly as it appeared ...