lrwebb

We have been getting Boy's Life for about 6 or 7 years and I don't ever remember seeing a patrol flag contest. It is a good idea though and perhaps would make a good regular column just featuring pix of patrol flags that people have sent in.

I couldn't agree more. Every scout (and their families!) mature in scouting at different rates. When I say "our goal" I mean exactly that. We like to offer all the opportunites to advance to first class. It is up to the scout and their family as to how they take advantage of these opportunites. I have one scout who has a very motivated family but he has yet to complete first class after two years. He is not motivated. I have another scout also a second year who is second class who tries his hardest but his family is not motivated and thus he is unable to take advantage of all the opportunites. Plus we have the whole range in between. We have confidence though that all the scouts will progress at their own pace and we will be there to support them at any and every stage. I agree about summer camp. They enjoy earning the merit badges and spending time with their friends talking and growing. That is part of why I work so hard during the rest of the year. Our camp (Camp Buck Toms) offers a Dan Beard course and we have considered the idea of having the new scouts take that instead of merit badges. This is a good idea perhaps for scouts that joined late and want to catch up or if there is not a scouter to shepard the new patrols. I would rather let them spend time in merit badges and make the rest of the year working through the requirements. Do all the scouts make first class first year? Of course not. Usually around 50%. But I will take it. Probably about another 25% complete the requirements in the second year. I think my real motivation is to make the first year a "first class year" and not just an achievment of rank. Continued good luck with your troop!

Hi. I am an ASM at Troop20 in Knoxville, TN. I have my second son in scouting and have volunteered to shepard his patrol through the first year. We strive in Troop 20 to reach first class in the first year. We have been quite successful thanks to the wonderful leadership of our Scout Master and the experianced scouters that help the troop. Our senior members of the troop do a great job teaching the skills. I mostly just have to create a schedule of what will happen when and with all the outings our troop does, most of the rest just falls into place. Every program can benefit from the experience of others. It surprised me not to find a forum dedicated to this. I propose a new forum be created to help those of us who are working with the new scouts to discuss the issues specific to this program. What do you think? Yours in scouting, ASM Larry Webb