AvidSM

The best suggestion I have is have him learn to swim at summer camp. I have had several scouts that failed the swimmers test but were still able to be in the beginners section of the pool and got better during the week. The acquatics staff will help with this. They won't get the merit badge, but they will pass the test and be able to advance to First Class. If the family can't afford summer camp for this boy, your troop should look into a campership for him. My council will pay for summer camp, on a needs basis. In the past, I have also anonymously paid for a needy scout to attend in my Troop.

There is a point in leadership development where a person has built up so much experience and knowledge that there is no model to explain how they do their job. The same thing happens with great conductors. They command respect and draw out the best in each member of the orchestra. Most of their work is done during rehearsals, where they dictate exactly how they want the music played. During a performance they set the pace, keep the group together and give them visual cues to reinforce what was said during rehearsals. Being a good scoutmaster is so much more than keeping a troop boy led. It is caring about each boy and his success. It is about earning their respect through service and friendship. Scouting is ever changing, but this does not change.

My son was in the Tiger cub program 17 years ago. It was very simple and required very little work from the parents. There was one book and it had iron-on transfers to create the tee shirt uniform for the boy and his tiger parent. Back then, the program helped recruitment because it was easy, fun and a good introduction into scouting. The families that enjoyed it were more likely to continue onto a more structured program for the following year. Parents that saw the benefits of scouting on a small scale were more open to taking the next step with its increase in commitment. The Tiger cub program is much more complicated now. Lion cubs looks like a return to a simpler introductory program to get more boys hooked on scouting earlier.

Aye!

Troop366eagle, Welcome to the forums! You will find that there are many different view and opinions, and that there are no easy answers to every questions. Having said that, you situation is not too uncommon in scouting. Boy lead is a two step process - first you have to train the youth leaders and then you have to let them to their job. Unless someone is about to get hurt, do not step in and take over when they fail - which they will do. They will never learn to lead unless you let them. Always have a plan B. If the SPL can't be there, then the ASPL takes over - no problem with that. Every troop should have a rope box, some map and compass sets, a first aid kit, etc. When the boys fall short on planning and don't bring the materials they need, always have a fall-back position. Let your ASPL know what his job will be this weekend, which is to lead the other boys in running the skill stations. Coach him by suggesting that he call a meeting with the other youth leaders and figure out who is bringing what and doing what. If that meeting does not happen, then he will have to do this on Friday night at the campsite. It would have been better if they boys running the stations had time to prepare, but now you go to plan B. Either way, the boys are leading the troop and learning how to do it. Make sure to have a reflection session with the youth leaders on Saturday night and have the ASPL ask what things went well and how things could have been done better. This is a good tool for teaching leadership. Your job as Scoutmaster is to turn a fall into a stumble. This keeps troop moving forward while still being boys led.

I agree that there is no official format or order to a ECOH ceremony. What is important is that it meets the scout's expectations. What are his memories from other ECOH's that he attended and what parts of the ceremony are important to him? Does he want's his turn to light the 12 candles while reciting the Scout Law or at giving pins to his parents? It's all up to the candidate as to what takes place. It should feel like a ECOH to him and his family. I attended a ECOH a few weeks ago and the family said they got the copies of previous ECOH scripts and made up their own based on what they liked from each of them.

We offered all four historical merit badges at a spring camporee in 2010. Not a single scout earned the Signaling one. We had plenty that earned the other three.

So they change their name to the "manly men" council, then what? Do they really think that this alone will increase membership? Most likely, the people who have a problem identifying with rainbows aren't going to join scouting anyway. The Rainbow Council, as well as the rest of us, should not give in to ignorance.

One of the reasons for part-time scouts is the parents. They get their son's involved in way too many activities. Scouting usually gets the short end of the stick, because there is no immediate downside to not attending full-time. Show up half the time at little league and you ride the bench. You have to stress early the benefits of the scouting program. That the skills these boys learn can be applied life-long. A very small percentage of little leaguers make it to the Bigs. I had a Webelos II dad that was very enthusiastic about scouting and told me that his son was looking forward to joining the troop. After missing the first two meetings, I talked to the dad again and he is still enthusiastic and promised that his son will start attending meetings soon. Two more missed meetings and a missed campout (tailored to the new scouts) later, the dad is still talking about how his son loves scouting and will be at the next meeting... Bottom line - the his son never joined the troop.

The LDS units in my district do not participate in FOS. I guess it varies from stake to stake.

Just curious - what material was the shirt made of?

I would hold a modified and tailored version of Troop Leader Training for all the boys as soon as possible. Focus on how a small troop is organized and what is expected of the youth leadership. You don't need an SPL, ASPL or a Troop Guide right now. I would go with Patrol Leader and Quartermaster as a minimum. If other boys need a POR then make one a Scribe or an Instructor. You do not have to be an expert in everyting, but make sure you get trained yourself. These new Youth Leaders need know what their jobs are and that no adult will be doing their work for them. Part of your job is to protect these boys from the adults who are trying to relive their childhood or have an overwhelming need to keep things in order by being in control. If you have adults that need to be doing something, get them to do skills instruction during meetings. Do not let them give direct orders to a scout or to the troop as a whole! Start with some very basic goals for your new troop: camping once a month and recruiting new boys. Recurit an Asst SM and assign this person to working with your feeder pack (if you have one) on the Webelos to Scout transition. Get a good Activities Chair, one who is reliable with making site reservations and filling out any needed Tour Plans. Stick with the program and have fun! And don't be afraid of making mistakes - that's how you and the boys will learn and grow.

Two schools of thought here. SPL, ASPL, JASM's and adults eat ... ... with the patrols as their guests. Advantages: You get to know the boys better, Adult association (the boys can learn good manners from the adults - how many nowadays sit down and eat a traditional family meal?) and there is an instant feedback loop on the patrol meal planning and execution. Disadvantages: some boys do not how to plan/cook and you end up eating burnt pancakes with no syrup. ... as their own patrol. Advantages: The food is better and the scout patrols get to see "how cooking is supposed to be done". But, does the patrol with the burnt pancakes really come over to the "senior patrol" area to marvel/salivate over their Denver omelets? I didn't mind eating with the patrols. Sharing a meal is a good way to bond with them and I always had a backup meal - cup-a-noodles, can of tuna, candy bars, etc - in my backpack. I never went hungry on a campout. Food can be a very emotional thing. As a Scoutmaster, I made a habit of not letting my emotions get out of hand when I was doing my job. My attitude was, I did not volunteer to eat well - I volunteered to teach the boys how to lead and grow up to become responsible adults. Cooking is just another way of teaching the boys how be responsible for themselves and others. If they end up learning how to cook well in scouting, that a bonus.

My Council runs a Scoutreach program very similar to the one many of you are discribing. It's a way to reach out to the urban areas where voluneers and money is hard to find. Some scoutreach units do transition into traditional units. So, it is a way of growing scouting. It is also a quick and easy way for Council to get their youth numbers up, provided that they can get the grant to pay for the paid volunteers. I even have Unit Commissioners who are paid part-time to help the scoutreach units. When you think about it, it's the youth in these units that need scouting the most.

Roger that OGE. The BSA has finally come up with something that sort of makes sense and the BSA-bashers on this forum just can't let it go.

My council MUST get 28% of their annual budget from FOS. This money helps pay for: 1) The salaries of the professionals and staff - some of which work for Scoutreach and Learning for Life - programs which benefit the poor inner-city youth (there is no way that these people make three times the average wage). The percentage of these people that actually support the program at the unit level has been debated many times in this forum. For what other reason do they exist? 2) Council Service Center rent electricity, phone, internet, office equipment, supplies, etc. It does not pay for: 3) Council programs - most of that money comes from the fees charged for those programs. For example, Summer Camp is listed as a program expense in the budget, but is self funded by the fees collected to attend. Wood Badge training is the same way, it's self funded. 4) The district's programs, camporees, Klondikes, etc, are also included in Council budget under programs, but they are also all self-funded. In fact they are even expected to make a "profit". The district itself does not have an operating budget because it is run by all volunteers. All money paid to the district, for whatever reason, goes to council. Then the checks to pay for the district's expenses (event patches, Klondike ribbons, camporee activity supplies, etc) are written by council. The bottom line is that FOS pays for 1) and 2) above, no matter what your presenter says. Yes, there are "out of touch", untrained, ignorant or downright dishonest presenters out there - both council professionals and volunteers. One of the problems is you can't get enough good presenters in the timeframe that council wants them done, which is all in the beginning of the year. It's up to the FOS presenter to convince the parents that their sons are indirectly benefiting from the services of the professional and staff (and that they have to have an office to work in). Families must know that at least one professional, the DE, WORKS FOR THEM as a member of the district Key 3. And that the office staff SERVES THEM by processes their unit's advancement forms, activity registration forms, yearly charter, etc. These families are not required to contribute to FOS because some cannot. Those that can afford it and choose not to, for whatever reason, are ultimately not paying the services that their son's are actually receiving. In the end, the people who do pay (usually $165 or more) cover for those who do not. These people know that they are paying more than their fair share and without their generosity and understanding, FOS would not work.

Blue 1965 Mustang fastback

I agree with Skeptic - this is a non-issue. You can argue all you want on what to name an apple, and in the end the scouts only like to eat oranges. In my experience, there are two scouting programs: the one written in the books and the one the scouts and scouters actually do. Rarely do the two agree 100%. The people whose job it is to write the books have to put something there and have to keep making changes to justify their existence. I also like the idea of using French mimes to teach as skill, because as we all know, a mime is a terrible thing to waste. (Sorry, but I could not pass that one up) EDGE is not a 100% match, but its not 0% either.

Has anyone else recieved an email with the subject line, "Voice of the Scout" with a request and link to take a survey? The body of the email is as follows: "As a volunteer for the Boy Scouts of America, we would like your opinion about the Scouting program. Please take five minutes to answer a short survey. At the end of the survey you will be given the opportunity to register to win one of five $10 Walmart gift cards. Your opinion is important to us. Please take the time now to answer the survey. All survey responses must be received by April 21, 2011."

Same as what pchadbo wrote: Explain, Show, Try, Practice and Teach. But saying ESTPT sounds like like you are trying to suppress a sneeze.

The model I often use to try to explain scouting is it is like a franchise (think McDonalds). The BSA "owns" the franchise rights to the scouting program (think Big Mac). The Councils administrate the franchise to owners (CO's) within their area. The CO's hire managers and staff (adult volunteers) to run their Pack, Troop or Crew (the McDonalds restaurant). Webster's defines a customer as, "one that purchases a commodity or service". Clearly, in this model, it is the families that pay for the program (the Big Mac) that is offered by the managers and staff of the operational unit. Neither the CO's nor the Council's Administrators fit this definition. But, scouting is not a business - it is a MOVEMENT. People do not show up at a McDonalds to donate money so that some customers can eat for less (or free). And the McDonalds corporation would not solicit donations (FOS) from its customers to help pay the salaries and overhead of its administrative staff. Scouting's mission is not to make a profit. So my model, and any other business model used to explain how scouting works, is imperfect. No one "owns" scouting - the movement is shared by all who make the emotional commitment to it. Part of the conflict that I see between the scoutings volunteers and it's professionals is the idea of ownership. Some professionals think that the volunteers work for them (for free of course) - that they run the program by telling the volunteers what to do. And they deserve to be paid for this through FOS and other means. This really pisses off some volunteers, who feel that they own the program and the professionals only exist to serve them. In this sense, you might see the volunteer as the customer. But, I don't see how you can call the professionals customers, when they are not paying for anything, but in fact asking to be paid.

I can't believe we are already starting on this. It's only been 8 months since we had the last one. Any word on whether the Summit will be ready in 2013? There's no direct link to the 2013 Jambo page off of the BSA's "scouting.org" main page yet. But, there is a 2013 Jambo link off of the Sumiit's "summit.scouting.org" page.

Jet526 mentioned that the BSA went with EDGE to avoid royalties. I heard the same thing from the Course Director of the Wood Badge course that I am currently staffing. Otherwise, what does it matter what you call it? The BSA needs structure, procedures and written processes. They can't put, "just do it" in the handbooks and the course syllabus. They had to make up something and it does make sense. Time will tell if they keep it or come up with some other name.

Congrats!

Leadership is a skill. There are many styles and kinds of leadership. Being a leader means you are responsible for what happens - that you are in charge. Scouting is very clear about the style of leadership that the boys should follow. Running things is applying leadership skills. The SPL runs the troop by demonstrating leadership. He leads the PLC in making the decisions which affect what goes on in the troop. Each PL runs their own patrol in the same way. The adults demonstrate leadership also, but in other ways. As a mentor, the SM trains the youth leaders. The SM provides advice and guidance to the SPL and the PLC. The biggest challenge for a new SM is to understand this.