MattR

Okay, @LeCastor, that is a brilliant idea. That should be put in a list of great and really different ways to engage scouts.

I love it. So retro. And so very applicable. One thing that really surprised me was examples of doing it wrong. Everyone says they let the scouts lead but it's the examples that make it concrete (telling the patrols where to camp, making the menus, etc). I'm curious as to who made the video. Was it a troop or the BSA?

I think there are two issues. One is getting a kid to show up. The other is what happens to the kid once he shows up. We make a big deal of the SPL talking to the visiting scout, introducing him to the troop, and asking him what patrol he'd like to visit with. Then the patrols go crazy inviting him to join them. Making a kid feel welcome once he shows up is just as important as getting him to show up.

I don't know his name and I probably only met him once but I'll never forget him. I had just moved to town and joined a scout troop (Devon 50 right outside of Valley Forge). I didn't know anyone, I was struggling with everything, new school, new neighbors, and then there was the Scout Law. I just couldn't get it and I was frustrated. I was at this gentleman's house with a bunch of other new scouts. He was much older than any of the other adults in the troop. He was the epitome of kind. He helped me through memorizing the scout oath and law. If there's anything in scouting I'd like to be it would be this man. Every time I help a new scout that's struggling with the scout oath or law I think back to that night.

@Eagledad, in the picture you posted I see 8 people with 5 different types of hats. It looks to me like everyone is wearing what they want anyway. Or am I missing something?

Time to start a tradition. The girls troop will have the same numbers - only in reverse. Or jumbled in the case of a palindrome. Or completely different for any troop that has multiples of the same number. Or or ....

I was in the Transatlantic Council as a youth, so I saw lots of "foreign" scouts. We've have international scouts at our local camp. It is always great to see the discussions. Now that you can get peanut butter world wide that's not so much fun but there are plenty of other things to talk about. Of course, you just have to go skiing around here to meet all the ski bums that normally live on the other side of the equator. I regularly talk going overseas to scouts. "Hey, you like adventure? I got a great idea for you." Not many try. So, how important has it been? Unfortunately it's more just a novelty. An exchange would be fun but it's expensive.

Why would this be considered double dipping? The scout helping out only gets credit for one requirement.

Insulting moderators has a way of backfiring, so to speak. Change your tone and we'll let you back to the campfire.

Welcome to the forum. BTW, this thread is over 8 years old.

Welcome to the forum, @scoutboy. Efficiency is not your friend when it comes to advancement. That might sound really strange but one of the main goals of scouts is to have the scouts solve their own problems. If the adults make things more efficient then there are fewer problems for the scouts to solve and they learn less about what we're really trying to teach them. Scouting has what are called aims and methods. The aims are what the we, the adults, want them to get out of the program. Advancement is not an aim. Advancement is a method. That is, a way by which the scouts achieve the aims. I hope that helps.

I'd prefer Scouting BSA over Scouts BSA. It implies we're doing something rather than just being there. In the meantime, I went with a patrol last night that helped out at a local homeless charity. It was great watching them. At one point I just asked the PL if he could get his patrol organized and a minute later they had it all figured out. I'm really impressed with this PL. He's 13. They had fun. I put a bug in their ear about helping this charity once a quarter and making this their thing. It was a good night to be a scouter.

Welcome to the forum. I live in Colorado. Weather is part of it. Nice mountains are also a big draw. It does attract the super crazies. At one point we had a guy that had swum the English Channel in our troop along with a group that had hiked the Grand Canyon from rim to rim and back in 19 hours. My son rode his bike from the front range (5000') up to the Longs Peak trailhead (9000' and 50 miles), hiked to the top with me (7 miles, 14,200') and then went all the way back. 20 hours of aerobic activity. That's considered a nice challenge but nothing special. Century ride in the mountains with 20,000 feet of elevation gain? You get a nice tee shirt. There are lots of ex bike racers. I think everyone gets humbled around here. I'm thankful for my age because I don't have to worry about all the people passing me up. The good news is I'm out there plodding along. It's not just a guy thing either. Plenty of women do this as well. It's more about age. This gene does not engage until you're at least in your 20's. I don't see scouts wanting to push themselves like this. BTW, it's also not a Colorado thing. Check out Alex Honnold and free soloing El Capitain in Yosemite. That is so far beyond crazy. Like everything else there are those that do and those that don't when it comes to any challenge. The world is splitting along these types of things. The real challenge might be keeping your life in balance.

I would have taken the scout to my home, assuming my wife was there, and put him to work helping me unload stuff. An opportunity to get to know him better. And when the parents show up I'd gently confront them on the fact that I had talked to them and they did say they were going to show up, and trustworthy means something. Then I'd drop it. Do all that in front of the scout and you'd embarrass all of them to the point that it would never happen again.

Ironic that the socially conservative regions are leading in girls coming in while they're also leading with boys going out? This is either just a bit of levity or a real paradox. Please pick the one that makes your day better. No facts were harmed in this presentation. Only stunt facts were used and they are well cared for under the auspices of PETF (people for the ethical treatment of facts).

Welcome to the forum, @wallacesusan. It took 4 months to schedule a smc? That's a problem. Well, that's the problem. Should he back date it? I guess. Should you demand that? No, because the real issue is that the SM didn't see a need to fix a problem. Has your son talked to him about the time delay? Is there a reason given for the delay? Anyway, getting on the bad side of the SM is not suggested.

Welcome to the forum, @DJsMommy. The charter org EIN number is the correct number to give them because legally your pack is part of the charter org. The pack has no articles of association. That's why the pack charters with the charter org. You may need to give the bank a copy of the charter that the pack had the charter org sign at the last recharter. Most likely that was last December. You'll get a new one when you recharter this December (not everyone recharters in December but most do). If nobody on your committee can find the old one then either wait till you get the next one or call the local council office, ask for your District Executive, and they should be able to help you out. One other point, since you belong to the CO they might want to know about your bank account (they are legally responsible for what you do). Different scout units handle this differently. For my troop and CO they trust us and we just keep to ourselves. Some CO's want to have access to unit finances. Hope all that helps!

Welcome to the forum, @roberthynesii

I think this is the real issue, only because I've been there before. They just went with the normal program and older scouts don't really do much strongly suggests to me that starting a crew won't solve the problem. The scouts of a crew should be able to lead the crew by themselves but it appears that these scouts can't. Otherwise they wouldn't have gone with the normal program and they would be helping out at meetings. So, one solution is to develop leadership in this age group. This might require the adults to learn some new things as well.

@CodyMiller351, welcome to the forum. Woodbadge at 19? I'd say no. There are better ways to spend your time. At least for now. One of my concerns with eagle scouts that come on as ASM's is that they don't always understand the difference between being an adult and being a scout. The adult's job is very different from being a scout. There's no doubt you have all the outdoor skills nailed down but there's a lot more going on than that. Another thing you likely have is a ton of enthusiasm and that's great. My suggestion would be to study up on how a great troop runs (something wood badge won't cover). Don't assume that your troop does it right. Most troops don't. Go to ebay and buy old copies of anything that Bill Hillcourt wrote and read them. Ask questions here. Get a vision. Figure out how you can help scouting. Then do it. After you've done that for a few years then you might get something out of what wood badge is trying to teach you. If, on the other hand, you take wood badge now, without knowing what a great troop looks like, you'll probably just end up with a bunch of useless ticket items. I know from experience.

I think it's the start of a great project. However, I don't know the details. When we see a project that seems light on leadership (when someone says routine labor) we start asking for details. We also encourage the scout to go back to the recipient of the project and ask for more. Not just more work but how to make it better. In the case of the lego kits, let's say two kids are playing with their kit right next to each other. The kits will get all mixed up. What's a solution to that problem? Also, he has the instructions, but does he have electronic versions for when they get destroyed? Are the instruction appropriate for all of the children at this facility? For example, kids that are dyslexic would likely appreciate instructions in a bigger format. Are the kits in their original boxes, which will get destroyed, or will they be in small tubs? Where will the tubs be stored and how will the children know what they're building? Any project can be made more complex by just scaling it up. 50 kits is nice, but go through your neighborhood and do a lego drive. You'll have 500 kits. Now what? Do this for 500 kits and you have a major project that is really cool. The bottom line here is talk to someone that works with these children to figure out how to make this work for them. I am surprised that the troop was one gate keeper on ideas. Scouts in my troop present to the committee and the committee helps dig in to understand, all with the goal of helping the scout come up with a good project. There is a lot of changing minds going on as we dig deeper. And he likely gave up, clammed up, and that was it. I'd suggest finding an adult that can coach him through this. These are the guys that usually get the mentor's pins.

I'm confused. Why doesn't the SM just put a stop to it and tell these people they're no longer invited?

@Vanhall21, welcome. Do you by any chance mean the cub master and/or committee chair? Or the previous den leader and his wife became cub master and committee chair? The term den leader doesn't make sense in this context. If these people are not the cub master/committee chair then that's who you should talk to about these people being a problem. If these people are the cub master and committee chair then that's a much messier situation. If you could clarify that would help us understand. BTW, your husband is great for taking on being a den leader.

@Momleader, I suspect you can safely ignore this. Here's another DE story just to amuse you. I'm the district camping chair. We made reservations for our winter campout and have, since the 70's, always looked for the coldest, snowiest place we could find. Yesterday our DE said our reservation was cancelled and we had to do it at the council camp, where it has never been. I made a few phone calls today. Turns out the council is broke, has not paid last year's bill, and is just trying to stiff these people, the neighboring council. We're going to ignore the DE and have all troops write checks to a 3rd party that we can trust to make the payments. There are several companies that won't do business with our council anymore. If anyone in the council complains we'll open up the books, so to speak. As I said, just ignore them. You're providing a great program for your pack. Keep up the good work.

I think the fitness standard should be for one to do their best. And the only way to do that is to do something one enjoys. For some reason I do not like anything with reps. I would much rather go for a bike ride or a hike. For those that like doing reps, I'm jealous.