OwntheNight

Have to agree, that's a bad idea. First, the soon to be scout really should spend his first year with the troop, learning scout skills, troop culture, and making new friends. He is also learning to be self reliant, almost a deprogramming time. In that, I mean he's gone through the CS program where the adult is the leader. He's not going to get the full benefit of leading, because he will still be in CS mode, with an adult leader taking charge of everything. Second, as shortridge said, there will be no respect from his den he just left. They will think it's just one of their buddies coming back to play. When I ask for den chiefs from the troop, especially boys who graduated from the pack, I make sure they are assigned to a den that they have not had any interaction with. This gives the DC time to learn the personality of the den on his own. No predisposition or preconceived notions of boys he's dealt with before while in the Pack. Finally, some boys think that DC is an easy POR, show up to a den meeting, build a craft, play a game...6 mos later, POR signed off. The boys that truly enjoy it keep signing up for terms, until their den has graduated. When I was the ASM for den chiefs, I explained to all the candidates, that it wasn't an easy position, but it could be one of the most rewarding if they worked at it. The expectation was that the DC was going to stay with their den until they joined the troop, so it was a 3-5 yr commitment with 6 month terms. They had to resign up every 6 mos. The good ones, always stayed on. Now as they got older, they would work with myself and their DL to work out the schedule. The fall tends to get busy for a lot of our boys, playing football and/ or band commitments, so they couldn't always make every den meeting, but they were always there during the spring, and whenever they could in the fall. The boys should want to do it for all the right reasons, not as just a POR.

OK, We finally have the full material available. The pdf has been put on our council website, for everyone's perusal. www.circle10.org I haven't read every page yet, just kind of glossed over it. Will try and read it tonight to see if it's still something we might be interested in. I also have one of my techie parents reading it as well to give input, or maybe coordinate it.

I use to loathe going to RT, for the longest time. 45 min of district announcements and then break out sessions for another hour, which usually meant going through a simulated Pack meeting. I was looking at two maybe two and a half hours, once I got done with chatting with some friends and tugging the ear of the different chairs for information. Now, I actually enjoy it, they've got district announcements to around 15-20 minutes, and breakouts for 35-40 minutes. Get in, get out, get the job done. Our district has done a great job of making the breakouts productive. Last month, our breakout was titled "how to be a lazy leader" Tips and tricks for recruiting volunteers, and delegating responsibility. This month, they are devoting the segment to Overcoming the fears and myths for New Leaders. I will be dragging our new DL's to this one, I'm sorry..Highly encourage them to attend. Every couple of months, they have some of the troops do Dutch Oven cooking for everybody. at least we get a sugar high from the cobbler, instead of bad coffee and store bought cookies!

Fish, I'm thinking about it!!! I'm all for self depreciating humor if it helps. I've offered to have the boys let the boys use the washable spray paint to color my hair for popcorn sales. I might have to throw that out there, for adding boys, I'll wear the tutu!

I have ours set up the same way you do. Our CO address, my name, our pack website, my contact info. When I set ours up, I checked around to find a lot of other packs are being directed to the council and the generic info on the site or they have bare bones information or because they are a " Parents of Pack xxx" they have a residential address listed . I even added on ours a personal note that we have been serving the boys of x,y, and z schools for over 30 years in hopes that somebody might think, gee a pack that's been around for 30 years? Maybe we should check it out. I've even updated our district website that lists all the units with my name, contact info, and link to our website. Have I gotten a hit from it? Nope, not a one, but I still keep up with it in case I do get that one. I've actually gotten more hits from our website than the Be a Scout site. Our big problem is, we may have those three schools as our designated schools. Half of our boys attend those schools, the other half go to other schools and we can't recruit there as a pack since their designated for other units. Our boys are constantly working their friends to come visit us, but it's usually one to three boys trying to sell the program to all the boys, not good odds. I've asked our district why they don't do a Roundup type activity with all the Packs present, kind of a Meet the Pack night. They do a Meet the Troop for the Webelos to go to one location and talk to all the Troops. The answer I get, is the district is to large and to spread out to be able to coordinate it effectively. Their solution, let's break up the district into 4 new districts in January (that's for another thread...)If I could get that kind of exposure, I could sell the program to the parents. From your previous posts, you are working the room and selling the program to the boys, parents see that. They also see the organization and effort you put into it. that helps. I envy your position of growth, it's a good problem to have.Keep up the great work, and share those secrets with us about bringing more boys into the pack.

Here's the email we got : Job: Scouts: To stand in full uniform as an honor guard in 30 minute shifts at the memorial in Grapevine. Scout shorts are acceptable. Adults: To ensure Scouts are fully uniformed (Class A) and understand the procedure for approaching the station and the Scout is capable of being an honor guard. Also, MAY stand as an honor guard if desired. Must be in full uniform. Minimum Qualification: Each Scout and Adult volunteer must recognize the solemnity of standing honor guard at the memorial and be able to stand silent and still for a period of 30 to 60 minutes. NO electronic devices may be with the Scout or Adult during the time he stands as honor guard. Additional Information: 1. This service is being performed in coordination with the Grapevine 9/11 Memorial Committee. Service hour slips will be handed out to every Scout who finishes their time at guard. 2.There is a specific way boys will be asked to relieve one another. It is simple. 3. Sign up will be through 9/5/2011 -hours are first come first serve and must be signed up before the day the event. will need confirmation of those wanting to stand in honor. She will need a full list of names, rank, troop, and contact numbers. 4. At least four Scouts and/or Scouter will be standing as honor guard in 30 minute shifts from 7:30AM to 8:45 PM. 5. The honor guard begins at 7:00 AM so this will give us a short time to set up before the ceremony begins and the bell is rung at 7:46:42 the time the first plane hit. This is part of American history we can have the Scouts be participate in. 6. Any member of the Scouting family is welcome to attend the Memorial at any time during the day. They will have events on and off during the day. 7. Do recognize that there will be many dignitaries and media there throughout the day so that Scouts must be well- behaved at all time at the site whether standing guard or not. CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC are some of the news media that will be there. There will also be some political dignitaries attending. This is a great way to get some positive images for the public. 8. The Grapevine Committee does have a website: www.911filghtcrewmemorial.org but SIGN UP will be through

When I finished the course portion of WB, I wore my necker and woggle for the first month or so after coming home.. A lot of it was still being on the Wood Badge "high", but it also reminded me about what I needed to continue to do. I finished the course part in late August, so it seemed natural to wear it for recruiting purposes for the pack and troop. It certainly made for talking points from our CM and SM at the time to new families about our units. I eventually stopped wearing the necker all the time, except for COH, B/G and the obligatory Wood Badge dinner. After receiving my beads a year ago, I tend to wear the necker and beads only for COH,B/G, and special events. My beads hang on my mirror in my car, so I know where they are always, but also to remind me that the work I put in was for the boys I serve. The only Wood Badge regalia I wear is my course name tag. I did have to break out the full look, including our course Resistol Straw, this week for Join Scouting Night. Had to make a good first impression with new parents and boys. It does look good together, I must admit! Wear it, Don't wear it, it's your choice. It's not about the beads, it's about the boys!

If it wasn't for Beavers, the rest of the critters would just wander around aimlessly! Really, the Beavers built the dam from the trees the bobwhites lived in, thus making the bobwhite homeless. The eagle spotted the bobwhite from his nest at the top of the other trees, and thought he was food. At the same time the fox was also stalking the poor bobwhite when the owl decided he needed to wake the forest with his screech. The screech from the owl woke the Bear. The Bear knocked the tree, that the owl was in, over which startled the buffalo in the meadow. The buffalo took off running and came upon a herd of Antelopes. The antelopes were to busy prancing around to notice the buffalo. Then the ranger showed up in his truck. The antelopes scattered, the buffalo charged the ranger's truck. The owl kept taunting the bear. The eagle and fox clashed over the little bobwhite, while the beaver sat on his dam, thinking all is right in the world.

The way of school recruiting is slowly fading into the sunset for us. While the administration at the schools appreciates the scouting program and will help us at the community level, the school district administration is tying the principals' hands and making it very difficult for the units to succesfully recruit in the schools. Here are some of the hoops we had to go through this year. 1.) School night for scouting was limited to one night across the entire school district (last Wednesday, two days after school started) That was the only night we could use the facilities. so needless to say our District staff burned the midnight oil getting all paperwork in and everybody registered. 2.) We could only put signage on the school property on the day of SNFS, and all signage had to be down that night. 3.) Boys could only hand out APPROVED material, before school, after school, and during lunch. Also, Boys could hand out to other boys, Adults were not allowed to hand anything to a boy. The school district sent our district a letter approving our flyer, and we had to have a copy of it in case anybody questioned it's verbage. Our pack has 3 official schools we are connected to. There was no physical way, I was going to be able to be at 3 seperate locations at the same time. I told my DD in so many words, that I wasn't going to do the District SNFS, but I would have a Join Scouting Night at our CO. Even got into a power struggle with our District membership chair, as she tried to tell me I couldn't do that. I had to remind her that I didn't work for her, I volunteer for an orginization that my CO charters. I also had to remind her that the DD approved our plan in advance. Good Times! How did we get around some of these rules? Like I said, local principal's were sympathetic to our situation. I was able to ask nicely and they let me put signage up for a few extra days. We will volunteer some flag ceremony efforts for them. Our CC is still on the local PTA board and is a former Board President, so she was able to ask for some favors to get our recruiting event put on the PTA website, and included in a mass email to members. That's another thread in itself. Considering most PTA members now opt out of having their information posted in school directories. We've really had to change our strategy to get boys in the door. One that we're experimenting with this year, is targeting the after-school programs that pick up the kids from the schools. Our CO has one of these programs, and we've gotten some traffic from it.Just need to keep pushing the word out about our Pack. So for all our efforts, we added 11 boys. Went from 22 boys to 33. It is progress.

Well said, ED. Tonight, we had our Recruitment night for the Pack. As I was talking to the new families, I kept telling them the Scouting adventure they were about to embark on was their son's story. It was our jobs as leaders and as parents to help the boys get the words to that story on paper. Every boy's story is different, and that's what makes their journey so fun to watch. Dang, I wish I had brought one of those choose your own adventure books for a prop, oh well next year. After I spoke about their story, I had one of the boys from the troop tell his story about what Scouting has done for him. It certainly didn't hurt my efforts, since he went to Colorado for Summer Camp, did his Philmont Trek a couple weeks later, and then just got back from the World Jamboree right before school started. That young man lived like a rock star all summer. It's still a great story. You could see the gears turning in their heads of what story their own son could tell. It truly is my privelege and honor to serve these boys as their Cubmaster.

The first Pack I was with did this during the October pack meeting. So you had all the boys in their Halloween costumes and the leaders as well. We did it as an auction format, needless to say I opened my big mouth about it and the next year, I showed up as Jack Sparrow auctioning off cakes with the same bravado and stupor of the real Capt.Jack. The boys and the parents had a blast, I had a blast with it. We gave out ribbons for the different categories (The kitty litter cake is still my favorite!) and then I set the prices at the Auction based upon the award. If you brought in a thing of cookies from the store, they weren't priced very high. I believe I had to work harder than the girl scouts to sell those Sugar cookies :)We invited grandparents, teachers, extended family to come and bid on items. We were upfront with everybody that the money was going back to the general fund to help pay for the program. If people know what they give is going to directly benefit the boys, they were willing to write the check, myself included. I would rather write a $200.00 check directly to the pack than try and sell 600.00 worth of popcorn. I do like 'Fish's idea of adopting families at Christmas, we might just do that this year. We are going to do the cake auction this year at our fall carnival, so I'm really going to encourage the boys and families to get the creative juices flowing. Besides, Capt. Jack has been hiding in my garage a little too long, it might be time for him to make an appearance! Bugger, Mate!

Afterward, one CM comes up to me and says "you don't understand -- after the end of our 'Cub Scout Year', *I* want a break." That's the exact reason I let my ACM and the CC plan the summer activities this year. After taking over as CM in February, it was non stop for me all the way through June. Between Program planning and execution, spring recruiting, and the calendar full of meetings, while still performing District CM duties at Day Camp and then Summer Camp with the Troop. I was spent, and ready for a break. I knew I wouldn't have been able to put on a good summer program for the boys. My ACM offered to plan them with help from the CC. We ended up with mostly fun events for the boys and the familes to get together. We did a geocache event,went to a minor league baseball game, walked in the 4th of July parade with the Troop, and then we had a movie night at our CO. Cooked Hamburgers and Hot Dogs, hooked the Wii up and the boys got to play it on one of the gym walls, and then a double feature. We averaged around 13-15 boys per event, out of a pack of 22, those were good numbers for us. But it was nice to be able to attend just as a parent and not have to wear the CM hat all the time. For us, it was an excuse to get all the parents together as well and enjoy each other's company. There were also a couple of unofficial events as well, with the boys getting together for birthday parties and swimming parties.

Glad to see you brought in the "hired gun" to help out! At least your new leaders won't know the difference from how things were, to how they are. It does get better when people understand their roles, trust me! I went through my own pack ordeal in January when our CC resigned and the CM stepped down AND our pack lost 2 dens to another Pack. I certainly felt like Edward Smith standing on the bow of the Titanic when our COR asked me to take over as CM. After he recruited a CC, he sat us both down and told us our roles. I would deal with the Program side and the CC would deal with the Business side of the Pack. Today, I'm not worried about our Join Scouting Night in a week. My CC is dealing with the paperwork and I'm debating on what action song I'm going to do for the boys. (So many to choose from!) You have a great attitude and the right demeanor for CM, channel that energy towards the boys and don't sweat the small stuff. New Year, New Attitude! Good Luck

We had our popcorn kickoff last week and this same device was shown to us as well. The square up device is linked to your unit acct. You do need to get the CO's authorization to connect it to the bank acct. I was informed that the device does not store any card information at all, it just uses your smartphone to connect to the processing center for approval. We were also given the option of using the Intuit version which requires you to manually type the card number into your phone. That would be the one I worry about with having CC numbers written down. I spoke with a person, who uses the squared up for her business, and she's very happy with it. On the app, she can actually program preset prices and just hit one button for the item she's selling. She also used it as an acct's receivable tool. If somebody paid cash for an item, she could notate it as cash and keep a running total for all her sales.The device also emails a receipt to the buyer after the sale has gone through. So if your worried about fraud, you have a receipt for what was paid for. MC and Visa have fraud protection built into their cards, so you can dispute the charges.Also, she received an email at night letting her know how much was going to be deposited into her acct the next day. She also received the money the next day. The 2.75% fee automatically comes out before the deposit, just like for any business that accepts credit and debit cards. That's how the bank makes their money. Sorry, No getting around it. At the end of our presentation, the normal disclaimer was thrown out, "BSA does not endorse any product, but these are suggestions to help your unit sales" This was offered to us since we will begin doing show and sell as a district this year, and it should help with those who don't have cash on them. We're interested in getting it, even just for internal Pack use. T-Shirt sales, campout fees, Pinewood Derby cars, etc.

Basement, "It isn't from some whimpy camp twice a year webelos program." You are correct in that statement. The boys are not going to learn that skill set by camping 2x a year. They should be camping and getting outside more than that to learn those skills. I don't expect them to master the skills of a tenderfoot or 2nd class when they come to the troop, but I should have a reasonable expectation of the basic knowledge of how to set a tent up, how to clean their dishes, how to put the gear away. I've got troop guides to work with them to polish those skills when they do arrive. I can control my pack program by encouraging my WDL's to get out more, use the district camping opportunities (WOW,Resident Camp), camp with different troops to help build those skills that they will use. I have no problems with our WEB dens using their den rooms for some classroom work, but I shouldn't see them every week doing nothing but classwork. Part of the problem I run into is the other packs that feed our troop don't always subscribe to that theory. They come visit the troop, hear about the cool trips we take, see the bright shiny trailer and they're excited about that. The parents come in and see lots of adults in uniform, lots of boys in uniforms, they hear the SM's passion and energy when he talks to the boys, and they get excited.But, their WEB den might have only "whimpy camped" 2x a year. If you come to our troop with AOL in hand, yes, there is a reasonable expectation for a basic skills set. We will be glad to have the older boys help refine those skills and teach some other things as well. (This message has been edited by OwnTheNight)

I agree with BP all the way. As a CM, I see boys get bored with the last few months of the program, whether it's burnout from the same things or leaders who are road weary and ready for the break. They then come to the troop where I'm also an ASM for TTFC and I see these boys without the true skill set for the program. Now I do see the benefits of the boys that come in early, because they do get used to the patrol hierarchy and are ready for summer camp. They've gotten a few campouts under their belts, and are more comfortable with the patrol method. The outdoors should be your classroom, not the classroom. Have them do more cooking, cleaning, setting up tents, planning for their trips. If they can do those things with minimal task mastering from you, they're ready to move up to the troop.

Funny thing, I was sitting at Roundtable last night, and the Camping Chair and Activities Chair were talking about our great camps and all that's going on. The entire time I'm thinking about this post. These guys were spouting the usual rhetoric about the benefits of camping, and the opportunities our district has for camping, especially with the Cubs. Well Duh! We know what the advantages are to getting outdoors, that's why were in Scouting. Our first big event for Cubs to Camp is Cuboree, unfortunately, the camp is not the ideal spot for a first time camper, much less a wide eyed parent with a 7 yr. old. The 7 yr old has a blast, but the parent is asking themselves or me, Is this really what I want to get into for the next few years? Hole in the ground toilets, no lighting, and the roar of semi trucks from the highway all night? We've decided to make Cuboree a day event for the pack, and our first campout at a State Park with the nice restroom facilities, etc. They still are sleeping in the tents, but not getting the culture shock of Boy Scout camps. Something we started last year with the pack. We do a "Camping 101" for the parents while their son is in a den meeting. We take one of the rooms at the COR and bring a couple of tents, and other gear that we bring for campouts. We also have a list of required, recommended, and optional items to bring to campouts. They also get our full attention for an hour to ask questions, poke around the gear, get ideas while their son is occupied. I can't tell you how much positive feedback I got for that one session. I would be thrilled to see our district do something like this at our "Day of Training" in Sept. So parents and leaders could come by and just pick the brains of experienced campers. Better not say that too loud, or I'll be heading up that committee Living amongst the urban sprawl, it is difficult to get people out of their comfort zone. It's still a hard sell for the first time camper, but once they cross that hump,they either love it or don't want anything to do with it. It's just getting them over that hump that takes the most effort.

Fun Times! We told our boys going to summer camp, they were more than welcome to bring their cell phones ( gotta let them do something for 18 hrs traveling from Texas to Colorado!) We also told them if they lost it, it was their responsibility, or they could leave them in the troop vehicle for the week and get them back on Saturday departure. Of course, once we got to camp, all the boys realized there was no cell service in the mountains where we were at. Needless to say, the phones were put away for the week, except for the small herd of boys who did an awful lot of hanging around the leader lodge where the wifi was. Hmmm. Luckily that was another troops issue, our boys kept pretty busy without the electronics all week. I did have to snicker at one instance. After lunch about midway through the week, one of the boys was telling me that he wanted to call his mom and check up on her to see how she was doing. This was a 1st yr boy, so I knew to watch for this and was prepared to divert him to other things. He wasn't showing any signs of homesickness, so I pointed him to the pay phone booth down by the directors office. He walked down, got in the booth, picked up the phone, and then a moment later hung the phone up and came back up to me asking "how does that phone work?". He was shocked when I told him he needed to go to the commisary and get a pocket full of change and then come back down to the phone and start feeding quarters into it to call home. His response, "Well, I'll see her in a couple of days, she's probably doing fine"

I've looked around and can't find details about any of the rest of it. If what you quoted is typical of the rest of the program, my primary question would be, "Where is the science part?" Pack, Current topics available for the Cub Scout NOVA award SCIENCE EVERYWHERE (Science) TECH TALK (Technology) SWING! (Motion-Engineering) DESIGNED TO CRUNCH (Mathematics Current Topics available for the Boy Scout and Venturing NOVA award SHOOT! Projectiles and Space (Science) START YOUR ENGINES (Transportation Technology) WHOOSH! (Motion-Engineering) DESIGNED TO CRUNCH (Mathematics) This was all the information I've been sent. The only other info I received was the counselor sheet that had the basic answers to the questions in the requirements. I'll get a better idea of the program and it's full scope when I go to the meeting on the 19th.Maybe the technology part is the only one that's been final drafted or we'll get the rest of the requirements at the 19th mtg. NJ, Our council was asked to be the pilot (guinea pig) for this, I'm assuming since ExxonMobil is in our back yard and BSA Nat'l is there as well, that's why. That, and the technology corridor that runs through North Texas. What it looks like is an award program that's not required for advancement, but something that Scouts can expand upon on their own. If it goes out as a National program after final scrutiny of the pilot, then a page would probably be devoted to it in the 12th ED.Kind of like the Hornaday Award or the World Conservation, but the info would probably be put on the scouting.org site. Great question, I will add that to the list. Thanks all for the feedback so far.

Thanks, Pack I'll read through it to get an idea of what's up.

So I got a packet today from the council office describing a new program the council wants to roll out encouraging youth to take an active interest in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Being a STEM guy myself, I'm excited about this program and look forward to bringing it to my unit. Here's the letter and the requirements for the NOVA award. The Boy Scouts of America and ExxonMobil Corporation have joined together to initiate a program that encourages active interest by youth in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). The BSA STEM initiative is designed to bring a Scouting focus to skills that are relevant and needed in our competitive world and will provide opportunities for youth at all levels of Scouting to develop an enhanced interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics and recognize youth STEM achievement. Since this is in the testing phase, changes will be made to the program as we find what works and what does not. However, once a Scout begins work on an award, he will work under those requirements regardless of any subsequent changes. This is an exciting program and provides great opportunities for Scouts to enhance their knowledge in these important areas, have fun doing it, and being recognized for their accomplishments. It is not necessary that all members of your unit participate. AWARDS: Current topics available for the Cub Scout NOVA award SCIENCE EVERYWHERE (Science) TECH TALK (Technology) SWING! (Motion-Engineering) DESIGNED TO CRUNCH (Mathematics Current Topics available for the Boy Scout and Venturing NOVA award SHOOT! Projectiles and Space (Science) START YOUR ENGINES (Transportation Technology) WHOOSH! (Motion-Engineering) DESIGNED TO CRUNCH (Mathematics) The NOVA award will be a distinctive pocket patch with a separate pin on device awarded for each individual topic completed by the youth. If a youth completes a significant number (to be determined) of the available STEM topics, than he/she will be presented with a Certificate and Bronze Medal on neck ribbon. STEM-SUPERNOVA Award: The SUPERNOVA Award program is similar to the BSA Hornaday Award Program. The basic requirements are to earn certain Academic Pins( Cub Scouts), Activity Badges (Webelos) and Merit Badges (Boy Scouts) plus complete various other more rigorous STEM related requirements. The Venturing requirements are based on more independent achievements and teaching activities. SUPERNOVA is designed to encourage and recognize more in depth achievement in STEM. The awards are medals on Neck Ribbons plus a square knot for uniform wear. Cub Scout Cub Scout Dr.Luis Walter Alvarez Award Certificate and Bronze Medal on neck Ribbon Webelos Dr. Charles H Townes Award Certificate and Bronze Medal on neck Ribbon Boy Scout Basic Dr. Bernard M. Harris Award Certificate and Bronze Medal on neck Ribbon Intermediate Thomas Edison Award Certificate and Silver Medal on neck Ribbon Advanced Albert Einstein Award Certificate and Gold Medal on neck Ribbon Venturing Sally Ride Award Certificate and Bronze Medal on neck Ribbon Adult Scouter Paul A. Siple Award Certificate and Bronze Medal on neck Ribbon The Adult NOVA and SUPERNOVA awards are designed to recognize achievement by an Adult Scouter in promoting and encouraging youth in Scouting to participate in the STEM-NOVA and STEM-SUPERNOVA award programs. Cub Scout Program requirements: TECH TALK 1. Look up a definition of Technology and discuss it with your counselor 2. Watch or read, choose one i. Watch an episode or episodes (an hour total) of NOVA or other media production that involves technology or how technology is used. ii. Make a list of at least two questions or ideas from each production. iii. Discuss the ideas and questions with your counselor B. Read one long or two short magazine articles that talk about technology or how it is used. i. Make a list of at least two questions or idea(s) from the articles ii. Discuss the ideas and questions with your counselor. C. Do a combination of reading and watching i. Make a list of at least two questions or ideas from the article or production ii. Discuss the ideas and questions with your counselor. 3. Complete a belt loop or pin from the following list Astronomy,BB Gun Shooting, Bicycling, Bowling, Computers, Map and Compass, Music, Photography, Snow Ski and Board Sports, Video Games 4. What technology is used in your belt loop or pin. a. How do you think this technology i. Was invented? ii. Could be made better? 5. Discuss with your counselor, then a. Visit a place of your choice that uses technology and b. talk to someone in charge about i. the technologies used where you are visiting ii. Why they use these technologies Possible choices of places to visit may include: An amusement park, A police or Fire station, a newspaper office, a factory or store. 6. Discuss with your counselor a. how technology is used in i. Communication (Radio, TV, Newspapers and magazines) ii. Business iii. Construction iv. Sports v. Entertainment b. Why technology is important. BOY SCOUT REQUIREMENTS NOVA- Transportation Tech 1. Watch or Research, choose one: A. Watch 3 episodes/hours of NOVA or other media productions that involve transportation technology i. Make a list of at least two question or ideas from each production ii. Discuss the ideas and questions with your counselor. B. Read at least 3 articles about transportation or transportation technology. i. Make a list of at least two questions or idea(s) from the articles ii. Discuss the ideas and questions with your counselor. C. Do a combination of reading and watching i. Make a list of at least two questions or ideas from the article or production ii. Discuss the ideas and questions with your counselor. 2. Complete a merit badge from the following list: Automotive Maintenance, Aviation, Motor Boating, Railroading, Small Boat Sailing, Canoeing, Cycling, Farm Mechanics, Space Exploration, Truck Transportation 3. Energy Sources a. Using the above requirements from the above list of merit badges i. Tell your counselor the energy source(s) for the types of transportation in the listed merit badges ii. Discuss the pros and cons of each energy source with your counselor b. Make a list of other sources of energy that may be possible to use in transportation c. With your counselor i. Discuss alternative sources of energy ii. Discuss the pros and cons of using alternative energy sources 4. Design and build a working model vehicle (not from a kit) a. Make drawings and specifications of your model vehicle before you begin to build B. Include an energy source to power your vehicle i. Solar Power ii. Wind Power iii. Battery Power iv. DO NOT use gasoline or other combustible fuel source c. Test your model i. How well did it perform ii. Did it move as well as you thought it would perform iii. Did you encounter problems, How can these problems be corrected? d. Discuss with your counselor i. What difficulties you encountered in designing and building your model ii. Why you chose your energy source iii. If your model met your specifications iv. How you would modify your design to make it better. So those are the requirements that I have for 1 leg of the 4 total. I do not have any venturing specs yet. It looks like we will be having a council meeting on July 19th to discuss this further. While I see Rex Tillerson's hands all over this, it looks like a challenging program to get kids involved in STEM. I'm sorry for the length of this, but Hey, the engineering type is used to reading long and drawn out procedures and specifications. So what do you think, any glaring questions I need to bring up at this meeting on the 19th?

A friend of mine from Ky. has a leather belt sheath for his Tobasco. He hikes with it That was one of the leatherworking crafts this year at summer camp. I was wondering why so many kids were walking around with Tabasco bottles, until I went into the commisary and started snooping around. I regret not picking up one now, and working on it during camp. I believe it was called the Hot Shot! I might just wear that all the time!!

There are manuals for Day Camp ?!?!?!? I've just had to go off the powerpoint that was created a few years ago.

Our Pack walked with the troop this morning, behind the troop trailer. Lots of OOOHHH and AAAHHHSS about the trailer. We also put banners on the side of the truck with the Beascout.org site and the date for Join Scouting Night. The boys had a great time waving flags and telling everybody Happy 4th. Definitely a lot of positive feedback, and good times!

Why is it the only ones that get bent out of shape about the uniform are other scouters? When I walk into a restaurant in uniform with some of our boys, nobody comes up and asks or tells me that I have a pin or other doohickey on my uniform that's not supposed to be there. They see the uniform as a representation of the Boy Scouts of America, they also look at the boys with more regard, instead of a bunch of kids that are going to reek havoc in their store for about an hour. The same goes for military uniforms. I don't know what every ribbon in the "fruit salad" means, but that soldier, or airmen, or sailor, or marine knows what it means to them. When I see a soldier in dress uniform, I'm not thinking about whether they have something on wrong, I see the uniform for what it's supposed to represent. Wear your mentor pin with pride if you choose too, you earned it.