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Welcome to the forums @tk71, and thanks for all you do for the youth!

You've got a plan. That might relieve a bit of the anxiety. There is still some time before the event, so you can expect him to swing back and forth on this. Be prepared to be flexible.

@Mom2Scout, welcome to my world. I felt that I needed to use discretion as a crew advisor. It was important to push worthy venturers to the fore. But, for females, I had to choose venues where they would by-and-large be respected. Sadly, some council venues were closed to leading venturers ... sometimes out of ignorance ... sometimes out of putting marketing before program. I find folks who aren't lifting a finger to contribute to scouting have the loudest, polarizing, opinions. Note that polarizing is different from "opposite". Opposing opinions like the ones here are an "iron-sharpens-iron" variety. Polarizing ones are usually smug justifications for not doing anything. For example, someone could simply post, "I'm now all about American Heritage Girls and Trail Life USA." I don't consider that any more negative than "I'm heavy in Campfire USA or BPSA." If they put money where their mouth is, our kids might meet each other on the trail, just like old school, and discover that have more in common than not.

Son #2 was my tent buddy until age 11. Not a bad thing. They grow up fast. It is really hard for Mrs. Q to get comfortable these days. So I have to haul a lot of gear when she's camping with us. She never camped with the pack. But, we camped as afamily. But in terms me of coming to sleep when everyone else did ... no way. I'd just be getting up at 4 AM. Not a bad option if there were fish to catch. But otherwise, sitting around camp waiting for everyone else to get moving ... I can go for an hour and that's it. So, they just understood that I'd be star-gazing until I'm good and tired. Now Mrs. Q and I are working on the system that will serve us once we aren't paying tuition and have dimes to hit the road again. Always adjusting ... that's what one scouter told me that camping was. I guess he's right.

By "vote" I mean that the committee tells the CC that they want a change of leadership because responsibility and accountability is not being shared uniformly. She can say "no." But if she does, you could inform the IH of that fact. Then you could take your son to the other pack, or start a new one if there's a willing CO.

Love MW's definition 3: to show or prove the value or efficiency of to a prospective buyer. Looking at the Tenderfoot reqs, I think I get the point of the choice in verbs. "Demonstrate" applies to things you can actually do in full: There's a couple of ropes lying around, the scout can pick them up and demonstrate how one would work a knot with them. There's a kid who scraped himself falling off his bike in the parking lot, the scout can grab the 1st aid kit (and a PL) and demonstrate how one would apply first aid to him. "Show" applies to things where you might have to simulate in part: In spite of the killer bees and fire ants that you brought to the meeting, nobody got bit or stung. So, the scout will have to show how one would tend to the injury using a model, uninjured, appendage. It is imprudent to wait until you are camping to demonstrate that you packed rain gear. Better the scout present gear in advance and show how he/she is packing it. If you've demonstrated, you've shown. Sometimes you can't demonstrate, but you can at least show. The distinction in the requirements is to make sure the scout does the best reasonable job that can be done in proving that they have the skill.

@TheGreyArea, welcome to the forums. And thanks in advance for all you'll do for the youth! I was a new advisor once. You're in for one wild ride. Yes. You may raise funds. Same process as for other units. There is a unit fundraising application that should be sent to council. But since you're gonna need friends to pull this off at the level scouts of this caliber want things to happen: Touch base with your district executive get his/her help in pushing paperwork. Visit roundtables. Get Venturing Leader Specific Training ASAP. Bring your lead youth to your council's venturing officer's association (VOA) meetings. Look for council/area/and region VOA-sponsored activities for your crew to attend. Attend your council venturing committee meetings (often held in concert with VOA meetings). You will find that more than half of those will be time well spent.

@KLB, welcome to the forums. The only administrative course of action is to talk to the CO's institution head (IH) and ask for a change in leadership. Perhaps you could bring the name of someone who you all would like as the pack's CC. The interpersonal course of action is as a committee to confront this person and vote that the CM be directly responsible for purchasing pack awards; the treasurer be responsible for pack finances, secretary for pack minutes, etc ... with both reporting on their activities at pack committee meetings. She can still refuse. But that would be one more charge that you could lay before the IH. Are you all attending district roundtables? That's another great way to learn from the experiences of other packs.

This is about adults?Forget them! But I guess we have to do it politely (stinking fifth point). Thank the contentious adult for pointing out the ambiguity among the lot of you and assure him/her that you will go to the ultimate authority to decide these matters. Then: Give your scouts a dictionary. Have them read the requirement(s) in question. Ask them what they think they think a scout actually needs to do to pass the specific requirement. Then instruct the PL/SPL to sign off only when that action is taken.

When I was a scout, our blue cards stipulated that partials had to be completed within six months. Now, they last for a scout's tenure. It solves some problems, but causes others. This really is mistake #1 for most people. I don't believe counselors should ever hold blue cards. The scout show the card to the counselor ... maybe to get on a course roster. Then, once he completes the requirements the scout lets the counselor sign off on any requirements or sign off on the badge and take his copy for filing. At no time should a counselor be in possession of the "unit" or "scout's" portion of the application. At least @seattlescouter has a card that travelled with the scout. It can therefore be addressed by the scout and the unit. @swilliams situation is more problematic because responsibility for advancement was taken out of the scout's hands.

Don't let adults' behavior steal your joy. If you've personally met girls who have given their all, cherish those smiles. That's your paycheck. If you've seen the folks running the event be fair and open in their judging of patrols, now you know to send them a thank-you. They've set themselves apart from other adults who worry about image over substance. But at least now you can be on the look-out for adults who feed into hype rather than actually motivate youth to excel.

I agree with @Buggie, the ASM requires more hours of training, so get that started first. In the Introduction to Outdoor Leaders Skills courses, you'll be able to meet district volunteers who can help you get up to speed with those other positions. Plus, as you attend district round-tables you can ask any specific questions that come up. Knowing those folks can help you get your applications and any other fine-print paperwork out of the way. Plus it can open up doors for you to be able to help lots of other scouts.

On a practical level, being an active Arrowman provides experience planning activities and projects with people at some distance from your troop. Time practicing that regularly makes you a more skilled employ. For example, Son #2 did only a couple of things with O/A and a few more with our council Venturing Officers Association. This prepared him to work with total strangers to accomplish projects in college -- both in class and in extracurricular activities. Now in his internships, staff are letting the factory owners know that they think he is the best project manager of the students they've ever had. Like most things in life, you get out of it in proportion to what you put into it.

Well, here's my bottom line: It's the same program, only for girls. So most open-program things that have been posted about girls easily apply to boys. Therefore, they are not really "girl topics". They are topics about scouts trying to get the most out of their patrols or dens, and the adults trying to deliver on the promise of scouting. So, for example the adult trying to figure how to make old uniforms work for her new Scouts BSA girls' troop gets answers under program or uniforms. It's not in I&P. So far this month, I guess I've seen about a dozen such posts -- about scouting but so happen to be in a girls' den/pack/patrol/troop. So I guess that answers the "when it starts" aspect of your question -- it starts as of the past month, maybe earlier. But, your question implies a "when will it end" aspect. Well a topic, such as this one, that's about girls solely for the sake of talking about people enthused or opposed to girls in scouting, well that is an issue. As such it will always be filed in I&P. I'm fine if it takes a good long while before people stop bringing up the issue.

@seattlescouter, this is what I hate about partials being valid for more than six months. Little things like this wind up causing undo anxiety. This is really a simple task of your scout meeting with a new counselor in your neighborhood, explaining his situation, and being prepared to cover what he's done before if the new counselor feels that's what is needed. If the problem had been addressed in a matter of months, not years it would have been less stressful. If being a year out, the scout just had to meet with a different counselor "starting from scratch" but with some old notes, that would be less stressful too. Wondering how gracious some bean counter will be ... that's stressful for no good reason. At the end of the day, how the partial was documented is secondary. If the new counselor is satisfied enough to sign the scout's portion and retain his portion for record keeping, and the troop accepts the unit copy ... the SM attesting to that fact by his signature on the scout's copy, then all that is needed for evidence of an earned MB is in the appropriate hands.

In spite of decades of LNT propoganda, I find that strippers of candy still discard the wraps of said candy along our nation's byways. Perhaps a public school newspaper would do well to permit articles asserting that we should walk this earth as though we were endowed stewards ....

The company line, with links to tweets: https://www.nasa.gov/feature/spacewalk-reassignments-what-s-the-deal

School newspapers in our district clearly state that the views therein are those of the students and do not reflect the school district's endorsement or sponsorship of the organizations or activities on which they report.

Seems the first person you should ask is the scout. Why? Because You and your SM don't have time to train every counselor that signs off on your scouts. If you teach your scout how paperwork should be done, he'll become a trainer for the next counselor he meets. Your scout can tell you if he did the other requirements, and how. A scout is trustworthy. That will give you an idea if this counselor was a good one who just slipped up on paperwork, or somebody who ran a massive class and was to lazy to fill out partials for everyone who didn't bring whatever was needed for prerequisites. If your scout is clueless, you can suggest he take a clean blue card to a counselor who you trust to make sure the partial is filled in correctly -- i.e., your training the boy to keep track of his work as he progresses. If this is a counselor who you know and maybe is a little new to this whole thing, you might want to track him/her down and go over how the paperwork should be completed. But, if it's some mystery instructor from some MB university, you might want to let the district commissioner know of your disappointment. Bottom line: Deal with the scout first, counselor later.

I saw one announcement on Bryan about a chess club hosting an event for Scouts BSA girls in a council. My council is clearly not interested in making separate events for girls. They aren't seeing the demand. In terms of shenanigans ... the bitter truth around here is that middle school youth are a very high risk group. I learned very quickly as a crew advisor that that was the least of my worries with high school youth. Skills imbalance and uneven risk assessment were more palpable concerns. Actual physiological differences that may motivate camporees for specific sexes? I'm having a hard time putting my finger on enough that would justify that kind of segregation. Scouts in general are a mix of athletic abilities in the first place. Scouting is more like volleyball or tennis clubs than soccer pitches. Even in youth soccer leagues, I found there were points where the girls and boys were asking to play in the same match -- either opposing one another or in mixed teams.

That's why I chose to label this behavior as "thumbs on the scales". Cheating is contestant-driven, and often comes from seasoned participants. (Although coaches may be involved.) I could blame modern British fiction writers, but I think I'll put it on the shoulders of reality TV. In my day, there were the champions and there were the honor campers. The two might overlap on occasion, but were often distinct. I agree with @Eagledad Although I'm personally impressed that this year it looks like we will have 10,000 Scouts BSA girls, it's only one story. It also looks like we have thousands of Mormon youth who want to be scouts even when their church isn't requiring them to do so. We have scouters who don't like the change but are still pitching in. I would love media spots with folks like the former Cub mom (now great grandmother) who I sat with at our troop's spaghetti dinner. She said "Boys should learn to do boy things and girls should learn to do girl things." Her daughter tried to be more PC about it, but I thought that a video with hers as the opening line would be the best marketing Scout's BSA could ever wish to have. I think we would all like to hear about the girl's troop who's having a rough start but the boys and venturers around them are stopping by to encourage them to keep trying ... perhaps with an offer of dutch oven cobbler and a game of cards.

You could have stopped right there and won me over. Even if @Eagledad didn't mean to imply adults had their thumbs on the scales, that's what this was. The new patrols don't deserve to be patronized like that. My favorite camporees were run by JASMs. Adults might help set up etc ... but the youth allocated points, etc ... If the boys want to patronize the new scouts that's on them. Chances are, they'd do it by being cheerful and courteous, not doling out bling. @cocomax if your PLC really feels burned by this, they should write a letter telling the district key-3 so, and copying every SM in the district.

Or .. you could do what 'schiff suggested a couple months ago. Start the topic in Open Program (because helping scouts navigate their religion and citizenship is part of the program) and add the label Faith & Chaplaincy. Everybody wins!

Then I misunderstood what you meant when you said " the boys aren't just competing against girls, but the adults as well." And "no hope because I've never heard of a new scouts doing so well so fast ...  " Either the adults tipped the scales, or they did not. So, you don't believe they tipped the scales? Fine. We agree. If they did not, then these particular new scouts actually did well. They either did well because they are endowed with gifts that boys could never possess. Or, they are really excited about the program, and practiced hard and looked sharp for the big game. I choose to believe the latter. Because if that's true then I can tell that losing patrol to start practicing for the win next year. If the former is true, then we are stuck with a "Sorry boys, there goes your safe space" whine that just smacks of defeatism. If all you are saying is that you find the biased hype aggravating, I kind of agree. I think 'Schiff points to it in the misconception below: They are no more "rookies" than any other newly formed patrol. Many have been working on skills for months or years. Some could have already been friends for some time. That friendship might have forged by one common interest ... They just love this scouting stuff.

I'm confused. Were they not on the ballot? If they were, all they would need was for half the scouts to vote for them. There's no limit to the number of candidates a scout can vote for, so the scouts who didn't get elected need to learn what it was that made more than half their fellow scouts conclude that they were not worthy.