rpushies

What an opportunity! There are a few of things I would like to find out about the prospective DE during the interview. Time management skills - crucial to being effective. Does he/she bring a calendar to the interview? Ask a calendar related question. Like, will you be available for lunch on the 23rd? The response will tell you a lot. Ability to prioritize tasks - soon after being hired critical achievements will appear. Keeping things in perspective and being able to assign the time needed to accomplishing the critical achievements will be really important to success. Social Skills - This can be a difficult one to handle in an interview. A well thought out open ended question about how conflict has been handled in the past could help understand possible future responses. (Believe it or not, sometimes conflicts arise between professional Scouters and volunteer Scouters. Tongue firmly planted in cheek) Delegation Skills - working effectively with volunteers gets a big shot in the arm if good delegation skills are part of the package. I'm sure you will get a host of other good ideas from the group. These are ones I personally would like to get a clear picture on. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

As I follow the devastation caused by Katrina to our nation, I pray the Great Master of All Scouts will give us strength and courage to face these difficult times. I also pray that if I ever get caught in a mess like Katrina created, that I have Texans as my neighbors. My Ten Gallon hat is off to the people of Houston and the Great State of Texas. I think there must be a lot a really great Scouters in Texas! Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick

Hi Austin2005, Give me some additional information about your definition of an interactive sigh up sheet and what exactly would you be using it for. There are a couple of ways to make sign-ups workable on the Internet. I you want to contact me off group, my personal email is rpushies@yahoo.com. I was webmaster for my council for a number of years. I may be able to help you or direct you to some additional resources. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

Whining and complaining seems to be a favorite pastime in many posts, especially those posts about Williams. I just did not want to leave behind a good opportunity for a snide comment. Confrontational? Not me, I cry too easily.

Chief Scout Executive, Roy Williams has posted a statement about the hurricane on the national web site at: http://www.scouting.org/media/katrina/index.html A quick and timely statement from the BSA leadership. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

For all those whining and complaining about Chief Scout Executive Roy Williams, please read the following news release. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies NEWS RELEASE Business Publication Names BSA Chief Scout Executive Roy Williams As One of 50 Top Leaders of Nonprofit Organizations In its eighth annual poll, The Nonprofit Times, a leading business publication covering the field of nonprofit management, has named Roy L. Williams, Chief Scout Executive of the Boy Scouts of America, as one of the nation's top 50 outstanding leaders of nonprofit organizations for 2005. "Williams is the model of standing up for mission when some in the community think that mission should be modified," the magazine stated in its August 1, 2005 issue. "The Boy Scouts are who they are and millions of Scouts past and present form an advocacy community and backbone of tradition in community service." "The 2005 NPT Power & Influence Top 50" includes leaders of a diverse range of organizations, such as the Salvation Army, the Ford Foundation, the United Way of America, YMCA of the USA, Points of Light Foundation, National Urban League, the Internal Revenue Service, and the State of California. The 50 top nonprofit organization leaders will be honored at a dinner on September 15 at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

BSA has recently posted a new message on the national web site at: http://www.scouting.org/relationships/medalofhonor/index.html It sounds like a great program. I wish that I lived closer to Valley Forge National Historical Park so I could attend. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

In addition to the VFW Scholarship applicaiton for Wood Badge which can be found: http://www.scouting.org/relationships/03-166/03-166.pdf There is also an AFL-CIO Wood Badge Scholarship, the application can be found at: http://www.scouting.org/relationships/86-020/86-020.pdf Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

Eagle Patrol WE3-59-88 (Bald Eagles that is and I was the patrol mascot!)

Hi ahull, Congratulations on your new position as committee chair! As EagleInKy points out you were given your new challege of leadership because they feel you are up to the task. Miki101 probably understands your challenges better than most because of the similar age when facing these challenges. The old Cub Scout motto of "Do Your Best" also comes to mind. Remember that your chartered organization holds the real power in your unit. Keep an open line of communication with them and seek their council when difficulty challenges your own wisdom. Keep us informed of your success in your new position. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

Fuzzy Bear, You are way cool in your advice on this topic. I want to be like you when I grow up! Rick Pushies

Hi Venice, Old Grey Eagle has the right idea. Use the resources that BSA already has in place to help this Scout. In addition to the resource he cites (which is excellent!)there are other resources you may want to investigate. One is the web site Working With Scouts With Disabilities at http://www.boyscouts-marin.org/wwswd/. They may have some additional resources and people available through that site with more information to help this Scout. I am not familiar with this receptive/expressive order. I attended the session at Philmont on Scouting for boys with disabilities a number of years ago. One of the pieces of information I vividly remember is the importance of keeping a record or medical history of the Scout to document any accommodations that might be made in his advancement requirements. Don't wait till he is ready for his Eagle board of review to start the documentation. Start the documentation now. Also, Old Grey Eagle and EagleInKy are both right on target with the issue of teasing the Scout. That needs to stop immediately! I would also suggest that your unit turn to your commissioner staff for support. This sounds like a difficult situation that could use the support from your unit or district commissioner. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

Hi SeanWaiss, Take a look at this page on the USSP web site: http://usscouts.org/aboutbsa/bsa-map.html I'm not sure if that will meet your needs, but it is the only map showing all the councils that I am aware of. It is hard to tell how recently it has been updated. I have trouble finding a good map of our council. So not being able to find a map of all the councils across the nation is no surprise to me. If you find a better map, share the location. Hope this helps. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

Hi Eamonn, Thanks for your post. I find it interesting that our Scouts know so little about using the world wide web. During our National Youth Leadership Training this summer, it became very clear that the staff just did not know that much about how to use the Internet. They can play games, mind you. Several even had difficulty with email. That attaching thing just was really difficult for them. But the Yahoo group I set up for staff communication forced them to improve their skills. The NYLT course is awesome. It is much better than the old JLT with it's 11 skill of leadership that had to be memorized and applied like a cookie cutter. The new course give boys more of chance to think through problems and develop their own solutions. It is powerful stuff. Now that the course if over and I am starting to get feedback from participants, parents and Scoutmasters, I am certain that this new course is a real winner. As for the jamboree, we developed a page on our council web site that was very quickly ignored by many Scouts and parents. That is until Jamboree contingent left on the journey and we started posting pictures of the boys that were being emailed to me. We had one Scout take a napkin and print "Hi Mom!" on it then held it up in front of himself. It just cracked me up! Now that is Scout that knows the importance of effective communication! Then the parents became VERY interested in the web site. They wanted to see their boy. It was a good thing for everyone. Although a few did not understand why I would not put up a picture of their son? I sent them and email and let them know that if they send me a picture I will post it on the site. Never heard back from those parents. One of our photo album pages received well over 2500 hits. This is compared to the normal traffic on our web site of about 100 hits a day. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

Hi johndaigler, Korea Scout has posted some good information from the BSA fact sheet on Lone Scouting. There is also a Lone Scout Friend and Counselor Guidebook posted on the Direct Service web site. The file is pretty big (3.5mb) so it may take a while to download. http://www.directservicebsa.org/pdf/14-420.pdf This is the most complete reference on Lone Scouting that I have seen. The Scout wishing to go the "Lone Scout" will also need a registered adult to serve as his guide. All this deals with the how to. The can and should questions I think are the real issue you raise. Can any Scout go the "Lone Scout" program? Probably, but should the Scout? That is another question that requires evaluation of all the issues relavent. But "Lone Scout" is better than "No Scout." I would use this option when all other traditional Scout unit options just do work for the boy and/or family. A good experience as a Lone Scout may allow other options to develop for the boy over time. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

Hi wWw Dan, Thanks for the post. The Yahoo groups gives me the ability a bulletin board in php would give for the staff communicate. So I don't need to just thru the hoops of setting up a separate php driven program. I am more interested in what you, wWw Dan as a Senior Patrol Leader, would like to have available to help you in your leadership responsibilities. Are there specific documents you would like posted, more specific information on things like how to delegate effectively, new team building activities, etc. What would you and your other troop leaders like to have available? Give it some thought, kick the topic around and send me some ideas. I like ideas that I can use to help others do good things! Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

Hi SeattlePioneer, I have several Yahoo group accounts that I've started. They work very well for most people. Free, no need to HTML, FTP, etc. Just plain old typing skills for plain old data entry. The one feature I really like is being able to make the site completely private. Meaning the only way you could join is if I send you and invitation. Otherwise the general public has virtually no access. As the owner I can set up polls, allow chats (although we have never actually used this feature to date), develop databases or lists, post photos, upload files, flyers, notices, etc., enter calendar data and calendar reminders, and of course send messages (emails to the whole group can be done in most email programs). I was Webmaster for a council web site for about 5 years and managed the 7 district sites in the council included in the web site. A Yahoo group makes much more sense if the main purpose of the web presence is to communicate with the group members. I am in the process of setting up a new Yahoo group focused on youth leadership training: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/YLTBSA/ It is linked to and part of a project I am working on for our council dealing with youth leadership training. I just changed the membership so anyone can join if you want to go in and look around. One of the private groups I have is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TresRobles/ this was used for our staff communications for this years National Youth Leadership Training. Doing the polls was a big draw once the youth staff figured out that they could do their own polls. The big problem with unit, district and council web sites is babysitting them to keep the information current. Not everyone can do the HTML coding and upload their sites. Finding people with the desire, knowledge and willingness to handle a unit web site can be a problem. In a Yahoo group you can give that ability to many people in the group. You can even set up youth members with moderator privileges if you want. Giving access for your web site to a youth can become a problem. In fact features like the chat, files/photos, links, calendar, polls, links, and promote can be given as complete access to create, modify and delete items for all your group members. I plan on investigating 250free.com and MSN groups because I have not experience with either. But the Yahoo features work fine for me so I will probably stay a Yahooligan. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

Hi Bob White, Yes, all the above. But my vision of the site revolves around a support site. One where a Scout (and adults) can go to look up information, find resources, and be directed to other leadership related sites that would be of value to a youth leader. As an example. I plan on taking the PDF file of the unit meeting plan, #34425 and making it into a form that can be filled out on the leader's computer and then printed. This may then end up being used by the senior patrol leader or he may have his troop scribe use the form. It is something that the staff of our National Youth Leadership Training course this summer thought would be worthwhile. I hope to have lots and lots of resource material, BSA forms, program ideas, skits, songs, opening ceremonies, links to places to go, etc. Make it kind of a clearing house of resource information. There is so much information out there, it is hard to sift through it all to find what you want. So I want to bring together leadership related information for youth leaders to use. There is a whole bunch of stuff from the Den Chief's handbook that could be presented this way. The Venturing leadership training is the area where I have the least knowledge. But I'm learning. So I hope this helps explain my vision. I don't know if you went to the Yahoo group. I have started a database of training materials. Most of it is linked to the NYLT course because of my recent experience. But I hope to expand the database to included Cub Scouting (Den Chief) and Venturing information. Sometimes it is hard to find all the national supply numbers for training materials. I know this is more an adult concern, but my youth staff did have an interest in what types of things were available for the NYLT course. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick

Fellow Scouts and Scouters, I have taken on a new assignment in my council (Los Padres, #53) that focuses on all the youth leadership training national provides. My job will be to make sure the training happens. I need some help with a web site I am putting together to support my efforts. Now before you start telling me all about youth leadership training, let me explain something. I want the web site to focus on helping boys, youth, Scouts with what they need to be better leaders. What information can I put on the site that will interest youth leaders. It seems most Scouting web sites are focused on adults. I want the site I am developing to focus on the needs of youth leaders. The web site is located at: http://lpcylt.org/ It is not finished but you can get an idea of where I'm headed. I have also started a Yahoo group devoted to youth leadership training that is linked to this site. I especially would like to hear from Scouts and leaders that have good positive input. My new favorite quote is, "Every boy deserves to be trained as a leader." If you can, help me do a better job for our Scouts. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies Los Padres Council

jkhny Very interesting. You wrote, "As for appropriate compensation......plot a normal curve for non-profit CEO compensation of a similar size. See where he falls - and I'll bet it's NOT in the lower half by any means." Based on your answer, I'll bet you really don't know as much about this topic as you would expect us to believe that you do. If you actually knew that answer and shared it with us, I would have been impressed. More conjecture does not impress me. Yours Truly, Rick Pushies

SR540Beaver Your update about your ODD Scout concerns me. I expect that his Mom and Dad are seeking proper medical support and intervention for their son. Please confirm that this boy IS receiving professional help! Suicide talk brings concern for this boy to a heighten state. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies Los Padres Council, Live Oak District

Trevorum Hey dude, I thought Texas was a state of mind! Prairie_Scouter I'm a Michigan boy that decided seasons were nice to visit in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. But I wouldn't want to live with them again. What's a pot hole? California forbids them by law. Isn't that right, eubi? Again, welcome!

jkhny, So how much should the Chief Scout Executive receive as compensation for his services in your opinion? Yours Turly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

Hi rehtona, Welcome! Sounds like you might have figured out that "one hour a week" myth that has been circulating around Scouting for decades. Based on the "one hour a week" rule, I figure I've done my one hour a week for years (decades) to come, along with just about every other Scouter. We must like it because we keep coming back for more. Wood Badge - a great experience! Enjoy! Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies

Welcome and greetings from the Central California Coast! Santa Maria that is, Los Padres Council, Live Oak District. What city & council are you in. We may cross paths, you never know. My daughter lives in the City of Orange, so I get down to Southern Cal from time to time. Yours Truly in Scouting, Rick Pushies 805-925-9144