ScoutNut

Talk to your District Training Chair about becoming a member of the District Training staff. Training volunteers are always in short supply.

Just make sure that you do not use any BSA symbols or trademarks.

Just One He can put the other one on his patch vest/jacket/sweatshirt/blanket/etc.

Just a shame though that better research was not done. They are mixing Boy Scout terminology & activities with Cub Scouts.

"She has been a threat to some of the adult leaders as she is constantly telling them about liabilities. She works in one of the biggest law firms in town. So I have had to double check on our activities to make sure we are doing EVERYTHING properly." OK, so this is a problem how? You have other people's children in your charge! You are also responsible for the good name of both the BSA and your Charter Organization. Not to mention the funds of your Charter Organization. Double checking on activities to make sure EVERYTHING is done safely & correctly is part of the job.

Different states have different laws concerning "mandated reporters". Not all states laws are the same. If you have taken the online Youth Protection Training, part of that training is a statement of your states laws.

From the BSA National Web site - http://www.scouting.org/boyscouts/resources/mbc/rank.html "Question: For the Star, Life, and Eagle Scout ranks, how is "Be active in your troop and patrol" defined? Answer: A Scout is considered to be active in his unit if: He is registered in his unit (registration fees are current). He has not been dismissed from his unit for disciplinary reasons. He is engaged by his unit leadership on a regular basis (Scoutmaster conference, informs the Scout of upcoming unit activities, through personal contact, and so on). The unit leaders are responsible for maintaining contact with the Scout on a regular basis. The Scout is not required to attend any certain percentage of activities or outings. However, unit leaders must ensure that he is fulfilling the obligations of his assigned leadership position. If he is not, then they should remove the Scout from that position."

From the BSA National website - MyScouting http://www.scouting.org/nav/enter.jsp?s=ms Coming in late Spring, 2007, "MyScouting" will be a portal for our members that will provide access to the following resources: Tour Permit Applications Adult leaders will be able to apply for tour permits that will automate the approval process and provide for prompt electronic delivery of approved permits. The applicant will need to provide detailed information about tour destination; dates; itinerary; participation and leadership; transportation plans (including vehicle information, drivers' license numbers, and insurance coverage); and the training certifications for Youth Protection and any other course needed for the tour. E-Learning The E-Learning Course Management System provides a selection of courses for adult volunteers that may be taken for credit. E-learning will be integrated into each member's account. My Account Members will have direct access to their data in our information systems, enabling them to update or make corrections at any time to keep our records accurate across all systems. ... And More! After the initial launch of the "MyScouting" portal, we will continue to work on additional applications and services that will support and enhance our members as they administer and experience the Scouting program.

I REALLY hate blanket judgments. "Choosing to bear a child with no father is not morally responsible." I am sure that all of the war widows out there whose children will never get to know their fathers would disagree with you. I am sure that all of the grandparents of those fatherless children would also disagree with you. "If the bio mothers and fathers of these foster kids had given their babies up for adoption from the beginning, these now unadaptable kids wouldnt be bouncing around between foster homes." Wow, what an uninformed comment from someone who obviously only knows the system from the movies. Are you advocating that prospective single mothers put their babies up for sale? That they find the "perfect" couple to buy/give their baby to? You must be, because otherwise these WANTED babies, that MUST be given up because to be a single mother is "selfish, self-centered, and morally reprehensible", end up in the SAME PLACES as your "unadaptable" kids. Granted, it is easier to find placements for babies, but that does NOT guarantee that EVERY baby will get placed in a decent home. Unless you go the private adoption route and sell the baby (& even then you can not really guarantee decent folks will end up with the child) the baby will FIRST go into the DCFS system. There are a LOT of unwanted babies out there waiting in foster care for new parents. Some never find them & are raised in a variety of foster homes until they are kicked out on their 18th birthday to fend for themselves. Personally, I don't give a darn HOW/WHY a child was conceived. If the mother loves that child, wants that child, & has a support system of family & friends in place to help her raise that child, then that child is WAY better off with that mother. Yes, there ARE times/circumstances, when giving the child up would be the better option, but it is never the best option & should certainly NOT be the ONLY option a mother has. BTW - I notice that you seem to be only opposed to a single MOTHER raising a child, but a single FATHER seems to be OK with you. Why is that?

Yep, I agree with the others, more info is needed in order to give sound advise. Otherwise we are just shooting blindly. "She spreads rumors about our lack of safety and discipline. We are working on these issues" What are the issues? How is your Troop lacking in safety & discipline? "her anger with how things are being done is out of control." How ARE things being done? What are you doing to correct your Troop's lack of safety & discipline? "she has been very destructive in her approach, because we are not doing it her way." What is her way? How does it differ from your way? Could her way possibly work better than your way? Inquiring minds would like a clearer picture.

Have the Webelos den leader get a copy of the "Webelos Leader Guide". It has a 1 year program resource. Completing the Webelos program in one year is doable, especially if they start now. However, keep in mind that you have 2 Webelos, one of whom is only in 4th grade(& hopefully you will get more in the Fall). Even if he finishes his AOL in a year he might not meet the age requirement to join a Troop at the end of his 4th grade school year. Rather than push the 5th grader to earn the AOL, & possibly short change the 4th grader(s) in the process, I feel you would serve both boys better by focusing on working toward the Webelos Badge. The den can also do a lot of Troop visits, which would get the 5th grader familiar with the Troops in the area & give the 4th grader a head start too. Den camping would be fun. If at all possible get your Webelos leader trained in Webelos Outdoor. The 5th grader will be able to join a BS Troop at the end of the school year regardless of weather or not he has earned the AOL. The 4th graders, with even more Troop contact & camping in 5th grade, will be able to make a good transition to Boy Scouting when they meet the joining requirements.

From BSA's "The Guide to Safe Scouting" - Parade Floats and Hayrides The BSA rule prohibiting the transportation of passengers in the backs of trucks or on trailers may be tempered for parade floats or hayrides, provided that the following points are strictly followed to prevent injuries: 1) Transportation to and from the parade or hayride site is not allowed on the truck or trailer. 2) Those persons riding, whether seated or standing, must be able to hold on to something stationary. 3) Legs should not hang over the side. 4) Flashing lights must illuminate a vehicle used for a hayride after dark, or the vehicle must be followed by a vehicle with flashing lights.

Tigers must have their Adult Partner with them for ALL activities, including Day Camp.

What kind of tent do you have (brand/type)? What kind of fly is it? If your tent has an awning fly that only comes part way down the side of your tent, & it was a hard, driving, windy storm, it is very possible the rain was being blown under your fly onto the tent itself. The fly should be factory waterproofed. The tent has non-waterproof, breathable walls & roof this is why touching the wall during a rain storm will cause a capillary leak. All seams, even those that are factory sealed, should be resealed every year or so. I have never had to apply waterproofing to a rain fly. Your best bet would be to contact the manufacturer & see what they recommend.

Lisa - While BSA's Online Learning Center has lots of good traning courses, "New Leader Essentials" is not one of them. They have however, recently added "Troop Committee Challenge", which while not as good as the in-person training, is still a pretty good overview of what the comittee does.

Just because your UC has not been in Scouting for 60 years, & has only held the unit position of Den Leader, does not mean she will be a bad UC. There are books a plenty for her to read, training a plenty for her to take & people a plenty for her to ask, including her District Commissioner. Just because she has never done a merit badge or taken Wood Badge does not mean she does not know the difference between them. The only problem I see is with units like yours, where the leaders have been around forever & will be condescending & ignore all of her efforts. However, that attitude is what UC's have to put up with & work around all of the time. Our UC is a grand old fellow. His son went to the parish school & was a member of both the Pack & the Troop. He has been with our units for about 30+ years. He offers suggestions now & then or tells us stories of how things used to be done. He is WAY to close to the SM (who has been there almost as long as he has) to ever see any problems with the way the Troop is run (& there are some). He is a very nice man & if we ever went to him with a problem I am sure he would do his best to help. Would we ever ask for another UC? No way, he is a fixture & we love him. Would we ever recommend him as UC for any other unit? No way.

"It is selfish, self-centered, and morally reprehensible to intentionally bring a child into the world with no father." So, FScouter, consider this - A young couple gets married, the young man gets sent to Iraq, 1 month later he is killed by a bomb, 1 month after that the young women finds out she is pregnent, the young women has her child & raises it as a single parent. This to you would be "selfish, self-centered, and morally reprehensible"?

Sounds like your CC finally decided to focus just on her GS Troop. The first thing to do is contact your Charter Org Representative(COR). Your Charter Org has the responsibility, thru the COR, to provide appropriate leadership. The COR is also the only one who can register in 2 positions, COR & CC. The COR can pitch hit as CC for a while until someone else is found. Have you considered a member of your CO who is not a parent? Your COR should be able to help you find suitable candidates & help do a face-to-face with them to ask them to volunteer. It will help to have a written job description with everything laid out for the candidate. Good Luck!

"Maybe all of my questions will be answered and every one will stop talking in code HA! HA!." Perhaps this will help - http://www.scouting.org/identity/los/index.html From the BSA National Web site, the Language of Scouting covers Scouting related terms, abbreviations and acronyms. Edited to add - The Unit Position codes from the Adult Application should help also. http://www.scouting.org/forms/28-501.pdf (This message has been edited by ScoutNut)

I never said that asking questions here bothered me, or anyone else. Asking questions in your Troop is fine. Asking questions here is fine also. However, you have made it plain that you feel CC is wearing to many hats. You have also made it plain that you feel that because of the CC doing to many things, & doing none of them well, that you are looking for another Troop to join. "Next week, I also need to ask the CC/Treasurer, what the patch on her shoulder mean District Committee guessing that may be another position that she holds?" Asking here what a District Committee member is (so you know the answer before you ask CC) & also asking the CC what she is doing on the Committee seems to me like needling the CC about doing to many jobs. Now, I could very well be wrong about your intentions. If so I do apologize. It is hard to tell at times the tone/intention behind postings on a forum, & yours are a bit hard to follow. I understand that you do not want to be involved with the running of the Troop, that you do not want to "take over" because you do not feel you are qualified. I understand that you just want information. Weather you ever get more involved in your son's Troop or not, the best place to get information is at training. You do not have to be a registered leader to take training. Most councils are running the Basic leader training now. Take the BSA online training at http://olc.scouting.org/ Then sign up for New Leaders Essentials & Committee Member Specific training. These will help you know what the BSA program should be and you will be able to ask your trainers all kinds of questions about how your council does things. Keep asking questions & Good Luck with the Troop search. BTW - while the Scout Zone Troop finder does not give you contact info for each Troop, it does tell you the names of most of the Charter Organizations by town. Pick some that are in your town & near to you & look up the Charter Organization in your local telephone book. Give them a call & talk to them about their BSA Troop. It is also a good way to see how involved the CO is with their Troop.

"Next week, I also need to ask the CC/Treasurer, what the patch on her shoulder mean District Committee guessing that may be another position that she holds?" Yes, that is a position she would either be currently holding or has recently held and just has not had the time to take the patch off her shirt. My question to you is - why? Why would you want to ask her about it? Is it to simply push her buttons? To needle her about all of the "hats" she wears? My suggestion is to just leave it alone. From your posts it sounds like you have made your position clear to your CC/Treas already. If you want to do something constructive for this Troop before you move on to a new Troop in the Fall, needling the CC/Treas is not it. Contact your Unit Commissioner (or the District Commissioner) & let him/her know that the Troop could benefit from some visits & some help.

If we have no trees, the lack of campfires will be the least of our worries! Most campsites will sell you firewood. There is no reason to fill cars up with your own, potentially infected, wood. Fill them up with more scouts & their equipment instead!

Matt - Matt, all we have to go on is your limited description. I am uncomfortable with girls(or boys) teaching other girls(or boys) canoeing skills when they have only 2 hours instruction time under their belt & no canoeing experience. Maybe basic paddling techniques so newbies can avoid going in circles & tipping over, but that is about it. They are NOT experts in any sense. What I think would work as a Girl Scout money earning event is an outdoor activity day. Using a council camp with all of the proper facilities would be a plus. Then the "skills" taught would all be part of a day long of outdoor fun & learning. I do not know how your daughter's Troop had their event set up, but GSUSA money earning activities are NOT usually ongoing affairs. They are one time only events that are done to earn money for a particular purpose. There is a set of rules (both national & local) that the Troop has to follow, along with a Money-Earning Application that has to be approved by their Service Unit and Council. After the money earning activity is over, most councils require the Troop to submit financial paperwork on the event which includes expenses incurred, number of attendees, amount charged, Troop profit, etc (remember the COUNCIL owns the Troop). I would say that, IF your daughter's Troop filed a Money-Earning Application, AND had it approved by their council, they should be OK. If you are concerned, I would recommend you pick up a copy of Safety Wise from your local council & read up on the rules governing Troop money earning activities. If you are still concerned, then you should talk to the person at your council who is in charge of approving the Money-Earning Applications. They should be able to answer all of your questions about the event.

"1) How active and committed should the C/O be in the Packs working" Should be & is are 2 way different things. Ideally the CO should be using their BSA Units as their organizations youth outreach group. However there are more CO's out there that do not do this than do. Our CO is active, if not overly involved. They pay for everyone's recharter each year & will help with equipment purchases. However, our COR comes to less than 1/2 of our Committee meetings, none of our regular Pack meetings, & usually only attends our B&G dinners. "2) How does one go about looking for and changing your C/O" I also think that changing CO's because they will not pay for Wood Badge is a bit much. Working to improve the relationship will be better in the long run. If you would like help in either finding a new CO, or improving your current relationship, contact your District Executive. "3) Am I wrong in asking for the C/O for funds to pay for Wood Badge." No, you are not wrong. You will never find out the answer unless you first ask the question. However, I do think you are wrong for being mad at them for saying no. That is a SERIOUS chunk of change you are asking them to shell out. Perhaps, when they say that the commitment of your leaders is the reason they turned you down, they mean that, unlike Boy Scout leaders, Cub Scout leaders do not traditionally stay with the Pack very long. If the leaders who you want them to pay for are Bear or Webelos, perhaps they feel the Pack (and hence the CO) will not reap the benefits of the money spent. If the leaders in question can really not afford the cost of Wood Badge on their own, you might ask your council's Wood Badge Course Director about council WB scholarships.

So you are talking about Cadettes & Seniors teaching Juniors & Brownies? How much are they are charging them? The younger girls are actually PAYING them? What skills are they teaching? You mentioned hiking, what kinds of things are they teaching for hiking? You also mentioned canoeing. This I have a real problem with. GSUSA has a LOT of rules in place about canoeing & who is qualified to run a canoe trip. If this is an ongoing thing, I am suprised the council goes along with it unless they really do not know about it. In just about every council I have heard tell of, Troops are allowed only 1 or 2 money earning projects & that is only allowed if the Troop participates in the council money earning programs first. Exceptions for extra money earning projects might be allowed if there is a special need, like for Silver/Gold Award expenses. I hope the girls are not claiming their money earning time as leadership hours. That I would have a REAL BIG problem with. BTW - GSUSA summer camps are VERY different from BSA summer camps. There is very little actual skills instruction & if they do have youth staff (not usual) they are not paid.