ScoutNut

Girls can register as individual members of GSUSA. Many councils call them Juliettes. Your council might also have other ways that your daughter can experience Girl Scouts without being in a Troop (Girl Scout Express?). Of course, if all of the Troops with girls your daughters age in your area are closed to new members, that might mean that there are quite a few girls out there, like your daughter, who are waiting for Troops. Have you thought of starting a new Troop yourself?

I think they were getting way to much flack from volunteers over 29 who felt like they were being told they were no longer needed!

Our Charter Organization is the Holy Name Society of our church. Jason OK - It sounds like you have found a unit to work with. How is it going?

One more idea - If camping equipment is a problem, check with your GS council. Many

If your daughter's leaders do not like tent camping the odds are that they will discourage this in their troop. In most councils there is a progression of outdoor training that the leaders have to go thru in order to be able to take their girls camping (any type). I would bet that your leaders have only taken the basic outdoor that enables them to lodge camp. As MomScouter said, your best bet is to register as a GS volunteer, take the outdoor training yourself and run the camping trips for your GS Troop. I bet there are other girls in the troop who would like some more challenging camping experiences too! One other thought. Why doesn't your daughter go with when your Pack goes camping? We make our Pack camping trips open to the entire family. It makes it easier on the family because then one parent doesn't have to stay behind. It also gets more kids camping and having fun!

Currently, the cover IS all that they are changing on the IP book. However they are in the process of a comple

As ASM you are well within your rights to talk to the Scoutmaster about both his and his son's behaviour. You might also talk to your Committee Chair and your Unit Commissioner. It is NOT ok to single out a child because of your personal feelings about him. The boy with OCD should also be reigned in. OCD does not usually make a child agressive and cause him to kick people. It also does not usually make the child feel like he is "never wrong". People with OCD have very strong worries about certain things. These worries are called obsessions. In order to combat these obsessive worries, the person with OCD develops rituals which are repeated over, and over, and over, and over again. These rituals are called compulsions. For instance a person might have an obsessive worry about catching germs. The compulsive ritual they use to help themselves feel better might be hand washing, lots and lots and lots of hand washing. This boy might have OCD, but his main problem seems to be bad behaviour which is encouraged by his father.

Way To Go Jamie !! Let me add my heartfelt CONGRATS to those many you have already received. I know just how much work you have put into earning this award, my girls received it this year also! It's great that you got it finished as a Junior. Your Senior year will be jam packed with tons of stuff. Be sure to include this award on all college apps and look into Gold Award specific scholarships. You might not receive a scholarship because of the award directly, but it shows leadership, community service, and just how hard you are willing to work for something. All of these are qualities that colleges and universities look for. Many also have private scholarships which are based on community service and earning the Gold puts you in a good position for those. Gee - Can you tell I went thru all of this! Yep, my girls were Senior, Seniors this year! Good Luck and have an EXCITING Senior year!!!!

Actually she is not President of GSUSA. Cynthia B. Thompson is the Chair of the National Board of Directors. This is the highest volunteer position in GSUSA. The highest paid staff position is Chief Executive Officer. This is held by Cathy Cloninger (who is not African American). These two women, together, lead the GSUSA. Ms Thompson is not responsible for Studio 2B. She was elected Chair on 10/19/02. Studio 2B was introduced at the National Convention which was held 10/17-20/02. National was working on this for quite a while before they decided to present it at the convention. Cultural differences are recognized in Girl Scouting. There are many ways that we try to bring these differences to the attention of our girls. The "Connections" booklets are one way that comes to mind. Dealing with the different cultural attitudes within a troop is up the troops leaders with help from their Service unit and council. You can not make one mold fit everyone that is why Girl Scouting has always been flexable.

Or maybe she is a Tiger Partner!

Many, many of us would also like to hear the full scoop on the Studio 2B program. Unfortunately, the only place I have been able to find out ANY info is on GS forums. There are a couple at Yahoo that have a council person who posts info as soon as it becomes available to councils. Unfortunatly the info changes as National figures out what they are doing. The down side is that info comes out in dribs and drabs with every council implementing it in it's own way and time. The plus side is that it seems that National is actually listening (however slightly) to feedback from volunteers on this program. The IP books are supposed to stay around. However they are also supposed to be undergoing a rewrite to make them more like the focus books with no set requirements. Of course this rewritten version is not due out any time real soon. The Silver & Gold have been rewritten also and include required focus book use. Talk to your council and find out if your girls will be able to use the old Silver requirements or if they will have to use the new S2B "Go For It" binder inserts at approx $4.95 each which are due out in Aug - Oct. As I said the IP books are due to be changed, but currently they are the same as always so your girls can use the old versions. If you are really serious about this, I say do it! It will be a great experience for both you and the girls. Let the program problems work themselves out. You just concentrate on keeping the girls (and yourself) enjoying Scouts!

GKM - IH stands for Institutional Head. This is the head of your Charter Organization. Not to be confused with the COR which is the Charter Organization Representative. SE is your council's Scout Executive. He/she is the head of the council. You might consider talking to your Council's Advancement Chair. If they could talk to your SM, and straighten him out on his advancement methods, it might just carry a bit more weight with your SM than a talk by the DE or DC. I would try to talk your hubby and son into attending Summer camp. It would be a shame to miss it because of your SM's attitude. I would also have your hubby keep an eye on the "bully" and if anything happens report it to your SM, the Camp Director and also your Scout Excutive (SE). There are some Youth Protection issues here. Good Luck and have your son start looking for a decent Troop to join.

According to BSA National, once an official uniform, always an official uniform. This means that if your shop has all of the orange Tiger uniform parts, and you purchase a complete orange Tiger uniform, your Tiger can wear it next year and it will STILL be an official BSA uniform. The orange t-shirt will become an activity shirt when your Tigers wear the blue uniform. However, an activity shirt is still official uniform wear.

The orange shirt is still an official uniform. It is also a much better option than making up your own uniform variation!

Your council has it right. The "trial" program is here to stay. The official levels of Cadette and Senior are history as of October 1, 2004. Girls are now Girl Scouts ages 11-17, or Studio 2B Girls ages 11-17 (brought to you by Girl Scouts). According to National girls can still call their group Cadettes or Seniors if they feel like it. Actually, they can also call themselves anything they want to. A group of girls could call themselves the Nosepickers if they felt like it, but officially they are simply Girl Scouts ages 11-17. Studio 2B, IMO, is no longer simply just a supplement, if it ever really ever was. There is a new IPA book in the works which is supposed to make the IPA's more like the focus books where the girls get to pick what they want to do to earn the award. The requirements for the Silver and Gold have indeed been changed. And, yes, they DO include focus books. Their is an option to use IP's also. The patches/pins for some of the requirements have been changed to charms. The final project hours have also been increased. All of the changes will be in a Studio 2B binder insert which will be out later this year. So the "more, more, not less, more" mantra is not exactly correct anymore. National is forcing girls to cough up LOTS more money for this "supplemental" program which was supposed to be optional. But, in a way, I guess it is optional. Troops do not have to do the GSUSA program/s. Since it is now "By Girls, For Girls" (yup, that's how it was supposed to be for all along, but hey, what do I know!) the girls can choose to not earn any awards and just do whatever they want. If they want patches for their vests (which are also optional) they can order them from Patchco or Joycrest at MUCH less than the cost of those charms. If you would like to hear more from leaders on Studio 2B, Yahoo has a group that is pretty good: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Studio_2B/ I guess we have no option but to just go with the flow. Gee, I hope GSUSA is not going to hold hard and fast to their copyright rules. Coping those focus books and the rest of the Studio 2B stuff is the only way to make it affordable.

Is the Cub Scout motto "Do Your Best" setting them up for failure? Please, don't let your obvious preferences ("Boy Scouts is so much cooler") affect your girls. Let the choice be theirs, not yours. You do not have to be a leader for your girls to be members of GSUSA. As for finding a Troop to help - Contact your local BSA council. Here is the site for BSA's council finder: http://www.scouting.org/nav/enter.jsp?c=lc Talk to them about volunteering at the District level and/or becoming a Merit Badge Counselor (there are forms and training). Districts are usually short of Unit Commissioners and always need help with things like popcorn, events, etc. Once you get to know the different Troops in your area you are more likely to be accepted into one.

Anything by Poe. Some favorites are "The Tell Tale Heart", "The Bells", "Annabel Lee", "Eldorado", and of course, "The Raven".

Den meetings should be weekly, or at the very least, bi-weekly. The meetings that are held monthly are the Pack meetings where all of the dens get together to have fun and recognize the boys for all they have accomplished during the month. It sounds like you and the rest of your Pack leadership need to sign up for training ASAP! BTW - Welcome! (ARRGH - These chopped off posts are annoying!!)

Den meetings should be weekly, or at the very least, bi-weekly. The meetings that are held monthly are the Pack m

Den meetings should be weekly, or at the very least, bi-weekly. The meetings that are held monthly are the Pack m

I believe it's up to the Charter Org. If they are a not-for-profit they might have some specific rules regarding this in order to keep their not-for-profit status. They might also have a minimum amount that they want you to keep in your account. Our CO gave us $200 (many, many moons ago) to be kept in our account for any needy scout's uniform or campership costs.

I agree with meanpc, your SM is adding a requirement to the Tenderfoot rank. Nowhere does it say "complete a full pull-up". It says "show improvement". Improvement can be 1/8 inch closer to the bar than he was 30 days ago. I feel bad for that boy your SM denied rank for a full year. How does the SM feel that adding this requirement, and making the boy and his parents feel like something was wrong with the boy, make this boy a better scout? Or even make the boy want to continue in scouting?

The new Cub Scout website is up and running. It looks interesting and could be a useful tool. Have your boys check out the games area! http://www.joincubscouting.org

By now all Cubmasters should have received a postcard with the news of the Tiger uniform change. It says basically what the Natl Supply website says.

According to BSA, once a uniform always a uniform. So technically, the current orange t-shirt Tiger uniform will always be an official uniform. However, as of Aug 1, 2004, the official Tiger uniform will be the blue shirt & pants with Tiger hat, belt, socks, & necker. From what I have been hearing, the boys can wear the orange t-shirt as an activity shirt and the adults can still wear the adult orange shirts as their Tiger Partner shirts.