TAHAWK

Do note that the latest Handbook says a troop is "made up of patrols." That is a profound statement IF understood. As for "servant leadership," a concept hardly explained by BSA, we somehow got through the Golden Age of Scouting without it. The admonition to the leaders (by which I habitually mean Scouts) was "take care of the Scouts in your patrol/troop." "Boss" was an insult. "Bossy" was worse. "but how are the other members of your patrol doing?" was the question. The "Kinds of Patrols" language, so loved by National, is unnecessary and can be misleading. "A group of friends" can hardly be improved upon.

In the rest of the World, Scouting is run by volunteers (very few employees). We have plenty of boys who ant to start a unit and are unable to get the corresponding leaders, male or female. I have little confidence in the ability of the employees at National to do it well. Hard to find Stirling performers. Just a few, bless them.

Stosh, Kids planning and leading is not "normal" in families. "Helpful" adults hate to see kids fail so they jump in to "help." All around hem they see examples of the adult-led troop method, and the proprietors have lots of bling on their shirts. We have one with custom lowered pockets for more rows of knots, and he bought the Buffalo. Conclusion? They must be right. Scoutmaster of the Year, and all that. BSA has not explained what the Patrol Method is in over forty years. It was totally absent from Scoutmaster Specific for fourteen years. (The word "patrol" appeared once in the syllabus section on "Working with youth; the patrol method." No a sentence in that session related to the Patrol Methoid - not one. BSA still has the right words here and there, but not is a single chapter, list, or article and very little is identified as part of the Patrol Method. So no coherent statement since before most SMs were eaned (or born). Plus, BSA publishes contradictory things that are anti-Patrol Method. So if you don't know what you are seeing, you might think it's about the mythical Boy Led Troop method, as per "Orientation for New Scout Parents."

HT, A local SM was "Scoutmaster of the Year" for 2011. "His" troop led the Council in FOS and popcorn sales. Six Eagles given (slightly above average for a year in this unit). Gold Journey to "Excellence" every year. "Best"? Should be pretty good, right? Scoutmaster of the Year. There were five Patrol Leaders. They could not tell me the names of the respective patrols of which they were "Leader." (I asked because I saw the green bars but no patrol medallions.) Stand outside the door and listen during the troop meeting. Whom do you suppose you hear? SM: "Have the patrols breakout during the meeting? Why, the patrol leaders would be in charge." Separate patrol activities during the year was equal to the number of patrol flags at the meetings. Nada. When playing games at the troop meetings, it was 1s vs 2s. 35 pp of troop bylaws drafted by the SM The UC "knew" only that he was "the best Scoutmaster in the Council." Scout training completed by the SM = ______________________________("You only need to like boys.").

"I have never seen any reference to Miss Ireland being in a Crew, nor have I seen her in photos wearing any uniform other the Scouts Canada. " Is she now a U.S. resident? Even a temporary resident? Or a visitor who has not established residency in the U.S. I note she was "briefly" a Scout in South Africa. Really gets around. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Sure, crossover. The language that you quote, from the document Advancement Committee. Policy and Procedures, has been superseded as of 2013 by the Guide to Advancement. That document says, currently: 5.0.4.0 Youth From Other Countries Youth from other countries who temporarily reside in the United States, or have moved here, may register in a BSA unit and participate in advancement. If progress from a foreign Scouting association is to be considered and applied to BSA requirements, then the foreign Scout must meet in person (or over electronic media) with members of the council or district advancement committee, along with at least one adult leader or committee member of the receiving unit. Previous advancement work is reviewed to determine the BSA rank—up to, but not including Eagle Scout rank—the youth is qualified to receive, . . . This procedure applies to all ranks except Eagle Scout, which is not considered equivalent to any other association’s rank. If it can be established that Life rank has been achieved, then the council or district advancement committee can determine which BSA merit badges may be awarded based on previous effort and experiences that meet BSA merit badge requirements as written. This may leave a number of additional badges to earn— required or not—to achieve Eagle. Requirements for active participation, position of responsibility, Scout spirit, the service project, and the unit leader conference must be completed in a BSA unit. This procedure also applies to members of the BSA who, while living abroad, have earned advancement in another Scouting association." Boy Scouts of America, Guide to Advancement (2017) So, some requirements along the Trail may be , as you say, be crossed off for some youth.

Quite different requirements. E.G. Lack the required MBs. No POR requirement. Does no require Life, which is quite different than Pathfinder. Example of credit given? I really did try to find one. My Googlefoo failed.

Many Eagles, to be conservative, have not experienced the Patrol Method. In my council, we find in every survey for decades, that the majority of PLs and SPLs are appointed by adults, experience primarily or entirely program planned by adults, and have had little to no opportunity to lead. As I have trained Eagles in Wood Badge who had taken no formal training whatsoever as adults, I can attest to their greater than average knowledge of Scouting, but they could neither define the Patrol Method, a state they share with most Council and National Council employees, nor explain the Aims and Methods of Scouting. They would possibly have been more ahead of the curve in one of the first two versions of Wood Badge, where Scoutcraft was relevant.

The Chief Scout's Award is an admirable achievement that is not comparable to Eagle. Have earned the Pathfinder award. Be currently qualified in Standard First Aid. Have earned at least one challenge badge in each of the 7 Challenge Badge Categories. Hold the World Conservation Award. Investigate Scouts Canada's involvement in World Scouting. Present your findings in an interesting way to your Patrol, Troop or other group. Your presentation should include information on the following: Scouts Canada's involvement with: The Canadian Scout Brotherhood Fund World Jamborees The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) The purpose and location of the World Scouting Bureau The current World Scouting membership and how Canada's membership compares to that of other countries. Develop yourself further in each Activity Area by: Designing a challenging program with a Scouter which includes the requirements to excel in a component of each Activity Area. Citizenship must include providing at least 30 hours of leadership to others. These hours are in addition to the hours required for the Citizenship Activity Area. If at all possible, provide this service outside of Scouting. Offering your plans and goals for discussion and approval to your Court of Honour and Troop Scouter prior to beginning. Reporting to and being evaluated by the Court of Honour and Troop Scouter on your ongoing progress. Source: Scouts Canada at: http://greatertoronto.scouts.ca/ca/chief-scouts-award I am having trouble finding where BSA gives "credit" to anyone for achieving their association's highest, or any other, rack.

Truly, a ton of material - much of it mediocre at best.

If the training material were only excellent.

How about eliminating he boring parts and replacing it with good training - like if BSA was competing for your time? I have witnesses awful training - and training where the learners didn't want to leave when the sessions were over.

Just asking. If I do something a Girl Scout in Mexico that wouls have fulfilled a BSA requirement if done as a Boy Scout, may (forget "can") credit be given for passing the requirement for Boy Scouting? All requirements for the Scout rank must be completed as a member of a troop. The requirements for the Scout, Tenderfoot, Second Class, and First Class ranks may be worked on simultaneously; however, these ranks must be earned in sequence. Notes: For Varsity Scouts working on Boy Scout requirements, replace “troop” with “team” 2.0.0.1 It Is a Method—Not an End in Itself Advancement is simply a means to an end, not an end in itself. It is one of several methods designed to help unit leadership carry out the aims and mission of the Boy Scouts of America. See the inside front cover for text of the aims and mission.

Oh yee of little trust.

Sounds accurate.

One obvious observation is, because she was not a Scout member of B.S.A., she neither qualified for Merit Badges or rank advancement. She knew that at the time. Now she, and her parents, want to go back and rewrite history. My best friend as a Scout earned piles of Merit Badges, was a great leader, and was admired by all. The leg brace he wore due to polio prevented his earning Eagle (no Life Saving MB). He took that better than I did. He told me that he always knew he could not Eagle. But, then, he outranked me as we looked at it, because he wore the Honor Medal. He was elected SPL twice - unanimously I believe. 120-0 (twice) salves a lot of potential hurt. I doubt that his parents either thought less of him or communicated that he had fallen short.

Yes. Different. The first is cheating. The second is changing the rules, like no longer requiring Life Saving for Eagle. Eagle was once 1%. Now approaches 7%.

It is a popularity contest, and the leader is whoever the Scouts follow, titles notwithstanding. That is not to say that adults cannot profoundly influence the outcomes by the training they give the Scouts, both training of the leaders and of the electors as to what the elected leader must accomplish. I know of poor choices -- that proved educational to the Scouts, and that is the goal, rather then "perfect" choices - according to adults' opinions. WHO PITCHES AND TO WHAT END?

A given group of units, from a given area, served by a "team" of volunteers who are managed by "professionals." A "district" by a different name that expressly puts leadership authority in the hands of council employees. "Change" Evades BSA model council organization, including many articles in Bylaws.

WM, I think your analysis is correct. For 36 years we have had a short supply of , on average, not very impressive DEs, and the compensation package has just been cut significantly. So I do not see the results doing anything but getting worse.

Some of the finest people and Scouters I have encountered have been, are or were council employees. The impressive council employees have been, were, and are a distinct minority of all council employees. This have been true here at least since 1981. The impressive council employees tend to leave for better-paying jobs with shorter hours and less frustration. Even the "lifer" types tend to be gone in under three years. This have been true here at least since 1981. In other words, the ones you want to keep leave. Those who stay until ? are usually the "otherwise unemployable." They joined intending to get a "better" job and could not. I once "lost" three DE's from my district in such short order that I never met the one in the middle. She was hired on Thursday and had quit by Monday night. No. 3 came on board on Wednesday and was gone in two months. Not unusual here. One of our districts (large) had no DE last year for five months. A council employee communicated to us today that she was "shocked" that out museum had a display of "weapons" (couple dozen examples of official BSA knives from 1910 -2018). She felt it was a "terrible example for the kids." One can hope for addition by subtraction. Scouting, the unincorporated association of volunteers and Scouts, needs to save itself even as BSA, the 502(C)(3) corporation, declines. I am reminded that I joined a troop that existed without BSA from 1908-1926, when BSA finally arrived in Orange County, California and that ninety-nine troops greeted BSA when it arrived in Cleveland in 1912 (five claiming the right to be "Troop 1"). My Scouting friends in other nations cannot understand our massive payroll. I think that this situation is going to get more and more Darwinian. Expenditure needs to be linked to value added.

I was informed this evening, by a DE who has been quite reliable, that pensions for the great majority of "professional" Scouters are going away - soon (although the deduction from their salary to help defray the cost will continue for 2018 with no benefit for most). All that will remain is a savings plan with a nice company match, if the employees were able to find money to save from the low salaries they are paid. Grandfathering will be in effect for those with 15 or more years of service, which is very few of those in the field doing the work. (Our DE has two years service.) This change was justified to the employees by reference to the need to be competitive with other nonprofit and for-profit organizations. This historic change was announced by National Council with the female Cubs/Scouts announcement and, so, was little noticed, except by those impacted. If what I was told tonight is correct, this website statement is incorrect: "The BSA continues to offer a defined benefit plan that provides for a lifetime income based upon salary and years of credited benefit service. Employees are eligible to enter the plan after one year of employment and become vested after five years of eligible service." Such a change probably would have a negative impact on recruiting "professionals." Our council already has been unable for months to fill the council ToO, even as it tells us we are about to play upset the basket again with a drastic reorganization that eliminates districts in favor of service "pods" -- a plan which requires a significant increase in "professional" employees over the current ToO. It has taken us about five years to more-or-less recover from the last reorganization. We go on trying to do what we perceive as needed even with no clue if what we plan will in fact take place. "... until morale improves."

Back when BSA did Boy Scouting, your Position Card as SM said your first job was "training junior leaders to run their troop." If so, the first and best measure of your performance is how well they perform as leaders. Perhaps they need other trainers? Visit patrols/troops that are doing well? Questions (addressed to the leaders) can be useful. "Joey, how did X work out? Have you considered .....?" "How well the ceremony went is not important. What is important is that the Scouts planned and led the ceremony. We are building team players and leaders, not ceremony experts."

I am old enough to recall the late 70s when the prediction was that air pollution would bring on another Ice Age.

"Houston energy executive and Sam Houston Area Council board member Dan Ownby will serve as one of a 12-member committee of volunteers from around the world that represents more than 31 million Scouts from 220 countries and territories. His election was made at the recent World Scout Conference in Brazil—where it was also announced the 24th World Scout Jamboree will be held in the United States. Ownby, a lifelong member of the Scout program, is an Eagle Scout, a member of the Boy Scouts of America’s honor society, Order of the Arrow, and has served in numerous Scouting positions in the Houston area—most recently as chairman of the council’s centennial camporee, SHACJam, which was attended by over 27,000 participants. Ownby is a member of the BSA’s International Committee and the U.S. Foundation for International Scouting, and has been active with international Scouting for over a decade. His earliest connection with international Scouting dates back to a summer at the Cub Scout day camp in his hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma, where he became acquainted with two international Scouts visiting from Holland. Much of his adult life has revolved around helping kids in the Scouting program and introducing Scouts from different parts of the world to Scouting opportunities. Ownby was instrumental in establishing an exchange program with Scouts from the Republic of Georgia. Through the 7-year-old exchange program, Scouts from the republic have had the opportunity to work with Scouts at camps in the Houston area, advancing their leadership skills and sharing their culture. Ownby’s primary goal for the committee is to help nations utilize Scouting to develop their next generation of leaders. He commends the leadership provided by former World Scout Committee Chairman and former BSA National President Rick Cronk, who has laid the groundwork for building a program that will attract young people from around the world."