Krampus

It depends. I think there are a few threads where this was discussed before, but I can tell you how mine are done. The unit is responsible for working with the candidate to get everything lined up. When we are ready to have them we contact the district rep and he comes and sits in on the EBOR. There are usually 2-3 adults from our unit, including our Eagle coordinator or advancement chair. Usually nor more than 4-5 people including the district chair. Due to the large volume of Scouts in my district, they could not do a centralized EBOR on a set night during the month. There are just too many kids to review.

We normally have non-politicians speak to fulfill the requirements in S-FC. They are usually public figures of sorts in that they may work for the government (appointed, not elected) or are members of the military. When they speak on citizenship they have always been quite good. This last year I made the mistake of allowing on ASM suggest a local politician. He was given the scope of the discussion and told what needed to be covered. He took 30 minutes (we had requested 45-60) and he spoke mostly about legislation he had introduced rather than about citizenship. VERY disappointing. He couldn't have given it any less attention had the room been on fire. One of my Scouts noted as he left for the evening, "Maybe he would have stayed longer if there were TV cameras around."

...and Instagram, some Twitter and Snapchat. Boards like this would never get used.

Pick a softest that has a backup. Some do. Some don't. Ask before your buy. Make sure your data is backed up to more than one location.

To All- Just popping my head back in to give an update. For obvious reasons I am not giving details of what transpired. Our Scout was lost last Friday on his way to an event. A second Scout was injured and is all right physically. We held vigils and a remembrance service in the past few days. The heeling is beginning but will clearly take time. In all of this grief it has been tremendous to see the outpouring of support from all quarters. The troop rallied around the families and set up a support structure that will offer help and counselling. The CO has stepped in to provide counselling for the unit. The unit has set up a memorial fund in the name of our fallen Scout to raise money for other children to experience various activities who might not otherwise have the means. Our council exec stepped in and personally expedited the process to have the Spirit of the Eagle award conferred. He has also pulled out all the stops to make sure that the necessary paperwork for insurance, etc., that needs to get done can be done without an undue burden on the families. Most amazing have been the Scouts and friends of this young man. I will never underestimate the strength that the bond of friendship has, not will I ever forget the depth of feeling and emotion that young people can have for one another in a crisis. they have been an example to follow. Thanks for the prayers, the kind words and thoughts. While death is a natural part of life, I hope none of you ever have to experience the loss of a young man or woman in your unit. If you ever find yourself in this situation please feel free to reach out to me. I have found that talking with others who have lost a youth member has helped immensely. Thank you all for your support.

I just popped my head back in to say thank you for the expressions of support. We held a vigil for the young man last night and his remembrance service is tomorrow night. I have be honored with the task of delivering his eulogy. While I am finding the words relatively easy to come by, getting them on paper has been difficult. Thank you again.

It's my sad duty to report we lost one of our Scouts tonight. The other is in serious condition. I appreciate your thoughts and prayers. Not sure I'll be around here much for a while. We've got a family in need of love and support. Hug your kids. Hug your grand kids. Remember what's important.

I just learned two of my Scouts were in an accident on the way to an OA event. One of them is non-responsive. Please include them in your prayers.

A chapter on requirements and why working them honestly and completely is important for character development at ANY age...including adults.

So the requirements were available but the "how to" guide books were not available until May last year? So folks had all summer to plan how to attack the requirements during 2015-2016 with a September start date?

The handbooks may have just been released in June last year, but weren't the requirements posted earlier? BTW, the new Boy Scout Handbooks were made available in late January. Our new Scouts showed up then too. Imagine scrambling to put together the new First Year program AND train the Scouts who would be teaching it. We can commiserate, trust me. Again, no different that the ranks requirements for Boy Scouts, or merit badges, or PORs or anything else in Scouting. There is always conflict. Miss summer camp and you will have a heck of a time making First Class in 12-14 months. I think our point was that, even though the requirement is difficult, you at least TRY IT before you give up and count it as done. No one is faulting a DL for trying. It was NOT trying and awarding it that is the issue...and always will be. Because it is BSA and they are rarely clear in any given directions or requirements. Isn't the word "elective" meaning that they did not have to do it? It was that way when I was a DL too. Bear just seemed, well, a Bear! Webelos was like falling off a log; maybe because it was more like Boy Scouts and I understood that better. Agreed. You don't punish him for being sick. You MAY want to have him do something as an alternative so that he at least does something for the requirement. That is within the purview of the leader. Liberties can be taken BUT they are usually the exception than the rule. Also, while we might slightly revise the requirement, we ask the Scout to attempt (and usually complete) the requirement nonetheless.

I cannot say I blame the kid given the state of some of our latrines in our council camps. Texas heat + pit latrine + last week of a 6 week camp + no wind = Well, I will leave it to your imagination. As to the latrines at night, having nearly stepped on a Copperhead while taking in shower in one of those lovely pit latrines/shower stalls, I have sympathy for the lad.

My kid still has all his CS ranks in a special place on his wall in his room. All those other patches, pins, badges and bling? They are in a huge box that he's long since forgotten. But his ranks and a few special awards (historic trail awards which few folks ever earn) are prominently displayed in his room. Side Note: Driving to school this AM I brought up this thread. My son is pretty smart, if I do say so myself, so I wanted his opinion. He said that he would absolutely remember getting something for nothing. He remembered a patch he got for a lock-in that he had to leave because he got sick....but he got the patch anyway. He was a TIGER!!! He's 17 now and he STILL remembers that event, the patch and that he didn't earn it. Go figure, when you don't treat kids like they're stupid they turn out not to be.

^^^^^ THIS!!! My first year as SM we went to camp just 2 hours away from home. ALL the boys had been to day camp every year since they were able to. Many more had gone away to other camps (YMCA) during the summer before crossing in to Boy Scouts, so every boy had been away at least once, all of them had more time at day camps than @@Stosh could ever have. The results? Out of 45 kids that went to summer camp that year, ALL OF THEM got severely home sick! Day camp familiarity did not help one bit. @@Jackdaws, the way to make the weekend camps work is to 1) make sure you know your costs up front, 2) make sure you get your volunteer pool aligned up front, 3) do your homework as to what the kids want in terms of games/activities, and 4) look at your local calendars (school, religious, community, natural vacation times, etc.) to make sure you are avoiding natural low attendance times. For example, our council learned long ago that the first two weeks in June the vast majority of Scouting families are on family vacation. They moved camp to the last part of June and attendance rose 80%!!!!

LOL, I don't mind the personal attacks. I give as good as I get. I'd just prefer that the censorship be equal. Aren't we all equal? Can't we use any bathroom we want now?

A bit different I think @@Beavah. As a 501 ©(3) association, BSA is the parent association to which councils belong. They too are non-profits, much like the AMA is the head medical association to which all their state associations belong...each being also a non-profit. HOWEVER -- and this is where my knowledge gets foggy -- AMA does not "charter" sub-organizations to belong to their state organizations, like units are part of BSA. That's where things get funky I think.

In my area we begin in late August or early September, but usually we have summer activities going on from June-August. The official "Scouting Year" beings in late August with school. Rank work runs from then through late February when we have B&G...this is when ranks are awarded. If kids are not done by then -- and I don't recall more than 5 Scouts EVER being affected by this, and when they were it was usually due to parental neglect or incompetence -- we let the kids "walk" but they continued to work on the rank through the rest of the spring and summer. If not done by the last activity of the summer (usually late July or early August) THEN we pulled the plug and they moved up without rank. But in all my years in the Pack, the five or so kids that never got rank were usually due to mom and/or dad not spending time enough to get the work done. It was spelled out for them, all they had to do was read, spend time and report back. Nada. Though the family could always manage 4-5 vacations a year or mom/dad several "parent getaways" during the year. Go figure. Exactly!! Most of the kids in my Den focused on the rank. That was a clear, understood goal. All that other stuff was just noise. We avoided all the "meeting patches" or theme patches or event patches. You talk about honesty. Where is the honesty in giving a kid a patch he did not earn? Where is the honesty in doing 66% of the requirements but STILL getting the award? Since when is 66% a passing grade at anything? And when do you stop giving out stuff for partial effort? Is doing half of Webelos okay? Can I do 25% of the AOL or do I need to do 50% to get my patch? As was said earlier, the "do" in Do Your Best means you actually have to TRY to "do" EVERY requirement. When you "do" 2 or 3 you clearly have not done your best. Let's not lower our standards that low. @@SR540Beaver, please don't censor an entire post for one line you find objectionable or personal. And while you're at it, isn't calling folks "a bunch of graybeard drill sergeants" a personal attack? Let's be equal in our censorship at least, please.

Print you old certificate. Photoshop in the current date. Add two years to the valid through date. Done.

So the Friends Of org is not associated with the church or Scouting? It's it's own entity with bylaws and charter? So they control the funds and gear of a troop and loan it to them to use? The troop, chartered by the church, essentially has no assets? They borrow from the Friends Of org?

I suspect councils do it (make jamboree pricey) for a few reasons. It's their shindig so they want a nice one. It's seen as a must-do event even though it's over-hyped. Most council big wigs couldn't do a normal high adventure camp so the biggest plop-camp ever is more their speed. We tried getting another, cheaper council spot in 2010. That proved more difficult (due to time needed to research and make contacts) it was easier to get World Cup tix. In the end my scout simply made the thrifty decision that a week at Disney for the family was the better bargain. Smart kid. Of course I could have given him both (because he did his best...sorry thread mixing ). But he would have never learn a valuable lesson...one he keeps with him today.

Exactly!!! If they did 2 of 3 requirements they didn't Do what was required. So do you award all awards if only 66% of the work is done? When does this stop? Webelos? AOL? I won't even mention the fact that BSA EXPECTS you to DO all the requirements...not just 66%.

I am sure an attorney would know the issues. It just sounds funny having a non-profit entity that is part of another non-profit charter organization. Oddly enough, when you need an attorney here to offer an opinion they are no where to be found. When you want them to stop offering opinions, they are everywhere. ;:

Isn't there a time frame under which you can complete the badge using the old requirements? I know when they make Cooking required and then changed the requirements a few years later, you had a certain amount of time to complete the badge before you had to switch to the new requirements.

Right, the Friends Of is the charter holder. But in this case you have a unit that already has a CO and now wants to establish themselves as a non-profit chartered by a non-profit. Sounds like some issues there. Are you a lawyer too?

If they did Requirement 1 and 3, but not Requirement 2 they did not Do Their Best to complete the badge. Awarding something when not done is the big deal. EDIT: If you cannot knock out Tiger in the time from September to May, 1) Your Den was not organized, and 2) your parents obviously didn't spend any time with their kids. I could do this in a few weekends with my kids. C'mon, must we dumb-down EVERYTHING?