OldGreyEagle

I think its also important to note that the purpose and functin of the Troop/Unit COmmittee is not to hire/fire or otherwise interfere with the scoutmaster, cubmaster etc. They support the program on equal footing with the direct contact leaders of the unit

It seems Americans are pretty much regarded as the filthy beasts thorughout the world, ill mannered uncultured and pretty much not nice. None of which explains why so many people want to leave their homes to come here to live however

SP, I think you mis speak. First Class First Year is about a troop having activities scheduled so that an "active" scout will reach first class in a year. Its not about pushing scouts to first class. Now, some have done a hatchet job on the concept and say National wants the boys to rush through, wrong. They want the boys to know the skills and for the troops to give the boys opportunities to use those skills. Well, Ok, I am not sure what National wants, on any given day I am not sure they know what they want but First Class First Year is about the Troops Program, not rushing a scout to First CLass who can't tie his shoe let alone a bowline. Those who tell you otherwise are wrong Now, at the camp I serve, the "Trail to Adventute" program teaches the skills and then has the boys come back to their troops for the Troop to sign off skills. The Camp Staff does not sign off requirements, they let the troops handle that. Always thought that should be the national standard(This message has been edited by oldgreyeagle)

Ways to set your troop apart Always wear full uniform The Troop wears a hat, and the same hat at that. My preference would be red berets but there may not be enough for your troop to snag one for everyone. A campaign hat on every head would be dramatic if not cost prohibitive, but just sayin'. Any BSA hat will do if the entire troop wears it March to Flags in formation, by patrol, with Troop flag leading the way and leading each patrol, the patrol flag of course. For extra effect have them whistle or sing the remain standing thing has already been mentioned Do a "spontaneous" cheer during each meal, loud strong and with conviction Write a skit for the closing campfire that features people imitating the staff. All with taste of course. If you have a personable waterfront director, the Boat 99 skit kills!

I thought what I posted was way too negative. I commented that having 50-100 people at IOLS, or any training sessions was way too many people and just because you are the only show in town does not mean you have to accomodate everyone in town(or Council) Plan for the number you can handle and cap it at that. If anyone complains be sure to tell them you and MIB would be thrilled to help staff their IOLS course. Don't take on more than you can handle

Loyal readers would know when you get stuck, Pie is always the answer

Somewhere along the line deep in District Lore we picked up the notion that the Eagle Project Planning should be complete enough if the Scout could not complete the project, another scout could pick up the plan and follow it to completion

And who knew Dobbs would become the father of a Teenage Werewolf!

Theodoric of York

Knowing the contempt you have for things Roman Catholic, I did not think you would ever defend yourself by comparing yourself to a priest I would have thought a PhD from Harvard would have a much richer command of the English langauge and have the ability to communicate in a non-vulgar manner. (This message has been edited by oldgreyeagle)

Quick, somebody remind me, youth can read what is posted in the forums, right?

I remember saying in a business meeting about something I didn't understand, "its tough to have a 2400 baud brain in a 56K world" Ah, the good old days...

You guys need to contact Scouter-Terry as he is the site owner and controls how things are set up. I like the idea, but its nothing the moderators can do

Ok now, on the count of three, eveybody: Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore Galloping through the sward Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore And his horse Concorde He steals from the rich And gives to the poor Mr. Moore, Mr. Moore, Mr. Moore. Dennis Moore, Dennis Moore Riding through the night Soon every lupin in the land Will be in his mighty hand He steals them from the rich And gives them to the poor Mr. Moore, Lupin donor, Extraordinary.

Does anybody know who will be runing the Buckskin Games at the 2013 Jamboree?

Actually Basementdweller's post is a bit shy on details. From his accounts, his experience was horrible and it may be a good idea to PM him to get the details on how not to do things. Maybe then his experience would not have been in vain

What? JoeBob? Don't you guys get cable? Have you never seen "cupcake wars"? No milk, no eggs, no butter, no lard that kind of stuff Vegan cooking can be done and can be quite tasty... or so I'm told, I classify myself as an Omnivore (after all, I am a Bear, and a good ol' Bear at that)(This message has been edited by oldgreyeagle)

I have to ask, what training are you looking for? Youth today often are so used to having their schedules set for them, they have no idea what to do when asked to plan for somehting they would like to do. At a planning meeting the question is asked what do you want to do? often this is the quietest part of the year Finally somebody will say "lets narfle the garthok" to which a few people say sure, lets narfle the garthok. It gets on the calender and no one signs up to go. Nobody wanted to narfle the garthok but they said yes to make the adults happy. Some will hoever comment how come we never do anything fun, but them not be able to articulate just what that is "fun" So, for the first year, yes you (the adult(s)) have to do most of the planning. A pioneering campout, lashing stuff, a survior campout (w/wo chickens its up to you), cooking, Fishing, Boldering, Mountaineering all that stuff so the next time you ask what do you want to do, they have a base of experience to draw from

What training do you refer to? 18 months is a realistic timeframe, you do need to have postive things happen to keep progress moving forward so yes, you (adults) have to help and do things I agree Maybe the dull program is an over emphasis on having the boys plan, which they don't do, so the events are dull and so fewer scouts are the results. But if the boys dont know how to plan, then they can't be expected to plan and thats the rub, teaching them to plan while expanding the possibilities of events PS You can call me OGE, all my friends, and most of the people here, do(This message has been edited by oldgreyeagle)

In the course I took, the major controversy was the "Game of Life" One patrol was so incensed about it, feeling they had been lied to and set up to look stupid that all were packing to leave. The course director had to do fast talking to keep them in the course and of course before any activity after that one of them would always ask if they were being "set-up"

I don't know if there are any Vegan based religions, but what if there was one and while they did celebrate birthdays, the cakes had to be, of course, Vegan. Do you make all cupcakes from that point Vegan or only during the month of a Vegans birth? The Troop I serve has meetings on Thursday, we don't meet on Thanksgiving. What if a family joins who doesnt think Thanksgiving is legitimate, we hold the meeting for them? We cancel Holy Thursday as well as the church is holding services. Do we hold the meeting for the Jewish and Islamic and Hindu Scouts? As mentioned, you have your schedule, the birthday celebration sounds like a great ending and then people can choose to stay or go Speaking of Yoda, what was it that Spock said? The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few

So, way back in the late 70's when I taught at the College level, (University of Southern Indiana at Evansville In) I taught Radiologic Technoly (X-ray tech). At the time we had a pretty rigorous entrance process and we consistently had students in the top 25% of their graduating high school class. Then again, it was Indiana. I was a bit taken back while grading the first test I gave. I asked how do you position a patient for a Chest X-ray and one student wrote: What you try and do is... If I had ever written "Try and do is...". Sister Alphonse from Second Grade, Sister Celestine from Third Grade, Sister Rochelle from Fourth Grade, Sister Anthony Mary (Sam to us, it was a stitch) from Fifth Grade, Sister Marilyn from Sixth Grade, Sister Lorraine from Seventh Grade and Sister Elicia from Eigth grade, Brother Richard from High School (Prepatory Seminary portion) and Sister LaVerne Raemaker from College (long story) would have beat my butt more red than any felt pen they had ever wielded in anger. And beleive, they could wield some red felt pens. Every assignment had two grades, content and grammar and both were equally important. To have a youth today string three coherent sentences together is quite the accomplishment

I did the silent swim, not sure if it was for lifesaving or swimming, swimming I guess. Not sure what practical value being able to swim silently has unless, unless, nah, can't be that... The floating in ones clothes was done in our "Class A" field uniform. Then again, back them it was cotton twill and as I remember it worked quite well.

I can see you doing all the planning at first. You start by explaining to the boys what you will do, then you demonstrate to the boys how its done, and you may do that a few times to be sure the youth have down what needs to be done and the reasons for it, how its done and then perhaps you could delegate some of the easier tasks to the ones who are catching on. You know, guiding them through the process, taking a step in the larger overall plan. Maybe do this for a year, each time explaining what planning requires, what the steps are for putting together an event, showing them how its done and letting them take on the responsibility of some tasks, all with your oversight of course. In about a year or so, perhaps you could suggest that they try planning an event themselves to see if progress was made. Make it a small event for the first one and then increase the size (This message has been edited by oldgreyeagle)

isn't the real issue the youth's desire to run for SPL and the troops inclination to elect him?