jjlash

You didnt say - is this your first time on staff or have you served in other positions? The staff wants the same as you - to give the participants an amazing experience. To kick it up a notch, consider little things that dont cost much or take much effort but add an extra touch. Maybe a bit of candy on each patrol table each morning. Or have the scribe send a note to participants requesting their preferred (Scout appropriate) beverage and have some of those on-hand. Definitely popcorn etc during October Sky. Maybe give each patrol a "smores kit" at the start of their outdoor experience (the second weekend for a 3+3 course) You should be like a good butler or waiter - in the background but always there at the right time with the right item. This applies to both staff and participants. Trinkets - as I recall hat/lapel pins and various patches sold reasonably well. Stuffed critters of all shapes and sizes sold very well. The thing that sold very best for us last course was the WB stuff from Class B. They have critter patches, stickers and bumper stickers that are beautiful - much nicer than any other vendor I looked at. We sold out of most and had to place another order for the second weekend. I think I contacted them directly and asked about supplying our course rather than ordering from the website. I would say the key to staying in budget is to be involved with creating the budget so you understand it inside out and upside down. Id be happy to send you my budget from 2014 so you can see the line items that we considered - and the ones that we forgot to consider. I would suggest 2 things on the money side. First - have all money in / out go through one person. We have our scribe keep track of participant registrations and fee payments, the course director approves scholarships and early-registration discounts but the QM handles all other money. Since the QM is responsible for the budget and a big part of the budget is participant payments and participant payments are impacted by scholarships and discounts - I was constantly discovering that we had received less income that I expected for the number of participants that were registered. The second thing with the money is the same as for anything we do with money. Keep meticulous records and communicate often with the council finance person. I kept a scan of every receipt for every item purchased and every bit of money that went out. Our process is very informal - I just emailed the finance guy and told him what I need or sent him a receipt. There was no official paperwork for me to fill out, no account numbers for me to use. It seemed very "loosey goosey" to me but that is the way he said to do it. I suspect he was taking care of the paperwork for me.

I was QM for our last course (in 2014). Now I'm rooming with the QM for our current course so we have compared notes about my style versus his and so on. Here are some things we agreed were very useful: 1) Eagledad hit a couple of the big points - if you are not super organized, find someone who is and get them to be your assistant. You should be the first to arrive and the last to leave. 2) Know your stuff - that is, know what materials you need for every minute of each day. Also know what materials you have available to you. 2a) Have a starting inventory - what stuff was in your totes when you started. Create an ending inventory. This is partly to know that you have everything you need and partly to track what is consumed/lost/broken and needs to be replaced for next time. 2b) Organize your stuff into totes or boxes according to what makes sense to you. Mine were actually organized by category of items (flags in one tote, candles in another etc) but this course QM reorganized by day. 3) I created a "QM staging book" - I took our detailed daily schedule and added a column for "what items does the QM need to provide" for every session of every day. It was very detailed and included things like what order are the items arranged on the table (i.e. for the WB Traditions ceremony) 4) I created a staging area - there is a set of tables (behind the scenes) that I set out everything needed for each day. The staff all knows that is where they pick up items and that is where they return items. Last thing I did before going to bed each day is pack up today and lay out tomorrow. My staging book is on the table. 5) Be pleasant but be clear from the beginning "stay out the the QM totes". I know what is there and where it is. I can get it for you faster than you can find it yourself. I am responsible for making sure you get what you need and I cannot do that if somebody has moved things or taking things out without me knowing it. This is absolutely critical for day 1 - there are so many moving parts on day 1 that if something is not where it should be you can have a stumble that the participants see. 6) Have things on-hand for staff development meetings. Our QM this time around did not always have the games and props on hand for Troop Guides to practice during staff dev meetings. That left practicing until the setup day just before the course. As ASM TGs I was not thrilled about that. 7) The QM is responsible for food. I was fortunate that a) we planned staff development for half days and I only had to provide snacks, not meals. And b) during weekend 1 we had recruited very experienced kitchen help and I was able to delegate the entire food process to him. This time around our Assistant QM managed all of the menu planning and food purchasing. It was a ton of extra work for her. If you can off-load everything food related I strongly suggest that 7a) The coffee pot should always be on! 8) Vendors - plan way ahead and be meticulous with vendors. We worked with one vendor for trinkets, another for apparel, a third for the course cap/tshirt and a fourth for the woggle cord. The cap/tshirt vendor is someone I had worked with for several years and was wonderful (that is why I keep working with them). The apparel vendor and woggle cord vendor were also very good - both had SNAFUs with shipping that caused items to be delayed. Both immediately shipped out replacements without worrying about right/wrong/payments etc. The trinket vendor was difficult to work with. The consignment items were not received when I had requested them to arrive, the contents of the package did not match the packing list they provided, a few items were broken in transit and they accepted no responsibility for discrepancies. Unfortunately we were not able to find another vendor to offer trinkets so we went back to them this year. Finally - consider what your real job is. You may come to a different conclusion, but I considered my real job as making sure the staff (especially the Troop Guides) had what they need, when they need it, where they need it. I wanted items (including food) to magically appear exactly when they were needed and disappear when they were done. This was my vision for success, it guided my organization and planning. Good Luck and enjoy watching the machine move know the part you played

I agree with NJCubScouter in that I would take a wait and see approach - you dont want to get dragged into whatever is going on. I would be more concerned right now with the stonewalling than with the state of the books. If the committee chair is part of the stonewalling, either actively or by allowing the treasurer to resist, then you will get nowhere. You said the committee _intends_ to step down at the end of the year. Evidently they have not made a solid commitment and begun a transition. So what happens if the committee chair decides to stay? Can you work with someone who has behaved this way? How do you think the chair will act toward you if you are trying to get to the bottom of whatever is going on? If I were in your position I would consider only two options. 1) go to the charter organization, share your concerns and offer to become committee chair or 2) run away fast (this might mean starting a new pack). This may seem extreme - and it is. But, I personally have a very low tolerance for drama; for people not working together; and for people with an agenda that is at-odds with the goals of the unit. I guess there is a third option I would consider - wait till the end of the year and see what happens. Quietly build some support and be ready to step in if the existing committee does in fact walk away with no successors in place.

My Troop doesnt use SB, or any other site/program. Scouts are responsible for their own in-progress advancement via their BSHB. The advancement person records to Internet Advancement as appropriate. Communication about events etc is via SPL / PLs, announcements at meetings, troop FB page. I tried it shortly after the BSA purchase. At that time (and by all accounts reading the forums since) SB just does not do (or does not do well enough) the few things that the adult leaders wish for. We have not had any requests from Scouts for other tools (and as far as we know none of them is using other tools on their own). The things that the adults would like are all reports for information that is already "in the system". i.e A list of all advancement earned since a given date (COH report) and anything that lets us monitor our status toward JTE goals.

Ah - a lot of units around here go to Many Point Scout Camp in northern Minnesota. I have heard they have a good "older Scout" program that is pretty high adventure. But to be honest, planning your own HA is not that tough even with not much experience - it just depends on what you want to do. I have helped a couple of Troops in my area learn how to do it so Im sure you could find someone near you willing to help.

@@RememberSchiff hits on the thing I think is the biggest issue: they need to decide who the customer really is. HINT: there is more than one. I realize that computer/online tools for Scouts (advancement, outings, service hours) is an easy sell - and there is value in this. But from my perspective, the adult volunteers are the big underserved customer and there is some real low hanging fruit here. How about absolutely anything to that will automate JTE. There is no reason that volunteers should spend their time manually calculating percentages for data that is already in the computer system. And that assumes they can get even the data out of the system. <rant> My current frustration is with the district JTE goal of increasing the number of trained direct contact leaders. The only way we have found to even determine how many direct contact leaders we have, is to examine the 172 page PDF that lists the trained status for all leaders organized by unit. Our registrar and our professional responsible for training have not found a way to get this info in another format (e.g. a spreadsheet) that can be sorted/filtered. Maybe it doesnt exist, maybe they just have not found it - result is the same for me. </rant> IMO there is a risk here - most volunteers are here to serve the youth. As they are continually asked to do more administrative stuff and are not given reasonable tools to accomplish those tasks, they will choose to serve the youth in other ways. Maybe they will simply not do the administrative stuff or maybe they will choose other organizations to support with their time. I know those thoughts have crossed my mind on more than one occasion.

Depends on where you are and what your Scouts want to do....We are in the midwest and prefer a backcountry high adventure. We can do a week long backpacking or Boundary Waters trip for about $250-$300 per person. We self-outfit so this includes everything except souvenirs: fuel and meals on the road, campground the night before and/or after the trek, permits, food on the trail and a sit-down meal when we come off the trail.

We have a district Arrow Of Light ceremony. Troops are invited to setup a table and Webelos/parents are encouraged to visit them. Many Webelos have already made their choice by that time, but many have not.

Same as gumbymaster - my council is my Smile recipient. Dont know how much they receive overall. As you mention, you should be very aware of how any contributions might be viewed by the IRS since doing the wrong thing can jeopardize non-profit / tax exempt status.

Cool - feel free to message me if you have any questions. It is a very well-rounded itinerary.

"Poaching", really? Do you say the same thing when a youth leaves Scouts to play soccer? Scouts are volunteers - allowing for parent influence, they stay involved in the things that are most fun, match their interests and fit their schedule; they stay with the groups where their friends are and where they feel welcome. If Scouts were leaving my unit for another unit, I would definitely be talking to both them and the other unit to find out where we came up short.

Not nearly as much as I would like ;-) Not very much in reality - I may get a few 5-10 mile day trips per year and maybe one 15-20 mile overnight. About every other year my Troop does a backpacking high adventure - usually around 50ish miles over 5-6 days. About every 4 years we do Philmont so 100ish miles over the 10 days.

I say gently educate everyone that feeder packs are not a thing and encourage Scouts to visit multiple Troops and find the one that feels right. This will take time and you will upset some people but it is the right approach. The units/people who are upset likely feel that they cannot compete with a well-run unit. I would even say that the ones who are upset do not truly have the Scout's best interest in mind. Yes, I prefer to get the Scouts in my unit but I'm happy as long as he continues in Scouts instead quiting because he feels stuck in a Troop he doesnt like.

Got home from another Philmont trek earlier this week and figured Id do a combination trip report / gear review to capture some thoughts. I was part of crew 705-L; 9 youth and 3 advisers from eastern Iowa. One youth, the lead adviser and I had all been on previous treks. The third adviser and 8 youth were on their first trek. The lead adviser headed up our preparation this time - his focus was on brushing up skills that we don't use as often in daily Scouting and on teamwork. We covered use of our backpacking stoves, hanging bear bags, wilderness first aid scenarios, navigation and Philmonts bear procedures. We worked some on reducing pack weight but not a lot. We did not put much emphasis on physical conditioning and only had a couple of short training hikes. The youth in our crew are pretty athletic so I was not overly concerned about their physical conditioning; the advisers understood the need and were doing more on our own. About 10 weeks before the trek I began running a couple of miles a day. I know it helped but when you live at 742ft elevation there is just not much you can do to prepare for altitude. As on previous treks, we traveled by Amtrak to Raton then Philmont shuttle to base camp. The timing causes you to miss lunch at base camp so the bus stops at "fast food row" before heading out. This was all smooth and efficient. Our Philmont Ranger was a great young man and connected well with both the youth and adults. Our in-processing went pretty well - we had reserved and paid for 7 spots and brought a check for the correct amount to cover the other 5 spots. We forgot to bring a check to cover the $45x12 for the shuttle to/from the train station - our oversight on that one. We called the museum on our first day in base camp to make a Villa tour reservation for after our trek. The only complaint with in-processing was that our bus to the trailhead was not until 2pm so the hike from Rayado turn around to Backache Springs was hot, hot, hot. An earlier bus would have been very welcome - and totally feasible as we had everything done and ready to go before lunch. We hiked itinerary 28; Rayado turn around to Six-mile gate with one dry camp, optional Tooth side hike and layover day for Baldy hike. We had spar pole at Crater Lake, rock climbing at Miners Park, Shaefers Pass, Hunting Lodge, Visto Grande, challenge events at Head of Dean, black powder at Miranda, chuckwagon dinner at Ponil and archeaology at Indian Writings. A side note - this was a different number but almost exactly the same itinerary as we had on our previous trek. Backache springs was a pretty nice camp. The sites are very large and seemed lightly used. The water source is a bit of a walk from the sites. The bear cable was down for some reason so they had a bear box for smellables. The campfire program at Crater Lake was (again) a crew favorite. In fact it is a ranch favorite - there were lots of visiting staff in the audience. The Tooth as a backdrop and a thunderstorm over the plains made for a beautiful setting for the show. Time management was not a strength of this crew. That and water management made skipping the Tooth side hike a wise choice. Instead we went to Shaefers Peak for sunrise - definitely a worthwhile alternative. The hike is about 35 minutes. The visiting foresters at Demonstration Forest were great. Very entertaining and engaging; much better than the "just the facts" presentation that I remembered from our previous trek. We left Hunting Lodge via Cathedral Rock/ Window Rock/ Hidden Valley - absolutely beautiful. Visto Grande - skip the campsites down near the spring, the sites up the hill (north of the spring) were large and wooded and off the main trail and quiet. The spring was flowing about like I remembered from previous years, about 20 minutes to fill the 8qt pot. Head of Dean - still the best porch view on the ranch IMHO. They had a new challenge event since last time I was there. Also now offer 60 and 90 minute challenge event time slots - dont remember this from before though maybe they did. A 60 minute slot only gave us time for 2 ice breaker type activities and 2 actual challenge events. Sunset hike at Head of Dean was nice. About 15 minute hike to a small rise out in the burn area (2002 Ponil fire) gave a great 360* view. Miranda was pretty much as I remembered - the staff this year were very colorful and entertaining in their persona's. Baldy was much tougher than I remembered - might have something to do with me being four years older and nearly 50. Both the saddle below, and the summit itself were still worth the price of admission. The staff at Ponil were surprised when we arrived to turn in our burro well before noon. "Chuck" didnt slow us down any more than us old guys at the back of the line were already slowing us down. I attribute this primarily to a couple of our youth having experience with horses and cattle so they knew how to keep Chuck moving. The root beer at Ponil was cold (yum!) and the cantina show was fun, though the room was packed full and quite warm. The chuckwagon dinner was a nice change from freeze dried, and the kids really enjoyed it, but I would not go out of my way to have it on a trek in the future. Commercial size bags of Dinty Moore Beef Stew, slightly burnt dutch oven biscuits and simple dump cobbler. It was all tasty but on day 9 of the trek it was more food than I wanted and didn't sit well in my stomach. Though we stayed at Ponil, pistol shooting was not listed as an activity for our trek so the staff would not let us shoot. Hiked over Hart peak on the way to Indian Writings. A pretty easy hike compared to recent days and a nice view. Check another named peak off my list. Indian Writings was my only disappointment in terms of staff, program and camps. The staffer that gave us the porch talk seemed to not be particularly well trained. He first suggested that we eat lunch then do Atlatl, then he would take us to campsite and we'd come back for conservation. The Atlatl was fun and the guy staffing it was a riot - the shining star of the camp. We headed to campsite about an hour before consv but only got about half way there and our guide said we would not have time after all so we went back to the cabin. Consv was up, up, up the hill most of a mile away. The trail building was somewhat disorganized - after our safety talk the two staffers did not do a good job of giving directions as to what each group was supposed to be doing on a particular section of the new trail. They spent most of their time chatting up a couple of the groups so there was much less actual work accomplished than there might have been. After consv the same staffer was again going to take us to our campsite. We stood around for about 10 minutes with our packs on because he wanted to take another crew to their site on the way. The other crew however was not ready and was in no hurry to get ready - I dont think they knew he wanted them to come with us. When we finally got to our site - 0.6 miles from the cabin - he told us to setup our tents in a particular area. As we were doing so another staffer came by from dropping the other crew off and told us we were setting up in the flood zone and we should be in a spot across the road that was 100 feet away and 20 feet higher. Because of the distance we did not bother to go back for advisor coffee. Also because of the distance and we were heading the other direction, we did not go back in the morning to do the petroglyphs or the archaeology dig. The hike from Indian Writings to six-mile gate was quick and easy. The TRex fossil was pretty neat. We arrived at six-mile in time to catch an earlier bus back to camp, yeah! Check in back at base camp went quickly and smoothly - tents, gear turn-in, showers and ice cream all before lunch. We had campfires a couple of nights early in the trek but came under a fire ban about half way through. We had showers several times during the trek - Clarks Fork, Baldy Town and Ponil. They were available Indian Writings but we didnt bother. Some showers were really hot, others luke warm but all served the purpose to rinse off the dust and stink. At some camps we had to schedule a time slot with the staff, at others there was no schedule. We never had to wait more than a couple of minutes at the unscheduled showers. I decided at the last minute to leave the pack-towel behind. For all showers I wore my compression shorts and crew tshirt in to rinse them out. I used a bandanna to kind of dry off but put my hiking shorts on over my wet compression shorts and put my wet tshirt back on. It was all dry within about 20 minutes. We had one Scout whose boots kicked the bucket on the way up Baldy. We patched them together to get him back to camp. When we went through Baldy Town for food he found that the trading post actually had boots, and actually had his size. He was able to do a "trail charge" and wear them for the rest of the hike. They sent his old boots back to base camp were we picked them up when we settle the charge. Pretty nice that they have that option available. Departure day we went to the museum to browse and get our Villa tour tickets. They did not have a reservation for us. After some research we discovered that it had been recorded on the previous day - a date/time when we were not even scheduled to be off the trail yet. By splitting the group they found space for us 90 minutes later than our reservation - that was going to mess with our Cimmaron lunch plans but it was all they could do because earlier time slots were full of NAYLE groups. We walked down to wait and talked to Nancy at the Villa. She split us and put us in with the NAYLE groups on our original schedule. THANK YOU NANCY! Lunch was the St James Hotel. Service was a little slow but the food was wonderful. We had not made a reservation but they fit us in. They did tell us that they request groups over 6 people to make a reservation. The bus back to Raton for the train stopped at the grocery store for snacks. There is a pizza place and a hot dog place across the street from the train station that I dont remember from previous trek. Our tradition is to eat dinner in the dining car once we get on the train. As soon as we get on someone goes to make the reservation. They always grumble about the large group and reservations mostly full already but they always fit us in. I asked how we could get the reservation earlier since we dont board earlier - they said we could add it as a note/request when we buy our tickets. As for gear - I continue to refine my kit and get my base weight down. I started with about 14lbs for personal gear (including extras like camera and GPS) and added a tiny bit of crew gear, 1/2 a Philmont tent, 4 days food and 3 liters water for a starting trail weight of 35lbs. Tent - we used Philmont tents instead of Troop tents or (for a few of us) personal tents. This was partly to save wear-n-tear on our tents and partly to save space in our packs for things that we needed to travel but would be left in the locker at base camp. I have become so accustomed to a tent with two side doors that I didnt care for the single end door but otherwise the Philmont tents were okay. Their weight is heavy compared to a good 2-person backpacking tent but is not bad considering it is more like an outfitter tent to withstand the constant usage. It is down right light compared to the food anyhow. Pack - Golite Pinnacle 70L. This is the second Philmont trek and fourth extended trek for this pack. It continues to carry the weight well and be very comfortable. Absolutely no complaints here - have actually considered picking up another if I can find one to have when this one dies. Thermarest Neoair. This is the first generation, regular size. It is also on its second Philmont trek/fourth extended trek. I still like the low bulk and weight of this pad but still do not like the crinkly noise. Enlightened Equipment Revelation 20* quilt. This is a new addition to my kit. Previously I used a Ray Jardine MYOG quilt. The EE is several ounces lighter, packs a bit smaller and is quite a bit warmer. Our lowest overnight temp on the trek was 50* - with shorts and tshirt this was too warm on most nights. Helinox Ground Chair. This is another new addition to my kit. Previous treks Ive used a simple CCF sit pad but I had dropped enough weight with other items that I decided to take the 23oz splurge. The chair is solid, well made and quite comfortable. My only complaint is that it takes a moment to setup/pack up so I did not bother to get it out for quick stops. Not sure if I would take it on an "on the move" type trek again. For a canoe trek or other back country base camp/short days trek it is totally worth the weight. Borah Gear down jacket. This replaced my 100wt fleece. It was so warm during our trek that I only wore it a few times, mostly it was part of the stuffing for my pillow. It is less than 6oz and was warm sitting around camp down in the mid 50's. I was surprised that it completely blocked the wind on top of Baldy. We were told later that winds on the morning we were up there were estimated at 50+ MPH. Rain gear. I took my REI rain coat but only took DriDucks rain pants because they are less than half the weight of my regular rain pants. I didnt expect to use any of it much because the rain normally doesnt last long and the low humidity allows things to dry very quickly. Turns out the only rain we had for the entire trek was a few sprinkles as we boarded the bus back to the train station. Again used 1L Smartwater and Powerade bottles instead of traditional lexan Nalgene's because of the weight savings. The tall Smartwater fit the side pockets of my pack much better than a 1L Nalgene and I use the "sipper" lid from one of the other size Smartwater bottles. We had several people comment about them not being rugged enough. I think everyone in our crew had at least 2 Smartwater bottles and we had zero damage or leaks. I carried a 3L Nalgene canteen and someone else carried the 10L water bag from our gravity filter. These were both used quit a bit to bring water back to camp and save trips to the spigot/spring. We did not bring a water filter this time; used the micropur tablets when necessary. Many times the water itself tasted awful (even at staffed camps) but the tablets did not add any noticeable taste. The wait time for the tablets was not a problem for our particular route. Our crew first aid kit was way bigger and heavier than it needed to be. I was not the one to review before the trek and did carry/use it during so dont know exactly what was in it - I do know there was a pocket size wilderness first aid book, a SAM splint, an ACE bandage and several travel size bottles of meds. We used lots of moleskin and a few band aids but nothing else. Need to do a better job of reviewing and reducing next time. My personal first aid kit was a quart size freezer bag with moleskin, band aids, gloves and a half dozen of a couple meds. It weighed about 6oz - I used none of it. I carried a Garmin Geko 201 GPS to record our travels. The size and weight were acceptable; it rode nicely on top of my pack and I remembered to turn it on/off each day. I have some pretty big gaps in the track because the batteries died without me realizing it. On past treks I carried a small DIY notebook made from stapled-together Tyvek house wrap and a small fine-point sharpie. I did this so it was waterproof and could carry it in my pocket for making notes along the way. I used a standard mini spiral notebook and gel pen for my daily journaling - kept these in a ziplock with my sleeping cloths. This time I purchased a few Rite In The Rain mini notebooks and a Fisher Space Pen. I carried them in a cargo pants pocket and really liked this combination for both my daily journaling throughout the day and for random notes along the way. Socks - I wear Merino wool hiking socks with liners. I rotated two pair - rinsing the dirty pair each morning and hanging it from my pack to dry while we hiked. I had a third pair in my pack because of my personal motto "never underestimate the power of clean, dry socks". When we had not had rain by day 8, I used the fresh set for our Baldy day then put them into the rotation for the rest of the trek. Other cloths - I carried an extra pair of compression shorts but never used them. I carried an extra crew tshirt and switched mid way through the trek. With the availability of showers that we had, I would probably leave it behind or use it as my sleep shirt next time. I decided at the last minute to leave behind the second pair of zip-off hiking pants. The pair I wore got pretty filthy as I never bothered to unload the pockets so they never got worn into the shower. I was still cleaner than most of the youth in any given camp. One other thing we did again for this trek is take a neck tie. We wear them on Sunday to "dress up". It is just something fun that boosts moral and makes people smile. This time it was sparkly red-white-blue bow ties because we left home on July 4th. I cannot think of anything that I didn't bring but wished I had. Hopefully this helps someone else in their preparation. Im sure it will help me a few years from now when Im trying to remember what I took and what I left behind.

I completely agree.... But - the time to confirm that learning is before the requirement is signed off, not months/years later at his Eagle SM conference or BOR. In a case like this where the requirements were signed by the previous Troop and the lack of retention is discovered later, there is not much to be done about it. The guide to advancement is pretty clear on not retesting and not taking away what has been earned. If the Scout had been more active, this shortcoming could have been noticed and opportunities to review/practice could have been worked in (i.e. by having him teach some newer Scouts) without specifically retesting and without it being tied to advancement. Some of this may still be possible by having a conversation about participation in his time remaining.

Welcome to the group Bingo. My first question is - what is your role in the Troop? The ladies are correct with regard to the outdoor skills - if he has earned the merit badges then his outdoor skills are not in question. Please review the guide to advancement for the four steps of advancement: A Scout Learns, A Scout is tested, A Scout is reviewed, A Scout is recognized. Yes, it would be great if they all learned and retained every skill they learned in the early ranks - but that is not the important part of Scouting. As for the project - it sounds like you are making a judgement on the feasibility of completing the project in time rather than the leadership potential of the project. If I were Committee Chair, I would talk to the Scout about how the project will let him show leadership and would discuss how tight the schedule will be. In the end if the project is suitable I would encourage him to get the paperwork done quickly so he can really start the planning. And if he doesnt get the project done in time....I think will have learned more by failing to complete a project he chose (something that he cares about) than by completing a project that someone else thinks he can get done in time.

NAYLE is a very hands-on "continuation" of NYLT. Dont know how it might be different at SBR, at Philmont they do geocaching, challenge events, wilderness first aid, search & rescue and a short backpacking trek. They dont do these activities to really learn them, rather the activities put the crew into situations where good leadership is needed to succeed. I only know this because I took the adult equivalent last fall and the courses us the same handbook. The Philmont Leadership Challenge is the best thing Ive done in Scouting - highly recommend it to anyone who wants to take their WB/leadership skills up a notch. SBR had one scheduled last year but it was cancelled for low registrations - hopefully they can turn that around. One of the participants in my course put together a site of photos and a couple of promo videos, check them out here: http://philmontleadershipchallenge.net/

$20 is high in my experience, but then Class B is high in my comparisons. For moderate quantities I can usually get the Gildan "heavy cotton" at $10 -$12 ea and wicking at around $14 ea. I use Advantage Emblem out of Duluth MN. One thing to be aware of with using a local shop: BSA Licensing. If the design uses any BSA trademarked phrases or images, including the BSA "version" of the fleur dis le, it needs to be printed by a licensed vendor and approved by the licensing department. There is a license option that, Im told, is pretty easy to get and allows a shop can do stuff for one unit only. See here for info then the "Doing Business with BSA": http://www.scouting.org/licensing.aspx

Thanks RichardB, I stand corrected - the Risk Advisory is not called "Part D".

No, it is still there. Ive seen so many different versions of the med forms I dont remember what Part D used to be. Now it is the "risk advisory" for the specific high adventure base. The website has several PDF links - one with part A&B for "normal activitites", one with A/B/C for summer camp and five with A/B/C plus the part D for the specific high adventure base (and one for Philmont Training Center). Again, dont remember if it has always been, but Part C has a check box for the doctor to indicate that she has read and discussed Part D with the patient.

Im ASM Troop Guides for our upcoming course. I told my guides at our first meeting that they have the toughest job in the course because of all the preparation and the multiple hats they wear. But that they have the best job in the course because they get to truly connect with those 6 people and see, up close, the impact WB has. Yes, it is a lot of time to be well prepared but it is so worth it. My WB experience was pretty good but my first time staffing is what solidified my belief in team building and my desire to become a better leader. That said - I have heard a lot of people who had awful experiences at WB and/or on staff. My suggestion to you then is to find out who you will be working with and for (your Course Director, your ASM Troop Guides and the other TGs). Base your decision on how well you like those folks and believe they will do things right (i.e. not a bunch of BS and drama).

Have you checked Many Points Scout Camp in northern MN. Their "older Scout" program lists kayaking on class 1 & 2 rapids, ATV's, Tree Houses and SCUBA. Never been there but talked to lots of local folks who have - they all rave about it.

Is there a place on this site, or another site, to host and share your action plan? As I posted earlier in this thread, my Troop also recently had a Scout die; ours was on a campout. I have written a lessons learned document to capture the things that we did well and that we can improve. I want to find a place other than my Troop's site to host it my document so that it gets more visibility. Any suggestions?

I cannot argue with any of that. However - it is not without value. I use it as a planning tool throughout the year rather than as a yardstick at the end of the year. Not looking at it until the end of the year doesnt leave any time to make improvements. A perfect example, when I updated the sheet last weekend I realized we had not scheduled ILST (youth leader training) yet. That probably would fallen through the crack had I not been reviewing the numbers. I have a spreadsheet setup so I enter our campouts, service projects, advancements etc and the sheet calculates our score. More importantly, it calculates the "real" numbers for those pesky percentages - exactly how many advancements do we need to hit 60% and how many Scouts is 85% retention of "eligible" members. My big complaint is the crappy tools part. When we first changed to JTE they had no tools so I created my own spreadsheet. When they finally came out with a spreadsheet it was confusing and had errors so I stayed with mine. But now, in 2016 why are we still using spreadsheets and paper copies at all. Why isn't this online and integrated with ScoutNet/Akela. They already have all of our membership numbers and advancement numbers. It could even know about our outings if the unit does tour plans. Dont even get me started on the poor tools for district level volunteers. </rant>

Very sorry to hear of the outcome. Im pretty new around here and we dont know each other, but I have very recent experience with losing a Scout in my Troop - mine was a first year Scout. If you'd like to talk to someone who is not so close to your unit, just holler and I'll send you my number. Jay